Drills are held weekly to instil discipline.
SINCE the Boys’ Brigade (BB) spread its wings to Sarawak with the setting up of the First Kuching Company in 1961, it has produced a generation of youths imbued with exemplary attributes of being responsible, caring, disciplined, and skilled in organising events.
BB is recognised by the Education Ministry as a uniform body to promote a strong sense of responsibility and duty towards family and society, as well as to encourage members to live the Christian way of life. Its motto is ‘Sure and Steadfast’.
It is an important educational extra-curricular activity that keeps young children and teenagers on the right path.
It holds weekly parades of between two and three hours each with activities such as Bible study, badge classes, drills and physical training, and also assumes community social responsibility to inculcate in members the spirit of caring for the society.
Hon Captain Sim Tze Sian
There are 44 Boys’ Brigade companies throughout Sarawak with 5,500 members and officers at present.
A company can consist of four sections – Pre-Junior (six to nine years olds), Junior (nine to 12 years old), Senior (12 to 19 years old), and Primer (16 to 21 years old).
For the past two decades, among some of the activities organised by the Sarawak chapter were AIDS awareness campaigns held in schools, churches, and the local community, and fundraisers in aid of the Malaysian AIDS Council in 2008.
Other initiatives included raising money for the National Kidney Foundation to purchase dialysis machines in 2005 and 2007 and for the Foundation’s Kuching branch to run its activities in 2009.
One of its high-profile programmes was collaborating with the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) from 2004 to 2008 in the ‘Love-In-A-Box’ project whereby the government agency would prepare a Christmas wish list from the rural areas.
The finalised list would be given to The Boys’ Brigade and copies subsequently circulated to the different companies with an appeal to seek public help for donations of gifts.
The gifts would be passed on to the rural areas after the collection campaign.
In 2009, another programme – Boys’ Brigade (BB) Love Box – was initiated with a similar goal of distributing gifts to spread joy among poor families and students statewide.
Founding members of BB Sarawak in 1961 at St Thomas’ Cathedral.
Within two years alone, BB Sarawak distributed more than 37,000 gifts to needy communities – 7,200 for Kuching and Sri Aman; 3,607 for Sarikei, Bintangor, Sibu and Mukah; 1,600 for Bintulu; 3,689 for Miri and 610 for Limbang in 2018 while 8,400 for Kuching and Sri Aman; 4,520 for Sarikei, Bintangor, Sibu and Mukah; 2,291 for Bintulu, 4,073 for Miri; and 1,060 for Limbang in 2019.
Face masks
Sarawak State Council of the Boys’ Brigade (Social Concern and Community Service) chairman Hon Captain Sim Tze Sian told thesundaypost over the past two years, members from the different districts had been fully committed to making the BB Love Box’ community programme a success.
“In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, we made slight changes to the programme by distributing disposable medical face masks instead of gifts. We also understand the public might be facing financial pressure during this trying time.”
He said face masks were distributed to hospitals, schools, and villages and this year, the BB Love Box programme would proceed as usual with further details to be made known in the middle of the year.
BB holds an anti-drug awareness campaign at a local school in 2019.
According to Sim, about 20,000 packets of disposable medical face masks, each containing 10 pieces, were distributed last year to front-line institutions and poor families.
Aside from the gifts distribution community programme, BB also launched an anti-drug and anti-gambling awareness campaign in primary and secondary schools statewide in 2019.
The programme received positive feedback from the schools with a request to continue it.
BB Sarawak had contacted the State Education Department and schools on this request in April 2020 but due to Covid-19, had to put it on hold, hoping to resume the programme after the pandemic.
Sim said initially, they wanted to organise the anti-drug and anti-gambling campaigns in more schools last year, but the pandemic put paid to the plan.
Two of the most anticipated events are hosting of The Boys’ Brigade National Pesta 2021 and celebration of the 60th anniversary of the inception of BB in Sarawak.
However, because of the current situation, the organising committee decided to postpone the grand event till the school holidays in June 2022.
Fund-raising by The Boys’ Brigade to purchase dialysis machines for the National Kidney Foundation.
If everything goes according to plan, 1,200 members and officers from local companies and abroad are expected to attend.
Girl members
Many might not know The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia also recruits girls to keep up with changes in society. There are about 2,100 lady officers and girl members across the country.
Mascots of The Boys’ Brigade.
Moving forward, BB Sarawak intends to explore more social work avenues to create a better living environment and extend its membership to the indigenous communities. To date, most members are of Chinese descent.
Covid-19 has changed the way the youth organisation carries out its activities and the Sarawak chapter has been developing online teaching curriculum materials to make information more accessible to members living in remote areas.
In addition to the family and school education, appropriate extracurricular activities will also be organised for young children. In this way, BB hopes to foster a deep sense of responsibility and acquiring knowledge as well as sound development of body and soul.
The Boys’ Brigade was founded on Oct 4, 1883, by Sir William Alexander Smith in Glasgow before the organisation spread to the US in 1887 and Southeast Asia in 1930 with the formation of the first company in Singapore.
Smith purportedly mooted the idea of setting up BB as he was worried about retaining older children in the Sunday school of a church where the activities organised could not satisfy their curiosity and hyperactivity.
Pupils and teachers take part in the ‘BB Love Box’ community programme.
Smith, a territorial soldier, deeply understood the value of discipline and believed the integration of team spirit and military discipline in religious activities would be more effective in teaching Sunday school children, paving the way for the formation of The Boys’ Brigade.
BB officially came to Malaysia after the Second World War and the first meeting was held at Madras Road Methodist Church, Penang.
The Boys’ Brigade believes in winning today’s youth to win tomorrow’s world.