Kawad Kaki

Today (14-3-09), my school held its annual Pertandingan Kawad Kaki Unit Beruniform. It's quite a big thing here; the students have been practising like mad for the last 2 weeks.

11 platoons participated in the competition. They were:
-Puteri Islam
-Pandu Puteri
-KRS (Lelaki)
-KRS (Perempuan)
-Kadet Polis (Lelaki)
-Kadet Polis (Perempuan)
-St. John Ambulance
-PBSM
-PKBM
-Pengakap (Lelaki)
-Pengakap (Perempuan)

It was very exciting at first. I have never been to a marching competition before - so I was a bit awestruck. Firstly, all the platoons assembled for the officiating ceremony. Then, the competition started.

Before taking the stage (read: dataran), each platoon had their costume inspected. Then, they performed basic routines like: ke kanan/kiri/belakang pusing, jalan perlahan, ke kanan/hadapan hormat, buka barisan, etc. Next, came the most exciting part: the formation routine. This was where they really had to impress the judges.

It became rather repetitive after 2-3 performances. Besides, Pandu Puteri raised the bar really high with their routine. The audience went "ooh" and "aah" over their performance. They were the first to perform. It sort of went downhill from there.

The competition heated up again when Kadet Polis (Lelaki) took the stage. They were the second-last team to perform. They seemed to be the favourites. The atmosphere was really electric.

smartest-looking bunch

They certainly made an impressive start. But several errors marred their routines. A few members of the platoon seemed visibly affected by some of the hostile crowd who picked up and celebrated their slightest mistake.

The audience were treated to a silat demonstration while waiting for the result.

Expectedly, Pandu Puteri was champion for the NGO category and Kadet Polis (Lelaki) for the GO category.

Kadet Polis also bagged the Johan Keseluruhan title.

I was surprised at that. To my untrained and biased eyes (I'm the Pandu Puteri advisor you see...) I really thought that Pandu Puteri deserved to be Johan Keseluruhan as their routine was more error-free than the Kadet Polis'. Oh, well...

X X X

I like what our principal said during the officiating ceremony. I'm paraphrasing here:

"Saya boleh lihat para pelajar berlatih dengan bersungguh-sungguh setiap hari. Dan para pelajar tidak kisah didenda oleh ketua platun jika melakukan kesalahan semasa berbaris. Denda yang dikenakan termasuk ketuk ketampi, pumping, dll. Para pelajar rela didenda atas kesalahan-kesalahan mereka.

Tetapi, jika guru yang melaksanakan denda yang sedemikian, para pelajar akan memberontak - perkara itu akan sampai ke pengetahuan ibu bapa, media dan mungkin juga Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia.

Ingin saya tekankan di sini: jika para pelajar boleh berdisiplin semasa latihan kawad, maka cubalah amalkan disiplin yang telah dibina itu sepanjang masa"

I couldn't agree more. That's why it's so important for students to be involved in extra-curricular activities. Learning in the classroom is not sufficient. Academic excellence must go together with active extra-curricular participation.

I'm reminded of what Randy Pausch mentioned in his Last Lecture:

" When we send our kids to play organized sports - football, soccer, swimming, whatever - for most of us, it's not because we're desperate for them to learn the intricacies of the sport.

What we really want them to learn is far more important: teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity."

So, let us mould individuals who are intellectually, physically, emotionally and spiritually harmonious, as stated in our Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan.

X X X

This verse from the Quran was put in the programme book. I thought it was most befitting:

Taken from the Surah As-Saff (61:4):

"Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure"

"Sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang berperang untuk membela Agama-Nya dalam barisan yang teratur rapi, seolah-olah mereka sebuah bangunan yang tersusun kukuh."