Akela Award Ceremony, 22nd October 2016

Written by: Gautham, Sixer 2015-2016 & Guest Scribe 

The Akela award ceremony was held at Yangzheng on the 22^nd of November 2016. It was a special occasion for recipients of the Akela award for their achievement. I was one of the fortunate few from HPPS to receive this prestigious award. Indeed it was a memorable event for me.

 Prior to the commencement of the event, all the recipients were ushered to the hall. We were briefed on how to carry ourselves when we go on stage to receive the award. After the briefing, the organisers held a rehearsal for the recipients on how to go on stage and pose for photographs. It was indeed a new experience for us and I was very excited about it.

 Soon after the rehearsal, the recipients returned to their respective seats. Then, all the guests gathered in the hall. When all the guests had settled down, the emcees addressed them and announced that the guest of honour would be arriving soon.

 Shortly after, the guest of honour arrived, accompanied by scout commissioners. All the guests, including the recipients, stood up and put their hands together to welcome the guest of honour. Once everyone was seated, the ceremony proper began.

The emcees invited the area commissioner, Mr Antong Sharudin, to give his welcoming speech in which he talked about the significance of the Akela award. After that the guest of honour, Mr Alvin Lim, was invited to give his speech. In his speech, Mr Lim talked about how scouting had helped to nurture leaders who eventually turned out to be very successful individuals.

After Mr Lim had spoken, one of our fellow scouts, Matthew Cox, was called up onto the stage to speak about his scouting journey in Singapore. He shared that the school he was in did not offer scouting as a CCA and thus he joined an open group in another school. There, he had a lot of fun participating in the scouting activities. The also mentioned that it was a great experience for him.

 Finally, it was time for the award presentation. The area commissioner for north area was invited to present the awards to the recipients. The emcees called out the names of the recipients one by one. When each name was called out, the recipient went up on stage, received the award from the commissioner and posed for a photo with him.

When it was my turn, I felt both excited and nervous. Proudly, I walked up onto stage in my Scouts uniform. There I gave a broad smile to the commissioner and gave him a left hand shake. The commissioner’s grip was firm as if telling me that I had done very well for myself. As happiness overwhelmed me, my nervousness disappeared into thin air. I posed smartly with the commissioner for the photo taking.

As I made my way down the stage, my gaze fell on my proud mother. I thought to myself, I had accomplished something great that day. This day reminded me that with hard work and determination we can achieve.