Once a Scout – Always a Scout! This is the motto of the Scout Scarf Day, an event celebrated all over the world annually on 1 August.
The idea of “Scout Scarf Day” is that all active and former scouts are requested to wear their scout scarfs in public to make the “Spirit of Scouting” visible: Once a Scout – Always a Scout!
“For scouting to be an integral part of the community, people must get to see scouting alive every now and then. They must see scouts in their uniform and scarves and doing community services. This ‘Scout Scarf Day’ is a good opportunity for our members to be visible in their scarves,” said President of the State Scouts Council Tan Sri Dato Sri William Mawan Ikom when speaking to the New Sarawak Tribune recently.
The date of the event commemorates the very first Scout Camp on Brownsea Island in 1907.
Of course, the scarf is only a symbol but a strong symbol for the Scout Promise and for our mission to leave the world as a bit better a place than we had found it.
As such yesterday in Sarawak, especially in Kuching, all scouts and scout leaders were encouraged to put on their scarves to ensure the existence of the scouting spirit would be very much alive and visible or seen by the public. In the scouting fraternity, we always refer to the scouting spirit as BP spirit after the founder of the world scouting movement Baden Powell. For the information of scouts and readers, by wearing their scarves or neckerchiefs in public annually on 1 August, scouts and scout leaders show to the public that their scarves are a symbol of the Scout Promise and the spirit of scouting. This event has been promoted on the social media, especially on Facebook the world over by scouting organisations since 2007 – commemorating the first Scout Camp on Brownsea Island in 1907 as aforesaid.
This brings us to the fact that scouting movement can be said to have started on Brownsea Island in England. Here in 1907 the founder of the movement Lord Robert Baden Powell tried the then unconventional idea that camping could be fun, and that outdoor life could assist in character-building. His ‘guinea-pigs’ comprised twenty-one boys of various backgrounds.
The overwhelming success of the Brownsea Island venture and the subsequent founders of the scout movement in England gave impetus to like-minded youth leaders across the oceans and continents to start the movement in their respective countries. In 1910 it came to Malaysia. In less than a decade it had spread to many other countries.
Today, since Brownsea in 1907, at least 300 million persons have received training in scouting. They gather once in every four years at a world jamboree. The first one was held at Olympia, London, England in 1920 and was attended by 8,000 scouts from 34 countries in the world.
In the last world jamboree known as the 23rd World Scout Jamboree that took place in Kirarahama, Yamaguchi in western Japan from 28 July to 8 August 2015, a total of 33,628 scouts and leaders attended including 7979 International Service Teams members who served as volunteers. It was themed ‘Spirit of Unity’.
The 2019 World Scout Jamboree will be held in West Virginia, USA from July 21 to Aug. 1. The theme is “Unlock a New World”.
The host countries, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, will provide glimpses into each of their unique cultures. The 24th World Scout Jamboree is all about unlocking new friendships and understanding new cultures, all at a venue that will challenge you to do things you did not think were possible.
In Malaysia, one of the biggest scouting events this year is the ‘Sambutan Hari Pengakap Sedunia Peringkat Kebangsaan or the National Level Celebration of the World Scout Day held at Sabah Nature Park (SNP) in Sandakan, Sabah starting tomorrow Friday 3 August and ends on Sunday 5 August.
“I am going to Sandakan on 2 August and will bring your scouting credentials with me and hand over your resume to the nation’s top scouting leaders for their further actions,” said State Chief Scout Commissioner Capt Zainuddin Tan Sri Hamdan to me recently when pressing for my speedy compliance in accepting my new appointment as Assistant State Chief Commissioner (Publicity). True to the spirit that once a scout always a scout, I was persuaded into making a come back by my good friend Capt Zai and unconditionally accepted the appointment. In fact, I never left scouting as I was always in contact with Capt Zai and his deputy Haji Said Bolhassan, a four-bead woodbadge holder (international trainer) whom I always refer to as ‘Dato’ – he looks like a Dato anyway and deserves the title for his more than five decades of high profile services to scouting and to the state.
For the record, scouting movement came to Sarawak in 1915. It was first established at the then Hokkien Free School, now the Kuching Chung Hua School No.1, by its principal Mr. Cox. Another scouting enthusiast, Mr Currey of the S.P.G. Mission, simultaneously established another group at St Thomas School, Kuching. The way the movement was conducted at that time was different from how it is run today. Infact it was then a free system where each scout leader coined his own way of training his scouts depending on his own experience and initiative, and mostly guided bu books imported from England. Over the years the movement grew stronger. In 1940 the Sarawak Scout Association became a branch of the Great Britain Scout Movement. The movement reached Miri in 1952 and in 1954 it was spread to Sibu and later to other areas in Sarawak. To spur the movement further, a number of activities were piloted. In August 1962, the First Statewide Sarawak Patrol Camp was held in Sibu. With the formation of Malaysia on 16 Sept 1963, the Sarawak Scout Association withdrew itself from being a branch of the Imperial Boy Scout Headquarters in London and became a branch of the Malaysian Scout Association.
The Sarawak scout movement was further enhanced when in 1984, Malaysian King Yang di-Pertuan Agong appointed Sarawak-born Education Minister Datuk Amar (later Tan Sri) Dr Sulaiman Haji Daud as Chief Scout of Malaysia.
Scouting movement in the state has been growing from strength to strength thanks to the dedication, devotion and unselfish services rendered by its past and present State Chief Scout Commissioners as well as other scout leaders.
Having been a scout since 1969 and a scout leader since 1979, the author is glad to be back. It is a good way in serving the nation. So hereby I sign off by saying ‘selamat meningkatkan lagi prestasi dan pembangunan jati diri, Negara dan Bangsa melalui Kepengakapan di Malaysia’.
