Year 2019 - 2020
This academic year marks the 80th Anniversary of the 16th Hong Kong Group since its establishment in June 1940. This year, our Group has set up four sections to cater for members across different age groups, namely Grasshopper Ring, Cub Pack, Scout Troop and Venture Scout Unit.
Adapting to Adversity: Online Scouting Amidst Unrest and Pandemic
This academic year has witnessed something unusual in Hong Kong. Starting from October 2019, the scouting activities were temporarily suspended due to social turmoil. Moreover, all classes in schools were suspended from late January 2020 to the end of this academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension did not stop us from providing scout activities to our members. Under these special situations, our leaders turned the normal scout meetings online. Scout members were able to participate in scout meetings, and carry out their badge assessment through different online platforms (e.g. Google Classroom, Jitsi Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams).
Eight Decades of Scouting: 80th Anniversary Dinner
On 11th January 2020, our Group organized 80th Anniversary Gala Dinner at World Trade Centre Club. We were honored to invite Mr. Joseph Lau, the Chief Commissioner, to be our Guest of Honor. Over 160 guests, old scouts, leaders, current scouts and their parents attended the Dinner. At that night, different awards and warrants were presented to our members, including Long Service Medal, Wood Badge, Dragon Scout Award and warrants of Group Council. All participants enjoyed the night to chat and share their experiences in the old scouting life.
First in Decades: Dragon Scout Award Triumph
Another highlight of this year is that one of our Venture Scouts, Mr. Wong Hoi Wai, Tony (currently Assistant Scout Leader) obtained the Dragon Scout Award. The Dragon Scout Award is a coveted award in Venture Scout section for the youth members. Since 1982, he is the first awardee who receives this award in 16th Hong Kong Group. We appreciate his effort in achieving this award and hope that he can pass the torch on. Congratulations to Tony!
Group Council
In January 2010, the Group Council was established with the ultimate aim of providing support and guidance for the development of our Group. Comprised of dedicated individuals, the Council members have generously contributed their time and resources to oversee the Group's operations. Their valuable support, both in terms of finance and human resources, has been instrumental in our growth and success. We are immensely grateful for their unwavering generosity and contribution.
A Quarter Century of Commitment: Long Service Awards at Gala Dinner
Council members have devoted a lot of time to oversee the operation of the Group and given generous support in terms of finance and human resources. Members graduated between the 1950s and the 1990s were also involved in the Council affairs. We are much indebted to their generosity and contributions. Moreover, the Council served as a bridge to reconnect the members of different ages via a lot of reunions, as seen from the increasing number of Council members.
This year, our Council member Mr. Chan Tin Fu, Paul and Council Secretary Dr. Kan Pak Kei, Vincent were being granted the Long Service Medal – 1 star for appreciating their 25-year long service in Scouting. The medals were presented in the 80th Anniversary Gala Dinner. Congratulations!
Grasshopper Scout Ring
The Grasshopper Ring establishes itself as a community for Primary 1 to 2 students of St. Louis School (Primary Section) and enable them to learn the rules and discipline through regular meetings, trainings and outdoor adventures. Regular meetings were held on Saturday mornings.
Cub Scout Pack
Cub Scout Pack is committed to fostering the holistic development of primary section children, specifically those in grades Primary 3 to 6. Our comprehensive program focuses on nurturing their physical, mental, and spiritual growth.
Scout Troop
Activities of the Scout Troop aimed at helping young people aged 11 to 16 (mainly S.1 to S.3 students), providing them with challenging and progressive training programmes for their physical, intellectual, social, spiritual and aesthetic development. Devoted leaders spent much of their leisure time to organize games, training sessions and meetings for our youth members.
Flexibility in Adversity: Hosting Scouting Activities Amidst Crisis
Before January 2020, owing to the social crisis, the traffic situation came to a halt in Hong Kong especially during weekends. Scouts could not leave homes easily because of the blockage of roads. Events included the Investiture Ceremony scheduled to be held at the Victoria Peak Garden on 16th November 2019 was cancelled. The fallback plan was to hold the Ceremony at school on 21st December 2019.
Innovative Scouting: Leadership Programme Goes Virtual
In July and August 2020, all wild camps and face-to-face lectures were still not allowed to be held under the pandemic situation. Our leaders restructured the “Leadership Exploration Programme 2020” on the internet. This programme aimed at improving the team spirit, leadership, communication and organization skills of our potential patrol leaders and senior patrol leaders. A number of online lectures and team building games were organized which was a breakthrough that scout activities were not limited to face-to-face mode only. Although we did not hold the events face-to-face, the outcomes were positive. Members could still enjoy scout events and share their feelings via the online channels.
Resilient Spirits: Sustaining Traditions and Facing Challenges Together
Similar to 1990s, our troop faced the problems that a number of scouts studied abroad or migrated to other countries with their families. Senior Patrol Leaders and Patrol Leaders needed to think of ways to retain the operation of their patrols and deliver the spirit and tradition of their patrols to their junior scouts.
Most of the public competitions and courses were cancelled this year. Our scouts lost the chances to widen their horizons and make friends with other scout groups. However, the challenges encouraged both leaders and scouts to adapt to a new mode of scouting, i.e. think fast and adapt fast to the fast changing challenges. Thank you for the contributions made by our leaders. We do hope that our Troop would have a bright future at the school year 2020 – 2021.
Camp Challenges: Overcoming Weather at Hok Tau Campsite
Moreover, a troop camp was held at the Hok Tau Campsite in Fanling from 28th to 30th December 2019. More than 45 scouts joined the camp. Although few outdoor events were cancelled during the camp because of the adverse weather, our scouts performed well in pitching tents and cooking delicious food successfully.
Adapting to Challenges: Online Scouting During COVID-19
Some of the general meetings before January 2020 were also cancelled to secure the safety of our scouts travelled from home to school. Although the general meetings were being affected, most of the activities could still operate at school smoothly. Our scouts learned skills like knotting, pioneering and first-aid and had fun with other patrol members.
However, in February 2020, in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19, the Scout Association of Hong Kong suspended all scout activities. General meetings and activities were cancelled. In order to take care of the scouts who always stayed at home for a long time without having social activities, our leaders investigated the possibilities of gathering our scouts via online channels.
In early February 2020, our leaders launched the Online Progressive Badge and Badge (Interest Group) Assessment for our members. It allows our members to continue their badge assessment on the internet and explore new knowledge by self-learning during the pandemic. Our Troop is one of the earliest Scout Groups to launch the online assessment scheme in Hong Kong. Our members were enthusiastic and their feedback were positive.
Luckily after various testing, online meetings aimed at strengthening the bondage among members and leaders were held successfully from May 2020 till the end of this scholastic year.
Venture Scout Unit
Operating under a constitution, our Venture Scout Unit shares similarities with other school associations. Our motto, “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained” reflects the ethos of our unit. Members are entrusted with the planning and management of their own activities, both internal and external, while receiving guidance and support from school and leaders of the Venture Scout Unit.
Beyond the Competition: Growth Through VSC Training
This year, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we were forced to put on hold all face-to-face activities, including Venture Scout Competition (VSC), the largest competition among all Ventures Scouts in Hong Kong. It is a regret that we lost this invaluable chance to represent our Unit in the competition. However, we learned a lot from the trainings and the preparation work.
Preparing for the Future: Virtual Leadership Training and Joint Activities
To enhance the leadership quality of our Executive Committee for the next scholastic year, we organized an online training section. This was a 3-hour session aiming to sharpen the skills of our trainees including planning, leadership, and interpersonal relationship. Besides, trainees would also be challenged to explore alternatives in terms of the way to organize and hold future activities if the current pandemic situation persists. After the session, we hoped our trainees could better prepare for the worst while continue to develop in the coming year.
Also, we planned to organize two joint-unit activities, the “16 × 25 Joint Unit Service” and the “5 × 16 Joint Unit Campfire”. The joint unit service was scheduled by our Unit and 25th Island Company (St. Paul's Secondary School), and the joint-unit campfire was planned by our Unit and 5th Island Company (Marymount Secondary School). However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we cancelled both activities. Nevertheless, we still treasure the great experience of co-operating with the other units during the preparation work.
Nature and Team Building: The Ring's Holistic Learning Experience
Outdoor explorations were mainly held in the parks of Central and Western District. These activities included park orientation, understanding the landmarks, history and culture, understanding the trees, ecology and nature. The Ring aims at developing the spirit of teamwork between members, thus the theme “team building” is included. Through different activities, members were able to learn new communication skills and developed a better control over their own emotions as well as participation, mutual help and appreciation. This would ultimately allow them to grow up healthily through life learning experience.
Discovering the Past: Grasshopper Scouts Hike Victoria Peak Trail
On 21st December 2019, a Hiking Trip was held along the trail surrounding the Victoria Peak which includes many famous historical buildings and structures. We aimed to strengthen the knowledge of Hong Kong history and deliver the spirit of teamwork to our Grasshopper scouts.
Stepping Beyond: Encouraging Growth Through External Opportunities
Our Unit encourages our members to step out of their comfort zone and explore the world outside the Unit. Two of our former Executive Committee members, Li Shing Lai, Eric and Cheung Ting Wai, Matthew, were nominated to be the members of the Hong Kong Island Region (HKIR) Venture Scout Council. In order to implement the “Youth Involvement in Decision Making” policy, Eric and Matthew were nominated to be the Secretaries of the HKIR Sea Activity Committee. We hope our members can learn and gain different soft skills outside our Unit and broaden their horizons.
A Year of Challenges and Achievements: Cub Pack's Journey
Besides regular meetings, our Pack held many outdoor and external functions throughout the year. We joined the Hong Kong Scout International Day of Peace 2019 in September 2019. Our Cub Scouts also attended multiple training courses organized by the Hong Kong Island Region and the Hong Kong Island Western District, such as Water Safety badge training course and model-making workshop.
During this unprecedented challenging period in 2020, our Cub Scouts swiftly adopted the online learning mode and carried out various real-time teaching and learning activities at home. We are looking forward to meeting again in the coming academic year.
