orientation programme - OBS
part 2 of the DSTA scholarship orientation programme! Outward Bound Singapore, or OBS as people usually call it. Went for the marine mobile course, which was totally different from the land residential course I had back in sec 3. Really had a good time out there. So here goes….
My watch name was Sui Sen. Instructor was Hiap Loh. A real nice guy! People in my watch were Terence, Lawrence, CK, TK, Ying hui, Iris, Huimin, Ben, Ziyang, Hao Xiang, Brian, and lastly Feng yi.
Day 1 - The day started off with heavy rain as we boarded the fastcraft to Ubin. Got settled down rather quickly, introduced to our instructors and watch members. Was a huge coincidence that the 4 AHS guys ended up in the same watch. Went to our bunks but HL said that we wouldn’t be using our bunks often, and we really did. Afternoon activity was at the inverse tower. Quick recap on how to wear the harness and the method of belaying. I climbed the up the tower together with yh. She seemed so freaked out during the climbing and wanted to give up. Actually I was also pretty scared but I still managed to encourage her enough (by putting on a brave front -.-) and we managed to climb to the top! Great satisfaction! Later on we quickly pitched our tents and went for our theory lessons on cutter sailing. Slept in the tents for the night.
Day 2 - Prepared the stores for sailing. Our expedition will end on Fri morning, so we packed a lot of rations too. CK and I were in charge of rigging up the mizzen sail. Started off managing the running stays. Wasn’t a tough role and we managed to sail to our first camp site at about 5pm. Mosquito infested! It was the same camp site I came to a few years ago. The ground wasn’t ideal for pitching tents but we managed to improvise well enough by using rocks to hold on to the tent pegs. Had maggi mee with sausages for dinner. Canned food taste great during outfield times. We gathered outside our tents for some chit chatting amidst all the mosquito biting. Lawrence was busy entertaining us with his intellectual questions. Soon after fatigue set in, and we were off to our respective tents.
Day 3 - Morning activity was at the quarry. Did raft building. Materials given were just some PVC pipes and barrels, as well as lots of ropes. Learnt a lot about lashings and knots and in the end I really felt that our group had the best raft. Built in the shortest time, most stable, most firepower, maximum capacity, and a unique idea of storing our oars. Enjoyed the dip in the quarry later. It’s equivalent to bathing since it’s fresh water! Iris was really frightened being in water but I guess our instructor did a pretty good job guiding and encouraging her. And I want to mention that my watch was zai in the fact that all of us were just so enthu. Ziyang (scouts being scouts) was technically proficient at lashings and with his guidance we all managed to come up with the completed product. After that we set off for sailing again. Took up the role of backing the gib sail as well as dipping the gib sail. The view that I had at the bow was simply great! And I love it when waves come, cos the boat will rock and heel and one word to describe it…shiok! Reached shore at Sembawang area. Cooked rice with curry chicken. The rice we cooked were harder than usual and we termed it al dente. Hao Xiang and co were good sia, they scraped the base of the pot until we can see our own reflections in it(a bit of exaggeration). Lol. Slept on the boat for the night. Wasn’t the most comfortable of places. Basically I was just adjusting my position every now and then throughout the night.
Day 4 - Whole day of sailing. Breakfast and lunch were in the form of biscuits and cakes. Haha and there was this craze of eating raisins lar. Played a lot of games on board. I suck at these games. Argh! Especially the MRT station game which they played. HL shared a lot of his experiences being a instructor, in particular the selection and training process he went through. The conclusion I made was, it’s not easy to become a OBS instructor. The physical attributes are just the basic requirements. Mental strength is what they are looking for. I had the chance to be the helmsman (is it spelt like this?). Did tacking (the process of changing direction from one close haul to another) as well as gybing (the process of changing direction from broad reach to another). By now everyone was so technically proficient in all the roles. A good crew is the key to smooth sailing. We ran into a storm and at times our boat was heeling to the verge of capsizing! Scared the hell out of us. Reached camp site 2 and alas! Showering facilities finally! Terence can cook really well! Haha had maggi mee again with sardines and peanuts. Great dinner!
After dinner we went for a confidence walk in the jungle. We had to walk through this tunnel which was pitch black inside alone. It’s something like a maze. Was quite worried at the start but in the end managed to reach the end effortlessly. Had a nice talk with Lawrence and yh at the waterfront before it started to rain. Back to our comfortable (and waterproof) tents. 
Day 5 - Everything was done quickly. Sailed back to OBS main camp, settled all the stores. CK and I had the worst experience of pushing all the stores up the slopes to our bunks. There was no loss of stores except the fact that we lost a tray provided in the kitchen. And that cost 6 bucks(for a tray???). Went to the tripod after lunch. Basically it consists of a few stations which greatly test your confidence. I chose the "leap" station where you are about 10 m off the ground and you have to jump from a platform to catch hold to a handle in mid air. Again I don’t deny I was frightened but I was great at concealing it (lol). Up the platform and 1, 2, 3 I jumped and it was a success. HL was nice enough to allow us to leave our harness and helmets behind so that we can rush off to our fastcraft. Dinner this time was at Marche. yea!
Wow what a lengthy entry! Usually I don’t write this much but guess it is one way I can show that I really enjoyed this course. I don’t like the fact that people keep branding us as scholars and start to say things like " Oh scholar mah of course know this and that."… It really shouldn’t matter. What matters most is still the personality. Scholars or not, this group of friends that I made over this orientation programme have been a great company and it was really nice knowing them. Wishing them all the best here! And looking forward to sharing our experiences again in a few years time.
