Singapore Institute of Management Outdoor Adventure
Club
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Singapore Institute of Management Outdoor Adventure
Club
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Pulau Hantu (ODAC ORIENTATION CAMP) 4th - 5th August 2001
By Anne Marie Alex
had approached me to share my views and thoughts on the ODAC ORIENTATION CAMP,
which was held at Pulau Hantu from 4th to 5th August 2001.
So here’s goes… Our
2 days orientation camp on the beautiful Pulau Hantu had passed by like flowing
waters. Although the trip was short, I am sure all of us had enjoyed our camp
thoroughly. Togetherness was established and new ties forged through
participation, cooperation and learning in the various games that were played. Prior
to setting up camp and pitching the tents, we had a demonstration from Alex and
Jonathan, which helped a great deal, especially to those who had no prior
tent-pitching experience. However, there was a "twist" to the actual
process, as the tent has to be set up perfectly and at the same time, we had
compete with the other groups to clock the fastest timing. Some of the group
members had tried to get a head start by removing all the parts from the tent
bags before the start of the ‘competition’ but Ha! They were caught
red-handed. Perfection in pitching the tents and quick thinking was the aim of
the competition and as the day went on, more competitions came our way.
After
the tents were pitched, we proceeded on to play various icebreakers games which
were in itself, a competition amongst the groups. Points were awarded based on
speed and no. of goals and the group that accumulates the most points wins at
the end of the day. Also, after each game, we were clues which were needed in
finding our equipment and foodstuffs for our mini BBQ in the evening.
The first station that my group played had to do with a hula-hoop. It was a test of team coordination and cooperation as each of us had to guide the hula hoop down to the ground using our fingers, of which had to be in contact with the hula hoop at all times. Though it sounds easy at first, the actual act of doing it was a task in itself as a lot of coordination was needed among the group members to lower the hula-hoop together at the same time.
Our
second station was "Trust Fall". It was scary yet interesting, but
what was important was that I had to have confidence in trusting my fellow group
mates to catch hold of me while I fall backwards from a height. Any mistake may
probably have me ended up falling to the ground!
I
also remembered the team spirit and camaraderie my group displayed while playing
"Punch the alphabet". There was an intense desire to better our own
and other groups’ timing and to complete the game with utmost perfection.
Strategy and systematic coordination were needed to finish the game as a group,
as quickly as possible without a single glitch; otherwise we had to restart the
game all over again. Though unintentional mistakes were made during the game,
partly because of nerves, no blames were put across; instead words of
encouragement flowed freely and this had helped boosted the level of my team’s
confidences and togetherness.
One
of my favorite games was the “Frisbee”. It had the same concept as
Captain’s Ball except that the ball was replaced with a Frisbee. Scores were
obtained as the Frisbee was passed among the teammates until it whizzed to our
goalkeeper. Throughout the game, everybody aimed to out-run, out-jump,
out-snatched ( well the girls got involved in a cat-fight while fighting for the
Frisbee!) and out-score the other
group members, through collaboration, precise timing and passing. And through
sheer desire to win, my group fought our way through to emerge the group with
the most scores.
Come
evening, we had to set up our individual BBQ pits, using the clues that we were
given earlier. Again, everyone cooperated to look for our items at various spots
on the island. It was easy as everyone was filled with enthusiasm (which was
fueled by hunger and greediness) and we soon managed to obtain all the necessary
stuffs. The skies opened just when all of us were preparing the pits and food
and hence the BBQ was relocated to shelters found on the island instead of the
beach. So each group “snuggled” up together in the shelters, which I
personally enjoyed. Everybody pitched in to help with the cooking and BBQ-ing
and to my amazement; I realized that there are many good chefs in ODAC. The
atmosphere was electrifying, as the air was filled with the smells of sea, rain
and food, the sizzling sound of patties of chicken and beef on grill, and the
joyous chatter and laughter of all of us.
After
we had ate our fill and cleaned up the area, we congregated for a game much
similar to the “Super Sunday” game show or charade. Actions implying the
answer were conveyed down one whole
line of people. The last person had to guess what the action was implying and
it’s no mean feat as the message got distorted along the way; the hilarious
actions, coupled with our fertile imagination, drew laughter from all present. After
that, we tried to follow the dance steps in accordance to the Hantu Dance Song,
which the seniors had choreographed a day before. The dance steps were great as
it had a mixture of cool actions in it. For example, there was a bit of
‘Macarena’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever’ steps in the dance. Though it was
rave party- not, we nevertheless enjoyed ourselves thoroughly dancing to the
somewhat exotic and primitive beats of the Song.
We
then went away in our groups to different parts of the island, to engage in some
‘bonding’ through chats, jokes, games and stories. This kept us awake for
most of the night till most of us fell prey to the sleepy bug at about 5am and
drop-dead to sleep for whatever was remaining of the ‘night’.
Dawn
came before we knew it and soon it was time to break camp and pack up. All good
things must come to an end and as I board the ferry with a heavy heart, no words
could ever express the memorable times my group and I had on Pulau Hantu.
I guess the orientation camp will be in a special place in all ODACians’ hearts and it could not have had been so successful if not for the seniors’ efforts in organizing the camp program and of course, the enthusiasms and participations of the yr ones.
I
would like to take this opportunity to thank all my group 1 members namely,
Jean, Qi Jun, Eunice, Esther, Chi Kuan, Kenny, Ali, Richard and Annabel for
being so “on”, and for making it one of the memorable camp for me.
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ODAC like to express heartfelt appreciation to members who helped make this camp possible especially to members of the advance party and of course Anne for helping me with this.
Regards, Alex Tan VP
ODAC |
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