I write this with a heavy heart. Mr. Donald Lee will be sorely missed by those scouts, ventures who attended his training courses.   
​It took both time and effort of the leaders to proceed and complete such 3 days training course held in February and March. A total of 15 ventures attended such course, including 1694th, 192nd, 150th and 139th troop. It's an intensive, comprehensive as well as  interesting course that cover theory, games, practice, visit and examination altogether. Let's keep our memory fresh by below pictures gallery. I would also like to take such opportunity to thank you those leaders who commit their time and effort to make this happened.

Every year, our supporting Check Point, number 9, always means a challenge, to both the tired, exhausted runners as well as the volunteers. It's because we need to provide an overnight support service in an restricted area.   
This year’s Hong Kong 100 took place during the coldest day that Hong Kong has experienced in six decades, with temperatures falling below zero on the course’s highest peak, Tai Mo Shan.  As a result of the cold weather, a lot of local “frost chasers” drove their cars up to Tai Mo Shan in the hope of experiencing snow in Hong Kong for the first time in their lives.  This resulted in total traffic gridlock to and from the finish point and on the last 2.5 km of the route and the consequent decision to re-route the last part of the course onto trail and away from the congested road to ensure safety of the participants and volunteers.  A decision was made to call off the race after about 21 hours because ice formed overnight on the last 6 km of the route, making the run in to the finish treacherous.
The annoucement did disappoint a lot of runners who reached our CP. It was becasue most of the runners who reached our CP did not aware of the adverse weather conditions up in Tai Mo Shan, and to finish the race also meant a lot to them. We had to deal with a lot their emotional feelings. Even worse was that some runners were reported missing, so we had to handle with the police as well as firemen at the same time. It was one of the chaotic situations we had never encountered! Afterall, the best news was that all missing runners had been reported safe!

Every year, the Scout Runway at the rooftop would be one of the must visit activity for all visitors at the College Fair. 
We would like to take such opportunity to thank you for the hardworking of Peter Halliday as well as leaders Ouch, Peter, Alfred  and all our ventures to support such amazing activity.

Our 3 days and 2 nights 2015 Kayaking camp has finally over.
To me, it is so excited to see we have many new activity and energetic new scout members in 1694th, but what is worth to mention; is our ventures were doing very well, and had set a very good example to their juniors.

Finally, a quick thanks to Etienne, Marcus Yee and Rosie Anne; for your effort and contribution to keep the youngest busy and entertained when there are gap time during the camp. Etienne and Rosie Anne did not miss any chance to train the scouts foot-drill, while Marcus Yee has proved himself is actually a good cook.
Other than the long coach waiting, I hope you all enjoyed the camp.
In Scouting,
Bea

When: 28 July to 8 August
Where: Kirara-hama, Yamaguchi City, Japan

Some facts:
How many HK participants? A total of 350 youth from Hong Kong
How many participants over the world? Nearly 30,000
How many countries? A total of 105

A total of 1 instructor and 3 ventures from our troop participated such worldwide event, namely Christopher Chan, Timothy Tan, Chris Chung and Marcus Chui. 

What did they said about such incredible experience?   "The jamboree is a truly inspiring experience. Walking around every morning in the Jamboree feels like you had traveled to multiple countries in mere minutes. You will see evidence of cultural diversity in every aspect of one's life style. Experience the atmosphere of the difference, exchange what you know and love to do with one another. Not only have I learnt more about individuals from various locations, but I have also learnt more about myself. What can make an individual stand out, within all the different nationalities we have standing before us. Linking to the theme of "peace", the unity of Jamboree is a truly inspiring scene to witness, as it strengthen my belief of harmony within human kind."

Unit I is unique. I mean this not in the sense that we are superior to others, but on the basis that we are one of the only mixed language Units in the Hong Kong Contingent for the 23rd World Scout Jamboree.

I am not going to lie - our Unit was extremely divided in the very beginning. And it was not simply due to the differences in our language proficiencies. The Chinese-speaking and English-speaking members of our Unit are from very different backgrounds - we come from different schools, different Scout Troops, different parts of Hong Kong, and we had never seen each other before. At our very first meeting, though it was unsaid, we all felt an invisible barrier between the people in our Unit.  

At the World Scout Jamboree, we began working in small Patrols on programme tasks and campsite duties, slowly building up our confidence to talk to each other and introduce ourselves. We slowly found out more about our common interests and became a much more connected group. We had more conversations, spent more of our free time together, and took on adventures around the Jamboree site with friends that we never imagined we would make.  

The defining moment in our group’s experience must have been our joint performance with Unit J at the Ena Subcamp Headquarters. Our friendly Unit was singing some iconic Hong Kong tunes for our international audience to enjoy, but there were technical errors with the microphones and their voices were faint in the large hall. Our Unit did not hesitate to run up and join them in their performance, and we sang together, loud and proud, hand in hand, in one voice of unity. The experience was amazing as it truly connected all of us in the Unit, as we celebrated our collective Hong Kong identities. We became more cooperative than ever in the following days of our Jamboree.
 
Unit I began as a mismatched group, from all-too-different parts of Hong Kong. Throughout our two weeks spent together, our cliques and small circles converged into one proud Unit, and I believe the bonds that we have created will last a lifetime.

By Timothy Tan,
For the 23rd World Scout Jamboree

Meeting time: 29 August 2015  9:30am at Ma On Shan BBQ park
Destination: our usual 4 Peaks campsite
Activity: light the fire to make a cup of coffee
Estimated release time: around 1:30pm

A highlight of the activity:
1. Some hiking activities;
2. An experience to use "3" matches to light up a fire in the wild; we were surprised that most of them failed to achieve it; Then there was heavy rain and thunderstorm, so we retreated to Ma On Shan BBQ site for a team meeting;
3. We talked about what should be a good kit list for a one day outdoor activity, in addition to our previous emailed out kit list, we all agreed there should be whistle, tent/shelter, backup batteries, etc;
3. Bea also led the team to do some reflections, for instance, like what should be true friendship, how we felt about today's activities, the expectation about ventures, etc;
4. Some of our ventures Christine & Christopher would leave very soon for UK to continue their university life, we wish them all the best wishes;
5. We released at around 2:00pm

“As part of the 30TH Venture Scout Unit this year, we have come to gain much more knowledge regarding the world around us, not only through natural expeditions and outdoor adventures, but also through realising the importance of self-reflection and evaluation. 

The highlight of the year was definitely the Venture Scout Expedition, which was a 3 day, 2 night trip through the North-Eastern New Territories, past iconic locations like Pat Sin Leng and Plover Cove. Through doing reports on the geological environment of the area, as well as a studies on local wildlife, we were able to gain primary knowledge unique to our Troop, and hopefully this will prove to be beneficial to other Scouts expediting in the future. Moreover, being alone as a small patrol on this long expedition truly helped us reflect on our own performances and help us improve both as individuals and as team players.

During the year, we did other activities like volunteering for the Vibram Hong Kong 100 Ultra Trail Race; assisting at the Patrol Leaders Training Camp hosted by the Silver Jubilee District; and acting as supervising members of the Patrol Leaders Council in the Scout section to facilitate progress. These were all wholesome events that helps shape our characters as growing Venture Scouts, and we look forward to many more in the future in our Scouting careers!"

Script prepared by: Timothy Tan & Chris Chung

Saturday 14 February - 15.00 - 17.00
HK Scout HQ Austin Road
SJD Office Room 1023

Agenda
Review of Expedition Report Drafts
Review of Expedition Project Reports Drafts
Lessons Learned Session - KPP Fun with Nutrition led by Bea and Irene

It was Valentine Day, and leaders had divided into 3 groups to  review of the expedition report and project report drafts of the ventures. After that, Bea & I had shared of our training about food menu for expedition, we included some games, and the ventures enjoyed it! After such training and discussion, the ventures should know more about food selection and preparation for thei next expedition.

It was a sunny day, really good news for the runners. This year we were a big team, so we divided into two teams, one was the hiking team who hiked up the hill and the experienced team took the coach to the destination. We were Checkpoint 9 which located at Leadmine Pass. We reached there around 2:30pm and started the preparation works. Followed what we had defined, the team start with their assigned job, like distributed the boxes, restructured the tables and chairs in order to serve the runners better, prepared for the food,boiled hot water, decorated the CP, etc. 
The first runner was from China and he reached our CP at 16:55pm and the 2nd and 3rd runners followed shortly. We were all very exciting! Like last year, the peak of runners reached CP9 in mid night periods, from 12am to 5:00am. After a long serving, the young scouts seemed very tired, but afterall, we had done our best. The last runner reached CP9 before 11:00am. We then began the clean up work. We returned RC around 1:00pm. We were all very exhausted, but at the same time, we were very satisfied becasue we had completed our mission.