Weeks ago, they were taught of the priority of survival, how to light without using a match, how to find direction on a cloudy day, what to do when lost, what we can and cannot eat, how to build shelter using only nature’s resources, and most importantly... the most challenging task was to turn this...
into this...
and ultimately into this...
Looks easy? Not a problem? A piece of cake? Take a good look at their faces while our dear Cmdr. Chandran ran through with them the steps of preparing a ‘finger licking good’ meal for your survival...
And from that day onward, from that very big group of people, there were only 16 rangers who have submitted their application form for survivors. Only 16 dare to answer the call… Only 16 dare to face the terrains of unknown... Only 16 dare to put their survival skill to test…
WILL THEY SURVIVE?
18th August 2007 – All 16 were present in church at 8 in the morning. None of them chickened out, Thank God. They ate their breakfast and packed their lunch. And then, it was off to an unknown location in the borders of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The leaders took a few, ok… ok… 3 wrong turns and u-turns to be exact, to make the rangers think that we were lost. Unaware to them, we (the leaders) had everything under control… oh yes, we did. We acted so well that some of the leaders were also almost convinced that we were lost but nevertheless, after the third turn, we arrived at our survival spot.
Nothing has changed since the last 2 years that we’ve been here. During that wet survivor series, only two (2) out of 30+ participants, managed to pull through and pass their survival merit. They were then, ranger Koh Poh Leong and ranger Caleb. It was raining cats and dogs then; everything was in mess, no fire to keep warm, no food as all their chicken chose to die themselves than to be slaughtered by these city boys and girls. In the blistering cold weather, they all endured their longest ever night and at the end of the camp, only 2 managed to survived. Will this episode continue…?
Two basic rules were laid down…
1) Never cut down any live trees
2) Keep the place as it is or cleaner than when we first came
And off they went, finding wood for fire supply, whines and banana leafs for shelter. They have to make sure that their shelter can withstand any weather condition as it were to rain (oh please… please let it rain… please… pretty please…) they will still have to sleep in their shelter and go through their activities in the rain. But God was kind. He gave them a hot afternoon weather, dark clouds came just to warn them that it might rain and when they had rush to complete their shelter, the weather became good again.
The chickens were kept alive this time by Cmdr. Ivan Kok aka the chicken expert or the chicken whisperer or better known in Pandamaran as ‘the kill it, clean it and tie the leg chicken guy’. The rangers were honored to have him accompanying them. He managed to identify one of the chickens as a magician. No matter how tied we tie, this particular chicken still manages to escape. And mind you, twice! That was when we decided not to tie them at all…
However, one chicken managed to escape the wrath of being slaughtered. When Cmdr. Ivan Kok wasn’t looking, it pretended to sleep, only to be attacked by the enormous army of ants. When discovered, it was too late… Cmdr. Nicholas Aaron tried to resuscitate the poor chicken but it knew its destiny… If it ever made it back to life, it will only face death again, this time in the hands of the city boys and girls.
The shelter took a much longer time than expected to be completed. While the rangers were building theirs, the leaders also participated with building of their own shed and shelters.
complete with a kitchen table in the middle...
This is how we differentiate the pros and the amateurs… haha…
Once their shelter was up, there’s no time left to waste. Its chicken catching time and boy, did they have fun? If you remembered their compassionate face and sad face, when Cmdr. Chandran was preparing the chicken weeks earlier, this is definitely not the time for that feeling to be shown. When come to survival, it’s either you or me, chicken. And I’ve made my choice! I’m sorry.
Nightfall comes very quickly. Before you knew it, it’s already dark and we’re still trying to cook/ roast/ barbeque/ stone grilled (call it whatever you want) our finger licking good dinner.
Did i mentioned the leaders cooked their own meals as well? We wouldn't want to further burden the rangers with our meals, right?
One final gathering over the fire before all proceeds to their own shelter and they must remain there throughout the night, without making any noise.
While some find it hard to sleep, going through their longest ever night, some surprisingly managed to sleep… very soundly… to the extent of snoring… I shall not mention any names here.
As the fire dimes, the morning comes and it was clean up time, before we leave for church again. And when one van, with all their standby energy, chooses to sing their way back home, the other van decides it is better to catch up on their lost sleep.
Did they all survive? The answer will be paste on the Royal Rangers notice board this Sunday, the 25th August 2007.
Congratulation to all you, rangers who has completed your survival merit. You have proven that FEAR is not a FACTOR in your life.
Slide will be posted...
