Readiness and Preparedness against Crises in a Bag
11 March 2011
by Amran Sukri, Hua Yi Secondary School
THE importance of being ready for crises and emergencies can never be over-emphasised. To bring home this point, Hua Yi Secondary School had its students learn how to prepare for crises and emergencies by having a Ready Bag and in turn shared the message with residents of Ho Ching Road.
This learning programme was part of Hua Yi Secondary School's commemoration of the Total Defence Day, and was supported by the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) Secretariat at the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The lessons on the Ready Bags were prepared by student leaders who are also known as the "ONE Advocates" and "ONE Heritagers" and play an important role in advocating the National Education messages among their school mates. They made use of their Character Education lessons to introduce to classmates what a Ready Bag is and how by having a Ready Bag at home can help families prepare for crises and emergencies.
Sharing with peers: A member of the ONE Advocates sharing with fellow student leaders the concept of the Ready Bag.
On Total Defence Day itself, the Uniformed Groups and the ONE Advocates set up booths related to the five aspects of Total Defence and an In-Place Protection (IPP) demonstration room - the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) cadets shared on the importance of Ready Bags; the booth set up by the National Cadet Corp (NCC) showcased issues related to Military Defence; the Red Cross Youth shared on the importance of Psychological Defence; and the Girl Guides and the ONE Advocates demonstrated how to apply IPP skills and introduced its purpose and function.
Spreading the word: NPCC cadets set up a booth on Ready Bag to encourage peers to have a Ready Bag at home.
After touring the booths and the IPP demonstration room, students participated in a Total Defence quiz which reinforced the lessons learnt during the two-week long learning programme. The winner from each class was presented a Ready Bag by the school principal, Mrs Mabel Leong.
The learning did not stop here.
Secondary Two students and NCC cadets, as part of their Community Involvement Project (CIP), next distributed Ready Bags to the residents of Blocks 116 to 118 Ho Ching Road Hua Yi Secondary School has adopted these blocks of flats under the "Adopt-A-Rental-Block programme @ Jurong" supported by the South West Community Development Council (CDC).
Sharing with residents: As part of their Community Involvement project, students distributed Ready Bags to residents staying in HDB blocks that they have "adopted", and at the same time explained to the residents the concept of the Ready Bag.
The students explained to the residents the concept of the Ready Bag, introduced the recommended items to be placed in a Ready Bag and how having a Ready Bag at home could help them stay prepared for crises and emergencies.
Student Bryan Foo said, “By distributing the Ready Bags to the residents, we are helping them to be prepared so that they are aware of what they should do in an emergency.” Students also commented that they found the experience a meaningful one.
It was observed that the students had responded positively to the learning programme. They learnt of the need to have a Ready Bag and it can help them cope with crises or emergencies. Students also learnt the importance of sharing and transferring their knowledge to fellow Singaporeans.
