Singapore Scout Association | |||
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Country | Singapore | ||
Founded | 1910 | ||
Membership | 10,292 | ||
Chief Scout | Tony Tan Keng Yam | ||
President | Tan Tee How | ||
Chief Commissioner | Tan Cheng Kiong | ||
Affiliation | World Organization of the Scout Movement | ||
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Website http://www.scout.sg |
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The Singapore Scout Association (simplified Chinese: 新加坡童军总会; traditional Chinese: 新加坡童軍總會; pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Tóngjūn Zǒnghuì; "SSA") is one of the oldest youth movements in Singapore.
Scouting was first introduced in Singapore in 1908 but was officially founded on 2 July 1910. A young Scoutmaster named Frank Cooper Sands arrived from Nottingham in September 1910 and spent the next 40 years helping to create the Singapore Scout Association. He is often called the "Father of Malayan Scouting". Starting with a small troop of 30 boys, the movement has grown immensely over the last 90 years, surviving two world wars and producing countless leaders in every sphere of human endeavour. Scouting for local boys only started in 1919 by Captain N.M. Hashim and A.Z. Alsagoff. From 1922 schools in Singapore adopted the Scout Programme as an extra-curricular activity resulting in the formation of school-sponsored troops registered as 2nd Raffles Institution, 3rd Anglo-Chinese School and 4th St Joseph Institution. The 04 St Joseph's Pelandok Scout Group, formed in the 1911, became the oldest surviving Scout troop after the First Singapore Scout Troop disbanded.
Today, there are 10,292 Scouts in Singapore serving in four mainstream Scout sections. Each section caters to the needs of Scouts in a specific age range through its different program focus. The Cub Scout section comprises youths between ages 7 and 12 (primary school) while the Scout section is made up of youths from 12 to 16 (secondary school). In addition, there are the Venture Scout and Rover Scout sections which accept youths between the ages of 15 and 18 and young adults from 17 to 25 respectively. Besides the mainstream Scout sections, there is also the Sea Scout section, which comprises Sea Scouts, Sea Venture Scouts and Sea Rover Scouts, and the Extension Scouts which is open to all physically or mentally disadvantaged youths who enjoy Scouting.