Boys’ Brigade Asia faces challenges

By Richard Tok

THE BOYS’ BRIGADE ASIA (BB Asia) is facing the challenge of putting its administration, communication, strategic planning, development, extension work and training on an even keel. Financial and human resources are needed, without which BB Asia’s ministry will be hindered.

A full-time Executive Secretary has been employed, operating from home. Most of the time he is in the field, where a Development, Extension & Training Executive is most needed. Hence, there is need for additional staff to form a team to coordinate field and office work. The scale of work to advance The Boys’ Brigade in Asia has taken the organisation to a new level.

BB Asia was inaugurated in Johor Bahru on July 26, 2003 with Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, Indonesia and Thailand as the founding member countries. Member countries today are Brunei, Hongkong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade of the Philippines (Boys’ Wing) is an associate member.

After it was founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 1883, the Boys’ Brigade (BB) came to Asia. Swatow, China, the city of the Teo Chew dialect, was the first Asian city to have a BB company formed in 1915.

With the migration of the Chinese to South-east Asia, among whom were many Christians, the BB came along and was established in Singapore in 1930. From there the BB crossed the Causeway into Johor Bahru in 1956. Up in the north The BB was established 10 years earlier in Penang, 1946, during the British Military Administration after the end of the Japanese Occupation.

The establishment of the BB in Indonesia in 1982 was attributed to the missionary endeavour of The Boys’ Brigade in Singapore. The BB ministry has grown out of Medan, Sumatra and has spread to Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung, Blora and Aceh.

In the early 1990s, work in Manila started. However, it was a “false start” and it did not take off. In 2002, The Girls’ Brigade, however, initiated the formation of The Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade of the Philippines and a Boys’ Wing was started in Baguio and this Boys’ Wing is currently an associate member of BB Asia.

In the late 1990s, the BB in Singapore introduced The Boys’ Brigade to Myanmar. However, it did not take off as the officer who was based in Yangon returned to Singapore.

The current focus of the BB in Singapore is extension work in Cambodia. A Language Learning Centre was started in 2004 in Siem Reap and it currently has two missionary couples manning it. Singapore’s involvement with Cambodia goes back to 1995. Four churches sponsored four Companies with a membership of about 200. When civil war broke out there, Singapore ceased all activities and it was the BB Singapore Youth Expedition Project that re-established contact with Cambodia in 2001.

The BB in Malaysia focused extension work in Thailand. It was in the 1993-94 period that ground was broken and work founded in Bangkok. The BB ministry has spread to Chonburi, Mahachai, Khon Kaen, Korat and Changrai. The work in Thailand is financially dependent on Malaysia and a Singapore-based firm in Bangkok supports the work with monthly contributions.

The BB in Hongkong will celebrate its 50^th anniversary next month. It has special focus on extension work in Macau, a work started in 1999 and now has several companies.

The Rev Richard Tok is the Associate Chaplain of Boys’ Brigade Asia.