St John Ambulance a holistic training ground for youth

Chairman and Commander of St John Ambulance Sarawak Datuk Seri Ang Lai Soon spoke at the opening ceremony of the Non-Commissioned officers course for the Kuching Divisions at St John Ambulance Headquarters, Kuching yesterday. ST JOHN AMBULANCE, as you must have found out by now, is not only a place where you learn first aid and nursing and Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR ) or where you meet to make friends but we are an organisation where we try to develop a whole man, good and decent, who, in latter life, will be of some service to the community and the country.

We try to inculcate in young people in particular, loyalty to the country, and civic and the national consciousness.

St John Ambulance is also a place where we learn the meaning of responsibility more seriously, especially for those who are holding responsible positions in St John Ambulance, for example, the officers .

You will find in later life, particularly those who are still in schools and colleges, that the burden of responsibility will rest heavily on you.

The seeds of responsibility must be sown early in your life. So you will then see that St John Ambulance is serving as a training ground for those who wish to take an active part in public life, and also for those who will one day lead the country, in other words, we are preparing you for the world outside and for tomorrow.

As I always stress that one training course or one camp alone could not make you a perfect or model leader overnight, but we must make a start somewhere.

The Chinese have a saying ‘For the journey of a thousand miles, we must take the first step’.

Respect, in the true sense of the word, has to be earned, and cannot be bought.

If you fear someone because he bullies, threatens, or using high-handed method, meaning ignoring rules, laws and showing no regard for the rights, concerns or feeling of others, arbitrary or overbearing, then you are not respecting him, but you fear him.

You can only respect someone if she/he is a law abiding citizen, fair, just, impartial, honest, clean and transparent and does not take advantage of anyone or the society.

Indeed, I find eminent good sense in the ‘Leadership By Example’ campaign, that is not an empty empty slogan.

If we lay claim being leaders in our respective fields of endeavor, in this case our organisation StJohn Ambulance, we should show by exemplary behavior, by our discipline, humility and controlled temperament and, above all, by being honest and transparent, that we are truly worthy of emulation.

I have much respect for, and confidence in the basic resilience of society. But never taking anything for granted.

While it is true that we are governed by the Rule of Law – that the threat of coercion is the glue that binds us all together – I would believe that as individuals we all give a premium to selfdiscipline simply because the consequences of a lack of selfdiscipline just do not serve our own personal interests.

It would mean, in effect, anarchy and we will end up with the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest or the smartest.

I say this to emphasise one important point that even if 99.9 per cent of us were to stick to the rules and obey the laws, that 0.1 per cent, may even just one irresponsible individual with motives or a hidden agenda, not behaving as he/she is legally, morally and socially expected to, is enough to throw the whole lot into chaos disarray or disrepute.

In order to inculcate discipline it is important that we start young when individuals are at their most impressionable age.