The 21st Boys’ Brigade Malaysia‘s National Pesta Convention was held June 7-11 this year in Kampar, Perak. More fondly known as BB Pesta, the biannual convention and display gathers BB Members and Officers from all over Malaysia for competitions and fellowship. Invitation was extended to Brigade Members from other countries – and Members from Indonesia, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines were in attendance this year.
1st KL sent over 60 Boys and Officers to participate in this convention. This year, the Company participated in both the National Band Competition and the National Dancing Competition. After months of hard work and dedication, our Boys held high hopes in the competitions – and as witnessed – they performed incredibly at the convention.
1st KL’s brass band led the way during the Pesta opening ceremony.
Photo by The Star.
The National Band Competition underwent some major format changes at this Pesta. The usual marching band style was converted into an indoor, sit-down, concert style competition. Since our band hosted the first ever BB indoor band competition last year at our homeground, the Boys were well-prepared for such format.
The first song was “Flight of Valor.” The musical piece was written by James Swearingen, as commissioned by a community band in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the heroes of United Flight 93 during the 9/11 incident.
The second song, “The Fox,” is a lively piece based off the popular electronic dance song and viral video produced by two Norwegian comedians, Ylvis. Our Boys are proud to add some comedic twists to their performance.
All the hard work was paid off when we learned that we were placed first in the National Band Competition, bringing home the Champion’s trophy after almost 25 years since the Company last held the title. The last time 1st KL won first in a band competition (back then it was a flute and fifes band) was in 1990.
Our very own dance crew, the Rollin’ Rookiez, did just as fine in the National Dancing Competition, which was introduced to Pesta as a new competition category in 2010.
Though the Boys were not placed in the competition, the group sure did have fun and learned something new from their experience.
We would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to all our Boys’ parents and friends of 1st KL for giving their fullest support during this time. We would not have done it without you.
Check out our official Facebook page for more Pesta-related pictures and videos posted by our Boys and Officers.