Gold Arrow Other Countries & Cultures - International Scouting JOTA-JOTI 2021

A Scout Jamboree can be a national or international camping assembly of Boy Scouts. Due to Covid19 a lot of the activities have moved online. Recently, I participated in JOTA- JOTI 2021 which was the largest digital and radio Scout event promoting friendship and global citizenship. The educational event brings together more than 2 million Scouts every year in October for a weekend of Scouting and friendship. Young people like myself can learn about communications technology and connect with fellow Scouts from over 171 countries.

This event took place online from 15 to 17 October 2021. I was very lucky that the end of year exams for Primary is cancelled this year, this allowed me take a break from revisions and participated in this event from Friday to Saturday.

During this event, I got to know make many new friends international through the chat. I met scouts from Sri Langka, London, Philippines, India and Malaysia. We shared about the country we live in, our favourite food and our favourite scouting activity. I was very pleased to meet scouts from all over the world.

I was also very lucky to be picked to go on a live interview in the first live show. I was the first Singapore based boy scout to be interviewed. I was nervous at first but felt elated after the interview to be able to share about myself and where I was joining the event from. If you would like to view the live show with me in it, check it out here: You can see me at the 1:22:43 time frame if you scroll the time bar.

This is a snapshot of me during the live interview watched by an International audience.

Before this event, I did not know about the Sustainability Development Goals. Do you know there is 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDG)? I am very interested in climate action. The negative effects of climate change are already visible in so many aspects of life. Offsetting the impact of climate change starts with me and you becoming aware and informed, and taking action. We can all do something small to offset our footprint on this planet that we call home. At JOTA JOTI, I was made aware of the impacts of climate change and how we can take action. One of the action I have personally take part in is to switch off the lights for Earth Hour which was on 27 March 2021 a 8.30pm but not only do we switch off lights during earth hour we must practice it everyday when we do not need to use it, remember to switch it off.

I enjoyed the JOTA JOTI event and had participated in all the challenges, ranging from watching virtual campfires, how to make use of environmental wraps like making bee wax food wraps, cyber safety, awareness of SDGs, meditation, communication challenge with Lego and learn how to make simple recipes via the cooking masterclass. I shall look forward to the next JOTA JOTI.