- By Tekkatho Pwintthu Aung
There are two main sources for national development. They are human resources and natural resources. The principle requirement of human resources is the education, and human resources development is also the main goal of education. Education promotes human intelligence and widens the scope of knowledge and innovative ideas, and the formation of scout bodies is one of the endeavours to reach this goal.
Scouting
Scouting or the Scout Movement is a movement with a strong focus on the outdoors and survival skills that aims to support young people in their physical, mental, and spiritual development so that they may play constructive roles in society. In other words, scouts are to help others, they must be independent and always ready for their work. They are trained to be sharp-eyed, active, cooperative, and free from politics. They must become models who are outstanding in their studies, pursuing a simple life, and having a strong determination. Scouting is an inclusive movement.
The Myanmar word for scout is “kinhtauk”. We can obviously find the word in the treatises of Inwa period. But the word “kinhtauk” actually means scouting the enemy movement or situation, and not the scout activity. So, today’s scouting is different from the past. It’s the movement of youths for the good of the society, community and the country. Scouting is a movement to enable young people to learn various fields of knowledge till becoming future leaders. So, it’s a noble movement. It is a mere social activity which is totally free from political and military influences. The movement can produce independent and self-reliant citizens, who understand the value of responsibility and accountability.
The founder
According to records, Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857-1941) founded the scout movement. So, he is called the father of the world’s scout movements. He found the movement for the youth members to have good morals, to understand the human ethics, and to stay away from selfishness.
Three years later, in South Africa during the Second Boer War, Baden-Powell was besieged in the small town of Mafikeng (Mafeking) by a much larger Boer army. The Mafeking Cadet Corps was a group of youths that supported the troops by carrying messages, which freed the men for military duties and kept the boys occupied during the long siege. The Cadet Corps performed well, helping in the defence of the town (1899–1900), and were one of the many factors that inspired Baden-Powell to form the Scouting movement.
In the summer of 1907 Baden-Powell held a camp on Brownsea Island in England to test ideas for his book. This camp and the publication of Scouting for Boys (London, 1908) are generally regarded as the start of the Scout movement. England founded its first scouting association 1908. As the scouting became more popular, a girl’s scout movement was founded in England in 1910. In the ensuring years, scouting spread beyond the British Empire. Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden continued its scouting activities after he retired from the active service. According to the Weekly Rangoon Times issued on 7 February 1921, he visited Myanmar in February 1921.
History of scouting in Myanmar
The British initiated the scout movement in Myanmar in 1910. In 1913, there were specific scouting movements in the country. The fourth YMBA conference held in Hinthada on 14 October 1916 discussed the formation of scout associations. It was an inclusive meeting. The conference of YMBA and its sister organizations approved the idea of setting up scout associations in 1917. So, Myanmar started to form scout associations in 1916-1917. After the formation of scout associations Myanmar, Baden-Powell, the father of scout movement, visited Myanmar in 1921.
In 1925, scouts in Monywa protected the national school from catching fire; and in 1926, Anglo-Myanmar high school in Myintgyan opened a scout library. Those were some of the scout activities in Myanmar during the colonial period. Yamethin, a town in central Myanmar, founded a scout association at its high school on 8 February 1934, where scouting knowledge was disseminated. Teachers at the school trained youth to promote their reading habit, social welfare undertaking, and serving other’s interest. Unfortunately, the scout movement in Myanmar, founded by the British, halted during the Japanese occupation of the country from 1942-1945. But Myanmar resumed the scout activities after the Japanese left the country in 1945. In 1953, the country appointed its President Sao Shwe Thaik as the Patron of Myanmar Scout Association. In 1964, the scout association was abolished.
In 2012, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar reformed the scout association in accordance with the international practice. The Ministry of Education conducted a central level scout training in Yangon from 24 November to 2 December that year.
Scout movements teach youngsters to have good moral conducts and understand the value of discipline. In fact, they are producing valuable youth members for the nation. The Three Promises of Scouts are: I will do my duty to my religion and my country; I will help other people; and I keep the scout law.
The points of the Scout Law are: A scout’s honour is to be trusted; a scout is loyal; a scout’s duty is to be useful and help to others; a scout is a friend to all, and a brother to every scout; a scout is courteous; a scout is a friend to animals; a scout obeys orders; a scout smiles and whistles; a scout is thrifty; and a scout is brave, clean and reverent.
Currently, Myanmar has over 24,000 scout members of the associations formed at 24 universities. Scouting is one of the six largest movements of the world. Myanmar is the 164th member of the world which has 212 members. In consideration of the development of its activities, the Myanmar Scout Association has been approved as a full fledge member on 11 August 2016.
Scout movements bring out good citizens who are free from political and military influences. In accordance with the motto “be prepared”, a scout is always in a state of readiness, in mind and body, to do his duty. And, in keeping with the scout slogan “do a good turn daily”, a scout is always ready to do something good for the world, apart from his own home, school, community, town, and country.
Translation: TMT
