Paint Ball War Zone

Last Friday, I get to spend a day with my colleagues away from the office. We have an off-site meeting at Singapore Discovery Centre. The day was packed with activities and though a few colleagues left with minor wounds from the paint ball war fare, overall it was an enjoyable day for everyone.

The journey to Singapore Discovery Centre was a real killer! I have to start the day journey earlier than usual, taking the MRT from Ang Mo Kio to the newest and furthest Joon Koon station. Somehow I felt the MRT speed to Jurong was much slower than the speed I take daily from Ang Mo Kio to Raffles Place, maybe when the MRT is underground it goes faster. The good thing is I still managed to reach the Singapore Discovery Centre on time by 9 am!

We started the day with meetings and group discussions then break for lunch around 1215hr. After lunch, we watched a 3D Dolphins and Whales documentary movie and had a tour to an Army Museum then to the Paint Ball games. We broke-up into 4 teams for the game. The first objective was to move into "enemy’s" (the other team members) territory to burst a balloon. Of course, the enemy will ambush and try to shoot you down along the way to deter you from reaching your objective! The second objective was to retrieve a flag from the enemy’s territory and bring it back to your own home-base. Lastly, in the grand finale, we are to eliminate all the enemy in a combat war zone shoots out. The team with the most men alive, after 5 minutes of game time, wins the game.

Even though, this is just a paint ball game, it relates very much back to our daily live or work area. My team starts the game with some doubts and fears! As one of my team members relates after the game, he was very doubtful about winning when he saw the team member list. He is doubtful that two of lady colleagues could hold up to such rough game! Likewise, I went to the game worrying about injury after seeing all my colleagues dressed up in their army No.4 uniform, soldier boots, gloves and knee guards whereas I only have a t-shirt, a running shorts and a pair of running shoes. The fear was intensified after hearing the briefing by the instructor that if we get a direct hit at close range, we could get an open-wounds and bruise that would last for weeks!

Before the start of the game, my team recce the route and strategised the attack. We also assigned our combat roles and yet we failed to be the first to burst the "enemy" balloon and lost the first round of the balloon bursting game. After the recoup, we discussed what we have done wrongly and realised we concentrated too much on hitting the objective and let our "enemy" slipped by our defense to accomplished their objective first! Our team members also reviewed each other strengths and weaknesses and we re-strategised and re-assigned our combat roles. This has proved effective because we go on to win every game thereafter!

In reflection of the game, I find it relates very closely to my daily life and work experiences. Very often, I have to undertake new tasks that I was doubtful of success. Despite all the planning and executing it to the best of my knowledge and best self-efforts I could still fail in achieving my objectives! Many a time, I need to consult with my friends or colleagues and re-strategies my approach. Believing in myself and having a determination to success also very play an important motivational role in helping me achieves my goals.

Likewise, winning the games is not a personal effort. It is a combined effort of all my team mates! Well done - Team 1, hip-hip hooray! To the rest of my colleagues, thank you for making the games so much more challenging and hope all of you enjoyed the game as much as I do!