The T-Net Club X-Trail Challenge, an eco-adventure “Amazing Race”, played out in the cool morning of Sunday, 6 June 2010 at various scenic points in the Jurong Lake District. 

With the objective of developing our teenagers through adventure sports and to also foster friendship and community bonding, the race attracted 200 young adventure enthusiasts competed in two categories: the Teens Race and the Fun Race. 

The 6km race route covered picturesque locations within the park including the Jurong Park Connector, Chinese Garden and the Water-Venture Outlet.  The keen participants raced out in a flurry manner and completing the challenges which involved teamwork and perseverance such as running, vertical climbing, obstacle course and kayaking.  The challenges were also imbedded with eco-friendly messages along the way to remind the participants to reduce, recycle and reuse.  The highlight of the race took place in the middle of Jurong Lake, as each team attempted to retrieve floating bottles and bin them into the recycling bins.

Through such eco-adventure race, the teenagers learnt to be responsible individuals caring for the environment, their community and practise eco-lifestyle.  In addition, the volunteers helped to raise funds for the Singapore Children’s Society through the sale of recycled coasters and used CDs at the event.

Mr Alfred Yip, Manager (T-Net Club @ Taman Jurong) remarked, “The X-Trail Challenge has brought many youths from different background together to interact and bond.  I could see the participants enjoying the race with new friends made and stronger bonds being forged among them.”

The T-Net Club @ Sembawang Dragon Boat team met early on Saturday morning for a special training session at the Kallang River. Although they have been training hard regularly to retain the T-Net Club PA Paddle Championship title, this particular session was extra special.

Watched by a guest coach from Canada, the team was put through its paces by senior member; Ryan Ng. Different paddling techniques were tried out and improved upon before the team decided on the optimum technique.

T-Net Club @MacPherson was the setting where the inaugural T-Net Club “We Learn, Wii Play” was held on Sunday, 21 March 2010. More than 100 youths took part in the Wii Bowling competition organized for our members during the recent March holidays.

The competition was preceded by a Cyber-Wellness talk by guest speaker, Mr Stevie Zeng from Touch Youth Limited. Mr Zeng’s animated talk was full of fun and laughter as he sought to equip the youths present on the need for a balanced lifestyle, and the dangers of gaming addiction.

Immediately after the talk, serious murmurs and whispers were constantly heard in the competition hall as teams sought to strategise their tactics in a bid to be crowned Champions. But as the games went on, the tension relaxed itself as the members laughed and poked fun at each other.

Admist the teasing and fun, T-Net Cub @ Ang Mo Kio Team A emerged Champions by rising above all other teams, with the Best Bowler award going to team captain Amin Kurniawan, who scored a high of 279 in a single game.

T-Net Club @ Taman Jurong paid a visit to a couple of farms in Lim Chu Kang during the March holidays. Despite the rain, spirits was still high as member battled muddy puddles and drizzles. Our first stop was at the Dragon fruit farm, where we learned about the growing process and health benefits of dragon fruit while enjoying the farm owner’s delicious homemade passion fruit jelly.

We visited Qian Hu Fish Farm next, which was popular with our members. A whole array of fishes swam in the endless number of tanks in front of us. We saw colourful discus, arowana, parrotfish, mantra rays, fighting fish and the auspicious, albeit ultra-expensive, Golden Dragon and many more which dazzled our eyes and provided a welcome relief from the grey skies outside.

Upon our return to the club, our members used knowledge accrued from the farm tour in a fruit salad-making competition. Grouped in teams of fours, each team was given $10 and 30 minutes to prepare a nutritious salad dish. Extra marks were given for presentation. The fun competition was played out in good humour, as teams squabbled and haggled with shop owners for the best bargains.

On Sunday 14th March 2010, T-Net Club held our annual T-Net Club Bowling Tournament at SAFRA, Mount Faber. The lovely afternoon started off with our Guest of Honour, Mr. Henry Tan, PBM, Member of the T-Net Advisory Council, flagging off the event with the first bowl.

The T-Net Club Bowling Tournament comprised of two categories, T-Net Club Members Team Category and T-Net Club Management Committee (TCMC) Category. Competition was intense as bowlers not only concentrate on their games but are keeping tracks of the progress made by other teams constantly during the tournament.

At the end of the tournament, the participants swarmed to catch a glimpse of the results pasted on the announcement board, anxious to know how they had fared versus the other teams. The Marine Parade teams were big winners that day, taking down the first place in both the TCMC and TNC Members' categories.

The results of the tournament are as follows:

TCMC Team Category
First place: Marine Parade TCMC, score of 2000
2nd place: Bukit Merah TCMC, score of 1785
3rd place: MacPherson TCMC, score of 1767

Best TCMC Individual Bowler
First place: Mr Chua Soo Kiat, Marine Parade TCMC, score of 485
2nd place: Mr Henry Tan, PBM, Bukit Merah TCMC, score of 465
3rd place: Mr Yeo Kok Eng, Bukit Merah TCMC, score of 450

T-Net Club Members Team Category
First place: T-Net Club @ Marine Parade, score of 1518
2nd place: T-Net Club @ Taman Jurong, score of 1403
3rd place: T-Net Club @ Bukit Merah, score of 1321

Best TNC Member Individual Bowler
First place: Mr Noorhadi, T-Net Club @ Ang Mo Kio, score of 437
2nd place: Mr Mohd Rudy MD Daud, T-Net Club @ Bukit Merah, score of 387
3rd place: Mr Muhd Shaari,T-Net Club @ Marine Parade, score of 350

On 13 March 2010, volunteers from the NTU-ODAC (Nanyang Technological University Outdoor Adventure Club) met up with 36 of our lucky members at Changi Ferry Terminal early in the morning for a One Day Camp in Pulau Ubin. After being split into four groups, our young adventurers-to-be boarded the chartered bumboats which escorted them to the island.
The camp started with an ice-breaking sessions where the students and the participants played games and got to know each other better. After a short ride on the bumpy roads of Pulau Ubin, the participants arrived at the Chek Jawa Nature Reserve, where they walked down the boardwalk and were shown and introduced to the interesting ecosystem found there.

On 28 February 2010, eight teams participated in the first ever T-Net Club Women’s Futsal Challenge. Held at the street soccer court just outside T-Net Club @ Bedok, the girls reported early that morning, hoping to be crowned the champions of this competition.

All the teams played well and displayed great sportsmanship by cheering on each other whilst they waited for their own match to start. They were also careful not to injure any players from opposing team; such was the spirit in which the game was played.

Despite the niceties throughout the competition, there had to be a winner. And on this day, it was the team from Sporting Westlake Football Club that emerged as the Champions. 

Since its inaugural edition in 2007, Jenga Bonito has been a favourite among the teens of T-Net Club. And when the 2010 Jenga Bonito was help on Saturday, 27 February 2010 at T-Net Club @ MacPherson, it attracted no less than 40 members!

Although it has nothing to do with neither football nor the famous advertisement from a particular sports apparel company, Jenga Bonito is all about composure, strategy as and most importantly; delicate hands. Size doesn’t matter. Or maybe it does. This time around, members of more petite frame and slender fingers did have an edge over their burly, clumsy friends.

After some grueling matches in the earlier rounds, participants who lacked proper strategy started picking off the wooden blocks recklessly and impatiently, getting themselves eliminated one by one. That left only the meticulous and focused participants to challenge for honours in the final rounds

As they say, “Class is permanent. Form is temporary”. Muhd Shamarul, from T-Net Club @ MacPherson, demonstrated that his victory in the competition two years ago was no fluke, as he stringed a series of consecutive victories over his opponents this year to be crowned the Jenga Bonito Champion 2010.

Every Chinese New Year, the festive season proves to be a rather busy period for the T-Net Club @ Bukit Merah’s Lion Dance troupe. The group is highly sought after, for the traditional cai qing or literally "plucking the green” performances. The cai qing refers to the acrobatic act of picking up a sprig of lettuce from as high as three storeys, achieved only by using a pole or forming a human pyramid, which is a common tradition to usher good luck for the New Year.

T-Net Club @ Geylant West launched a new initiative this year. Called the “T-Net Club @ Geylang West Youth Street Soccer League”, the objective of the league are to engage the youths and inculcate a sense of responsibility in them, as well as develop leadership qualities for the older members who have been appointed as team captains of the various teams. The members will be responsible for their own discipline on the pitch as well as off the pitch, and the team captains will be held accountable for any misdemeanors.

With each team scheduled to play a total of 40 matches in the season, the matches have been scheduled on weekends and the school holidays. With the high amount of matches to be played, volunteers from REACH Family Service Centre and former members from T-Net Club have extended their much appreciated hands in running the league as league officials and referees.

The popularity of the league has managed to attract new members into T-Net Club @ Geylang West.  And the quality of football on show has managed to capture the imaginations of the general public, some of whom have taken notice and are regular spectators to the league. Not only has the programme been able to inculcate important values into our youths, but it is also serves as an opportunity for the local neighbours to socialize and has become a talking point in the nearby coffee shops.

Members from T-Net Club @ Ang Mo Kio gathered early on a Friday afternoon on ____ to embark on a heritage tour of the early Chinese immigrants’ settlements at Kreta Ayer, just opposite Chinatown MRT station.

The streets of Chinatown were decorated in a sea of red and yellow, to welcome the lunar New Year. As part of the celebrations, the area is transformed into a day and night market with makeshift stalls offering everything from food & drinks to traditional New Year ornaments and clothes.  

The self guided tour took us past Lim Chee Guan, a shop famous for its barbequed meat. Many of the members did not know why the shop attracted such a long queue of patrons during the festive season. It was explained to them that the spirit of giving during the Chinese New Year season made the barbeque meat a favourite choice of gifts among the locals. Next, we strolled past the Chinatown Heritage Centre where exhibits of Chinatown’s role in the development of Singapore’s past were put on display.

A few shops away, the members were amazed to find a Caucasian managing a German sausage stall which attracted many tourists. Past the bustle of haggling along the night market, the tour eventually brought them to the doorsteps of the Sri Mariamman temple, a decade’s old feature in the Chinese enclave. The tour eventually ended with a photograph session at the brand new Buddha Tooth Relic Museum and Temple.

The members returned home with a renewed understanding of the history of the Chinatown area, coupled with their bags of bargained purchases.

The hour long journey to the West did little to dampen the spirits of our T-Net Club @ Marine Parade members. Clearly excited at the opportunity to bond and interact with each other, the enthusiastic group of 20 plus came well prepared with backpacks topped with swimsuits, box shorts, goggles, suntan oil, towels… All the essentials required for an afternoon of dive & dunk in the pools of Jurong East Swimming Complex.

Despite the disappointment of having both highlights of the complex, the Lazy River and the Wave Pool down for maintenance, our Marine Parade members made the most of their Saturday afternoon.

It was an impressive parade of freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke amongst the older members as they challenged and pitted their skills in back to back lap pool races. Younger members seemed contented simply by tackling the tricky slides atop their gigantic donut buoys.

It was indeed an afternoon well spent as expressed by Md Uweis Abdul Halim, “It was just great to do away with computer games once in awhile and just soak up the sun in the company of good friends.”