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The China Mail.


Hongkong, Saturday, June 25, 1932.

No. 28,143
Page 13

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YOUR "GOOD TURN."
Opportunities That May Arise.

   A Scouter sends me the following on "Good Turn." Scouts should read it for themselves, as it is very much to the point.
   In Hong Kong, either the opportunity to do "good turns" does not present itself, as at home, or the Scout performs them quietly yet effectively (as he should) so that we do not notice them.
   At one Rally held in Kowloon, each Troop had to send its team out for ten or twenty minutes, then return and report. Points were included for "good turns" performed. One team concentrated (to the amusement and amazement of the workers) at the Kowloon Godowns, rendering assistance to the trolley men; afterwards assisting with the chopping of firewood, and finally assisting in the carrying of furniture to the top floor of a dwelling.
   For the occasion, these were undoubtedly good turns, and shows possibilities, but imagine a lone scout, pushing a trolley loaded with rice sacks, in his sincerest endeavours! He would probably prove himself a hindrance. If a scout thinks the opportunity to do his good turn does not come his way, he can do no better than do it to his troop - for his association - for his brotherhood. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link (as an observant scout remarked on the ferry) and if each individual scout sees to it that he is not the weakest link - there lies his opportunity to do his "good turn," by loyalty and adherence to the Scout Law.
   Don't confuse "good turns" with duty - there must be the sacrifice. The old argument comes in here: If when walking along the street you just pick into the gutter a banana skin, to prevent some unfortunate slipping up - this is not a good turn - if on the other hand, you are in a desperate hurry to catch a ferry, and stop and remove the banana skin - then it is a "good turn" well done. Other cases could be quoted but this just explains the points of duty and sacrifice.

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