Scouting in Gan Eng Seng School started in 1922 (previously thought to be 1923, see note at the end about our founding year), then known as 8th Singapore Troop, 38 years after the opening of Gan Eng Seng School and 13 years after Scouting started in Singapore. At that time, there were 38 boys in the unit. The 1st Scoutmaster and the one who was also believed to be the founder of the 8th Singapore Troop was Mr G.C.S. Koch, an Irish with German descent. Since the rise of the 8th Troop, scouting in Gan Eng Seng School had matured over the years and in 1925, the Troop’s membership rose to 57 scouts compared to the 38 scouts when the unit was established. During the Annual Sims Shield Competition of 1927, the unit emerged as runners-up for all round efficiency. All was well until the Japanese Occupation started, since then, the 8th Troop stopped functioning for four and a half year.
After the Japanese Occupation, scouting in Gan Eng Seng School was re-established on the 13th of May 1946 as the 26th Group with the combined effort of Khor Choo Eong and E.C. Kraal, previous scoutmaster of the 8th Troop, together with school teachers Mr Peter Lim, Ms Mary Yip and Ms Mirnue Slott.
When Mr Lim Keok Seng came to take over the unit in 1960, he began to mould and nurture the unit to be one of the top Group in Singapore. The unit recorded a high standard of scouting with many scouts attaining either their 1st or 2nd class badges.
Since then, the number of Queen Scouts and later President Scouts increase steadily over the years. Although there was a low profile of the unit in the local scouting scene in the 1970s, it did not retard the spirit of scouting among the GES Scouts, instead the unit was able to concentrate wholly on its internal development. In 1982, there were restructuring in the unit and the district. The unit was rename to Outram 01 Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group but in 1988, during the reorganization of the Association which placed the Dragon Scouts into the South Area, “Outram 01” was dropped to become Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group (which is the present name).
Founding Year
In year 2000, we got to know from our oldest scout, the late Mr Chan Chon Hoe, that the group was founded in 1922 instead of the documented 1923. Previously, 1923 was taken to be our founding year because the earliest official document proving our existence dated back only to 1923. Now we know that our true founding year is 1922!