SINGAPORE - Mr Andrew Chua is 87 years old, but he continues to lead a scout troop at Catholic High School.

The octogenarian started his scouting life in 1958, when he was a teacher at the now-defunct Kim Seng East Primary School and began to lead scouts' activities there.

Though he is a retiree, he wants to carry on helping out for as long as he can - he still joins Catholic High School scouts for their yearly June survival camp on Pulau Ubin.

His scouting experiences, and those of 11 others, are detailed in the book My Best With Honour, launched on Monday (July 3).

The book, written by Singapore Kindness Movement general secretary, Dr William Wan, was launched at The Istana by President Tony Tan Keng Yam during the Singapore Scout Association's annual ceremony to recognise individuals for their contribution to scouting. Dr Tan is the Chief Scout of Singapore.

A total of 52 organisations and individuals received awards at the ceremony.

The 12 individuals featured in the book come from all ages, and range from luminaries such as Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore's ambassador-at-large, to others who are still serving their national service, like 20-year-old President's Scholar Joshua Chin.

Mr Chin, now a commando officer, first joined the scouts when he was nine. In fact, Mr Chua was his cub scout leader when he was a pupil at Catholic High School.

He said that being a scout guides his daily life as an officer, when he occasionally sees some of his men "try to find the easy way out" of their responsibilities. He said that he remembers to be a "brother scout to those around us", and works to motivate his team to work together.

Dr Wan hopes his book will promote scouting values to the public. "Ultimately, the scouting mission is to create a better world - so that we leave it a better place than we found it."

My Best With Honour, which costs $11.20 excluding GST, is available at all major bookstores.