This week’s meeting was a blast! It was a full house filled with visiting members and an overwhelming turnout of guests. We hosted over 15 guests from various professions comprising of Teachers from Pusat Tingkatan Enam Tutong, tutors and students from ITB, Sales and Marketing Officers, an athlete, a navy officer from India, bankers and so on. The meeting was filled with lively energy, as described by our first-time humble host Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), TM Goh De No.
Deno our first time Toastmaster of the Evening
Our TME began the meeting by introducing office bearers: TM Pooja Shivanand Breh as the Table Topics Master; TM Gerald Goh as the Table Topics evaluator who focused his report on body language and speaker’s delivery; followed by Chang Seng Yee, CC, who did a super-like job as the Ah-Counter & Who Said What.
Hazwan, our super-like grammarian for the everning
Hazwan Kamarulzaman, ACB, ALB, introduced himself as the evening’s Grammarian, and shared the word of the day: *noun*-like. It means to have characteristics of a noun. An example Hazwan used was: “The General Evaluator (our wunderbar! TM Rano Iskandar) is president-like when he delivered his speech.
Sharon, our first time Timer & Tip
Our Timer & Tip, TM Sharon Ong shares a tip on appreciating the effective use of time.
Dalton sharing how he got his internship in Singapore
In TM Dalton Lim’s CC3 speech, titled “Nail It”, he shared how he got an internship at a company in Singapore. He emphasized three important preparations when considering an internship in a foreign country. First is to have a proper financial management. Secondly, do homework by researching the company of interest. Lastly, Dalton stressed the importance on professional appearance and proper etiquette to portray genuine interest in the job. Otherwise an interviewee will not be seen to be serious by the interviewer. Dalton concluded with a message to always be at our best because that was how he succeeded in getting an internship in venture capital company called QuestVC. Well done Dalton!
Allen delivering his Read Out Loud speech project
In his ACS 10 speech project entitled MH72, Allen Ang, ACB, ALB was to “read out loud” a short story by enlivening the words as he deliver the story with emotions that leaves an impact on the audience. Susan, a Malaysian wife and a mother of two, was on a journey to Hong Kong to work for 2 years. Living on the remaining savings ever since he husband was unemployed, they struggled to finance their house mortgage and had to move into a 700 square foot flat. Despite having a Master Degree, Susan was in a predicament to secure a job when she had compete with young recent college graduates who were also prowling for a job. A difficult decision had to be made. Like any other day, Susan dropped her child at school before proceeding to the airport to catch a flight. Instead of taking a budget airline, she chose to fly with Malaysian Airlines to save her dignity. As her thoughts of working as a maid to support her children weighs in, she felt apprehensive about her 2 year contract while boarding the plane. Congratulations Allen for completing his ACS project!
Allen mingling with our guests
The second part of the meeting began when Pooja took over the floor as the Table Topics Master with the theme “Money”.
Table Topic Speakers who happily spoke about money
The first Table Topic Speaker, TM Howard Leong was asked “How would you invest $5000?” He calmly announced that paying for membership with Brunei Speakers Club was the best investment he ever made. He added that current society is soaked with demotivating criticism. But thanks to Reuben, Howard joined BSC where he could gain positive outlook and experience: to speak effectively, to lead better and be more encouraging.
Our second Table Topic speaker, Jason Koo, CC received a topic “What does it mean to be rich?” Jason shared his experience if going to bed thinking of the future. Suddenly he sprung up to grab a calculator and started crunching numbers: is 1 million dollars enough? Working as an accountant, Jason deals figures of millions is tens of dollars to his company. How much money is enough? For Jason, to be rich is to be able to afford to do things in his life: to travel, own a decent car and a new calculator.
Supatra receiving her first best Table Topic Ribbon
TM Supatra Lee came on as third speaker with the topic “Money can’t buy you love”. Supatra agreed with the statement as she explains that all strong independent woman wants is real love, to be taken care of and showered with attention. She added that it’s the little things that we do and not the big things buy that signifies love. Money may complement love, but it is not a necessity. Supatra ended her speech with a powerful statement ‘a strong independent man will look for a strong independent woman’. I agree!
Alwin, our first guest spoke on the topic: “Should parents give credit cards to teenagers?” Alwin shared his thoughts and questioned what teenagers would do if they were given credit card. With a small plastic card, and signature, the money could vanish. Should parents sway children from rapid changing trends and stranger’s influence? It was rather if parents are ready to accept the consequences of giving them credit cards.
Our second guest Luqman, an athlete was asked “what would he do if he found $100 on the street?’ He joked by saying “This is my day, my money! I can buy easi card!” On a serious note, he asked the audience, would you take it or leave it? Any sane person will obviously take it. Luqman concluded that the person who left the $100 note should be happy, as the person who pick up the money would be happy.
As our last guest speaker Yati was asked for her thoughts on “Time is Money”. Yati began asking what we do during our free time. Most would check their phones, Facebook, Instagram, stalk people we like, watch CNN or BBC. Instead, Yati commented that time should be spent learning to be productive. How is time related to money? Time is used for something of value that we appreciate. Is playing video games time well spent? YES. She mentioned a winner of DoTA Championship could win $16 million!
And last, but not least, Jordan Yau, CL voiced his opinion on the topic of “Money is the root of all evil”. Jordan argued that it is dependent on how one uses the money. If it’s for charitable events, investments or simply to enjoy life, then it is not at all evil. If Jordan had $5000, he would buy a PS4, a wide screen TV, enough rations to stay in for months and grow a beard!
Allen enthusiastically receives his Advance Communicator Silver pin
In his closing remark our President Chris Woo, CC recognized Allen’s new educational title by presenting him with Advanced Communicator Silver pin followed by Jordan’s Competent Leader title.
Newly awarded Competent Leader Jordan Yau
Written by:
TM Aziman Nasir
Photography
Reuben Chin, ACS, ALB
Caption by:
TM Gerald Goh