Jidun, our cheerful Toastmaster of the evening
Greetings readers from near and far. Though our meeting started slightly late, we were amused to see TM Amran Jamaluddin (our past celebrity SAA) who helped opened the meeting with high spirit since TM Macalister Mak wasn’t feeling well.
As his thought of the day, our Toastmaster of the Evening, TM Jidun Dollah shared a quote from a psychologist, “If you believe today is a good day, then it is a good day. But if you believe today is a bad day. Then it is a bad day
Ruey introducing Word of the Day as Grammarian
The Grammarian for the evening, Ruey Chong Narcis ACB, ALB, introduced the Word of the Day – Evoke. a verb, meaning of which is to bring or recall to the conscious mind.
Faiz explaning about his timer role
Our first time Timer and Tip, TM Faiz Zailani shared a tip – “In competition speeches, we should be maximizing the time that we are given. That being said, if we think that we have all our points presented excellently, but slightly under time, it is okay to finish early. A speech is all about impact, not length”.
Maudena delivering her first ice-breaker speech
For her CC1, Ice Breaker Speech titled “Journey Line”, TM Maudena Hamid shared fond childhood memories of living in Tutong where her dad built a tree house to play in. As a child, her only entertainment was nature, people around her and RTB TV channel. She reminisced that she often had long conversations and fights with her three sisters. Soon after, Maudena journeyed to UK to pursue her higher studies in engineering where she met her husband. Upon her return, she joined UBD in management, got married, and had 3 sons and 1 daughter. Although motherhood is challenging, it is also rewarding. She is thankful to the people she has met and played a role in her life. Through her journey Maudena is glad to have stepped out of her comfort zone to learn things. Lastly, as a take home message she advised us to make everything count. Well done on your first ever prepared speech!
Maudena receiving her ice-breaker ribbon!
Rahmat delivering her first speech
Through her CC1, Ice Breaker speech titled “Names & Meaning”, TM Rahmat Tarsat gave us the meaning to her first name which is merciful, compassionate and loving. In one of her biology class, she met Chuck. They were assigned to identify insects together under a microscope. Just as what her name Rahmat represents, she has a profound compassion for animals. She empathized for caged birds and she would try to help her friend Chuck to dispel his fear of birds by compelling him to release birds. In one instance, she was issued a name tag with the initials “Rams”, which she jokingly remarked male sheep with big horns. As her closing, Rahmat felt blessed to have met individuals who have supported her. Thank you for your colorful speech!
Rahmat receiving her ice-breaker ribbon!
Rahul makes everyone think really hard
“Can machines think and perceive?” was TM Rahul Breh, CC7 Research a Topic speech. He began his speech by invoking our minds with a series of questions, do machines respond to emotion? Can machines think? Can animals think? Rahul continued by mentioning an experiment on wasps hoarding food using a set of stimuli on it. A second series of questions was posed; what is intelligent interaction? What can humans do that computers cannot? Can it tell stories? To answer those questions Rahul delved into the rapid evolutions of computer’s processing power in comparison to the human brain which took millions of years to evolve. To have the same cognitive capacity of a living being, Tianhe-2 requires 720 square meters of space. Within 10 years, a technological singularity would occur, when artificial intelligence is predicted to outgrown our own intelligence. Rahul ended his speech with the words of the famous Stephen Hawking, “Beware of artificial intelligence.” We are thankful for enlightening our minds with the evolution of computing.
After the break TM Sharon Ong took the floor as Table Topic Master and revealed that the theme – emotions.
Pooja captivates everyone with her sincerity
For her happiest moments, “TM Pooja Shivanand would earnestly appreciate the award of a good feeling to exist on earth for touching people’s hearts through the difference she can make. Otherwise, she would be a machine without emotions.
Howard makes us laugh at his traumatized experience
TM Howard Leong’s fearful moment was when he watched a Thai movie called Shutter with his cousins and their parents at midnight. Throughout the movie, he held his cousin’s hands during moments of cringe. His fear did not shimmer down when his cousins were sharing local horrors in the car on the way home. Howard couldn’t sleep as he would constantly check under his bed. Congratulations on winning the best table topic speech.
Azim talks passionately about food
The happiest moment for our guest Azim would be winning limitless food vouchers in lucky draw. Because if he is not working or sleeping, he would be eating.
Howard receiving his Best Table Topics Ribbon
Overall the session was filled with light moments and laughter. The meeting’s exuberant energy would not have been possible without TM Sharon Ong as Table Topic Masters, TM Rano Iskandar as Table Topic Evaluator, Ruey Chong Narcis, ACB, ALB as Grammarian, TM Gerald Goh as Ah Counter & Who Said What, TM Faiz Failani as Timer & Tip and lastly DTM Geneviève Lai as General Evaluator.
Genevieve, our General Evaluator
In his closing remarks, our President Chris Woo, CC, said that it is alright to feel nerves welling up during speeches, otherwise audience may sense that speakers have become an inanimate object like a tombstone. Also, Chris encouraged us not to be afraid to make the mistake of stumbling of words, because as they say, the last mistake is the best teacher.
Congratulations Gerald, our best evaluator of the evening
Written by;
TM Gerald Goh
Photography & Caption by;
Chang Seng Yee, CC