23th February 2016 – Happy National Day

Happy 32th National Day everyone! The meeting hosted 6 young inquisitive guests who came to fulfill their curiosity about public speaking. TM Kelvin Lai initiated the proceedings by taking the floor as our energetic Toastmaster of the Evening. Pleasantries were followed up with the introduction of the office bearers by TM Kelvin.

The evening’s grammarian, TM Haryati Abdul Gafur introduced the word of the day; Adulation which is an adjective for; excessive or slavish admiration or flattery.  As her second task, she announced that the language focus will be on allusion.

TM Syatrah Roslan in her capacity as Timer & Tip encouraged the speakers to relax, smile and enjoy themselves.

For the Thought of the Day, TM Kelvin drew upon a memory of a billboard that said, “Stay calm & relax”. He advised us to “Take a deep breath and everything will be OK”.

In TM Dalton Lim’s CC3 speech, “Start Building”, he brought us on his 18 months learning journey with Toastmaster. One of the highlights of his speech was how he hit a low point after delivering a speech which did not satisfy his standards midway through his experience as a member . It was then, he was approach by a prominent member, Shawn Narcis, DTM, who offered to be his mentor. Their mentor-mentee relationship began when Dalton was asked to reboot his CC project. After an inspiring quote from Shawn, “Humans are like sponges. Sponges soak in water like how we learn. Eventually, the sponge will pass water on to the next sponge to soak like how I am sharing my journey with you”, Dalton began taking in advice to do his best and rehearse before every speech. He further emphasized the importance of having a mentor as a role model who would selfless give their time to significantly impact a mentee’s learning experience. Communication between mentor & mentee goes both ways as it would supplement both their skill gap. Dalton closed off his speech by calling on to us strengthen our bond with our mentor or mentee.

TM Jidun Dollah’s CC4 speech project was on “My first car accident”, was. He gave us an account on how he hopped into his car and mentally plot a route to the mosque. Soon after, he started driving towards the roundabout and entered the inner lane. As he exited, his car and a car from the outer lane collided. The left window on TM Jidun’s car shattered while the second car’s front was damaged. In the immediate aftermath, he almost felt overwhelmed by sheer anger until he recalled an advice from his dad, ” Jidun, Don’t be mad.Do not let your emotions take control.”  After calming down, he checked up on the other driver to see if she was hurt. Thankfully she wasn’t so they made both made a police report. Although it was his first time, Jidunwas glad he remained calm. Jidun ended his speech with a message, “No matter what happens, we should put our emotions aside and use our rational mind.”

Shortly after the break, Jordan Yau, CL took the floor as Table Topics Master using a proverbs as the theme of the topic.

TM Gerald Goh was given the topic “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow”. He humorously began relating to his height to a hill or a tree. He said that everything he experienced made him the person he is today. He also advised members to keep practicing table topics to eventually deliver a good one.

Killing two birds with one stone”, was Pranika Lama, ACB, ALB topic which she began telling us about her Chinese New Year holidays. It was the first time that she experienced a Chinese cultural celebration by visiting open houses and collecting red packets. That was how she killed 2 birds with one stone.

In TM Macalister Mak’s table topics speech, he gave us a story about Steve Jobs coming together with a group of people to build his dream invention because his wife believed in him. That was why “it takes 2 to tango,” to achieve a dream.

Our guest, Aziz confessed that he does not take after his father in his speech “like father, like son”, because his dad is much more outgoing. However, he sees his dad as a like role model like any other son.

TM Supatra Lee share her road experience in her speech “still water runs deep”. One evening, she exited a junction on to the second lane when she assumed there was no oncoming car. Thankfully, that car braked on time. Supatra advised us not to assume things to avoid regrettable incidents.

TM Awfa touched upon how the saying “When in Rome, do as Romans do,” guided her when she traveled to another country. She wore local garb and emulated their interaction between locals.

Reuben Chin, ACS, ALB recalled a situation when he visited other clubs to deliver speeches. In relation to his topic, “A pot calling a kettle black”, he humorously claimed that he was once accused of not writing speeches by a member who also doesn’t write speeches before delivering it.

For his closing remarks, Jordan Yau, CL mentioned that a new term is dawning and there will be change in the club’s executive committee. He encouraged members to take office as it would exponentially contribute to their growth.

Written by;

TM Gerald Goh

Photography by;

TM Supatra Lee