14th June 2016 – Bitter to Better

Standing in for TM Macalister Mak as acting Sergeant at arms was TM Awfa Nawawi, our incoming Sergeant at arms, who opened up the meeting with her signature smile. Soon after the guest introduction, she passed the floor to the fervent Toastmaster of the Evening, TM Kelvin Lai.

The word of the day as introduced by our Grammarian, TM Rahmat Tarsat was “Enervate”; an adjective for “to deprive of force or strength to destroy the vigor of; to weaken.” The rhetoric device that she chose to focus on was Paralipsis; the device of giving emphasis by professing to say little or nothing about a subject.

TM Macalister Mak’s tip to speakers as the Timer & Tip was to be well composed before speaking.

For Kelvin’s thought of the day, he shared his experiences with his teenage students. Whenever he was challenged, his ego would get bruised before taking a moment to remember how it was like to be a teenager. His suggestion was to be kind to yourself to lead a happier life.

“Bitter to better”, was TM Haryati Gafur’s CC3 speech title. She explained that society today have a knack of complaining from anything under the sun. In doing so, one would be stuck in bitterness. Hence, Haryati shared three tips to stop complaining. The first tip was to channel energy from complaining to anything productive. She relates it in a situation when her fitness trainer left that she decided to spend all her energy training instead of complaining. Tip two was to set clear realistic goals to work towards to. Instead of feeling awful, list out manageable task and work on it. The last tip was to never feed the urge to complain. Instead, replace ranting with enjoyable things to do: go out, meet friends or finish a project to feel the joy of accomplishment. Haryati closed the speech encouraging us to “Set a goal to transform from bitter to better.”

In Dalton Lim’s CC5 speech, ‘’Tidy up”, he openly confessed that he loathe cleaning up his room for 6 years. Seeing Dalton’s room in a dire state, her sister Mei Ann began reforming Dalton’s habit of hoarding belongings by helping him to select old clothes to be discarded. Next, she got Dalton to throw out old past year papers on a strong pretext that he is no longer a high school student. Yet, Dalton further gratifies his procrastination to tidy up the room by moving things around. Which lead him to be told by his sister that maneuvering things was not tidying up anything. Eventually, with the help of his sister, his room was tidy and Dalton felt more organized.

Rano Iskandar, CC, CL spoke under fire for his ACB speech project as a club president. He solemnly announced that Table Topics will be removed from regular meetings for the next three months to make way for prepared speeches in order to meet the club’s educational points before the end of term. He claimed that members have placed emphasis on Table Topics which in turn prolongs the session and breaks. Rano Iskandar felt that prepared speeches have been overlooked which has been detrimental to club performance. During the questions and answers session, Chris Woo, CC questioned Rano for deviating Toastmasters constitution by removing Table Topics. To which he answered that it was agreed upon by executive committee. TM Supatra Lee questioned how each meeting will have 6 prepared speeches. Rano responded that he will rely on his outstanding Vice President Education to do that. When Ruey Narcis, ACB, ALS raised a concern about the mentor’s absence, lack of support and motivation, Rano replied that mentors are everywhere if we look hard enough. With that being said, he pledge to increase awareness of the club’s seriousness in addressing member’s educational needs. Well done Rano!

Immediately after the break, first time Topicsmaster, TM Suneeta Pathak asked Ruey Narcis to “Drop negative people from her life.” Ruey said humorously, “depending how heavy they are.” On a serious note she would try to reconcile with them. Otherwise, keep them at arm’s length.

Next TM Faiz Zailani was asked to, “Drop saying yes to everyone at all time.” He admits that it was hard keeping up with all his yeses with everyone that it drains him. However, he was hesitant to disappoint them.

Hilman Omar, CC was asked, “Drop pleasing everyone.” On one occasion, he has been asked to create a logo and he believes it is a good idea to start charging for his services.

Lastly, TM Awfa Nawawi was asked, “Drop feeling sorry about yourself.” Awfa felt sorry for referring to notes during prepared speeches, but she also felt blessed for having things and experiences that others might not have.

During AOB (Any Other Business) the club honoured Geneviéve Lai, DTM for her 20^th year as a Toastmaster. During her acceptance speech, she admitted it took unnerving courage to attend her first meeting. Since then it has been quite a journey for her. Shortly after, our club president, Chris Woo, CC advised that using emotional appeal will help with speaker’s persuasive speech but may run a risk when representing an entity or organization.

In TM Supatra Lee’s closing remark, she confessed to hastily leaving after each meeting instead of mingling. In time, she began lingering around, to learn how to socialize. When a new term was around the corner, Supatra subsequently became the Vice President Membership to further her Toastmasters journey. Although it was a demanding role, it was fulfilling as well as rewarding. In the first 6 months, with the help of TM Gerald Goh as Vice President Public Relations, she triumphantly signed up 6 new members. In addition to that, her communication, leadership and networking skill have vastly improved through her effort to maintain member’s interest. Thank you for bringing us together!

Photography by;
TM Gerald Goh, TM Dalton Lim, Rano Iskandar, CC, CL

Written by;
TM Gerald Goh