The meeting started off with a small crowd with eyes trained on the array of food sitting far off at the table in the corner of the room. But gradually as the meeting progressed, we saw some members and late coming guest trailing in.
After the bubbly Sergeant at Arm’s introductions, with members reminding her to introduce guest, she then passed the floor TM Haryati’s first time role as Toastmaster of the evening. She graced the floor and started giving life to the room by asking the audience “Are you ready for tonight?!” A shout of energetic “yes” and a quite whine of “I’m hungry” we heard. I guess they must have been eyeing those red velvet cupcakes for quite some time.
- Grammarian– Derby Teo, CC
Word of the day: Imperative /ɪmˈpɛrətɪ/ (adj)
Definition: Of vital importance
Synonym: Importance, Crucial
Example:
- The will to live is imperative to success
- It is imperative that you tell me now!
Word of the day used by:
TM Awfa Nawawi – it is imperative for guest to introduce themselves
TM Haryati Gafur – Timing is imperative
– It is imperative that we have refreshments
TM Dalton Lim – It is imperative that every toastmaster is well adverse in speech structure
TM Heidi Rahman – It is imperative that we are aware
Aziman Nasir, CC – It is imperative to resolve conflict
After introducing the word of the day, she announced to going back to basic English corrections such as use of nouns, pronouns and adjectives. She focused on the use of adjectives which describes either opinions, size, age, material or purpose. Throughout the meeting, she highlighted the good use of adjectives and pointed out the correct pronunciation of words commonly pronounced Kompatant to the correct pronunciation of Com-pe-tent. Lastly, she advised the audience that improving our grammar can be done by exposing to English more as we may not realize the grammar mistakes we make.
Timer – Gerald Goh, CC
Tip of the day: To spend more time in preparation so to spend less time in delivery
Before introducing the prepared speech section of the meeting, TM Haryati Abd Gafur shared her thought of the day: Get out of your comfort zone. She emphasized on the days where she would always be seen sitting at the back row but tells her friends she’s a toastmaster. From a light push from Shawn Narcis, DTM she got out of her comfort zone and now sits in front during Tuesday meetings. Way to go Haryati!
After giving a speech as a test speaker at Brunei Speaker’s Club recent contest, TM Mardi Hedus kicked off with another inspiring speech titled Super Heroes for the CC Project CC2 “Organize Your Speech” He started off with a familiar line “With great power comes great responsibilities” We don’t have to be a teacher, a parent or a soldier to be a hero that can make a change. TM Mardi then illustrated his point with two different stories of regular people like me or you.
Regular people, with little acts of kindness to give, turned kindness to an even greater act. One of the stories told was of a little boy by the name of Ken from the Philippines. This boy loves animals. The boy never failed to give food to stray cats and dogs as he walks to school every single morning. One day, his father followed Ken out and was shocked by what he saw; his son giving away his lunch to stray animals. Rather than scolding Ken, the father helped him by raising funds. This then contributed to the shelter that provides regular food and supply together with medicine, care and most importantly, it provided the animals a home.
Evaluator: TM Dalton Lim
TM Mardi Hedus is a competent speaker, with very good body language and most importantly inspired every member of the audience. Captures attention from the very beginning with the opening line “with great power comes with great responsibility” a quote from a Super Hero movie we all know. His conclusion called into action to contact him which gave some humor to his speech. Recommendations;
- Whatever you start off with can be said and ended in the conclusion
- Choose a message from the speech where it can be used in the conclusion
For example: Fellow toastmasters and guest, as you see from the act of the Uncle and the boy feeding animals; whatever you do – it matters.
Overall, an excellent CC2 by TM Mardi Hedus! We look forward to hearing more in your journey as a Toastmaster.
TM Heidi Rahman started off her CC7 titled “Cartel” with a statement explained by an economist on why monopoly should be broken and why competition improves quality of service
If you have one wife, she fights with you!
If you have two wives, they fight for you!
If we were to search the word cartel, it would conjure up connotations of money laundering, guns and drugs. In her speech, Cartel is described as businesses acting together rather than competing with one another. Their motive: to make bigger profits. TM Heidi Rahman explained different forms of cartel such as;
- Price Fixing – a common and obvious form of cartel.
Example: When consumers in Egypt complained year after year on the exploited rise of food prices during the month of Ramadhan. Meat groceries and basic food increased by 40% as soon as Ramadhan begins. Rising costs of feeding families have promoted some retailers to offer installment schemes for grocery purchase which further increases debts to these families.
- Agreement to Limit Supply – agreements amongst businesses to limit quantity sold in the market.
Example: Two supermarkets agreed to supply only 500 trays. If it is not enough, prices will be pushed up, with the limited supply thus will have to pay more for the eggs.
All these types of cartels have the same effect-price increase though price fixing or limiting supply to force price rise. TM Heidi then ended her speech by telling us, like what the economist explained on the two wives, the importance of competition is to protect and give us fair prices, quality goods and services.
Evaluator: Nur Ahmad, CC
As a CC7, the topic was serious and different. The topic of the speech was well researched with various resources from newspapers, articles and also included statistics within the speech. She also rephrased things to paint a clear picture, rephrased words such as ‘in other words’ as to put in the audience minds on what she really wanted us to take away from her speech.
Nur Ahmad, CC thought TM Hedi Rahman can do better by using anecdotes that the audience can relate more to by providing examples from Brunei rather than far away countries such as Egypt, Jordan and the Middle East. Nur Ahmad, CC also pointed out the vocal variety where she started loud enough to hear but in some parts of the speech were too low. But overall, TM Heidi Rahman met the objectives and gave a very thought provoking speech.
After the break, Aziman Nasir, CC delivered a slide presentation on “Resolving Conflict”. According to Aziman, conflict can happen in your everyday life. It happens when issues arise, misunderstandings come about or when different personalities collide such as narcissistic or people pleasers.
Methods of resolving conflict:
- Ignoring it – however, the arguments and issues would pile up, making it worse
- Smooth it Over – Giving in to the other part to avoid conflict.
- Force – Uses power or rank to resolve conflict
- Compromise – Nobody wins; both parties give in and agrees to do something else.
Issues and conflicts can also generate ideas and help us bond as well once we pass through the general conflicts. It can help us to move forward to what we can do better.
- Ah Counter & Who Said What – TM Tieng Chwei Peng
As Ah Counter, TM Tieng Chwei Peng role was to count and listen to the crutch words and filler words were used. She noted that each member had only only a few crutch such as; and, alright and so. Hedi Rahman with no crutch words. Who said what session was short and simple but had some members questioning their listening skills such as myself. Despite expressing her nervousness as taking the role, TM Tieng Chwei Peng won the audience over her honest evaluation by taking home the best evaluator ribbon! Congratulations and very job well done on your role!
- General Evaluator – TM Nabil Kadir
On that day, excitement filled TM Nabil Kadir as it was his first time playing a role as General Evaluator a BSC and he did not disappoint. He started off by giving a comments on TM Dalton Lim’s uplifting evaluation and gave motivation on TM Mardi Hedus’s “Superhero” speech and to Nur Ahmad, CC, for noticing what can be improved on TM Hedi Rahman’s “Cartel” speech. Later on the evening, TM Nabil Kadir dropped the board the 2nd time round for the meeting while commenting on Derby Teo, CC’s outward cheerful personality. After the stumble, he created a series of like and so which the Ah Counter noted but after a few seconds, he composed himself and was back to his normal lively self. TM Tieng Chwei Peng was also complimented on her dedication as Ah Counter & Who Said What role as TM Nabil Kadir saw her scribbling down notes during the break. He also complimented TM Haryati Gafur for her role as TME, noting that she ticked all the basics as a TME. Well done to all the role players!
Closing remarks: Vice President of Education, Gerald Goh, CL stood in for TM Jordan Yau and announced a few agendas and AOBs. During the weekend, the Area K6 Evaluation and Humorous Contest had two winning members; Pooja Shivanand, CC, CL as the winner of the Evaluation Contest and her husband Rahul Breh, CC for wiining third place for the Humour Contest. The Brunei Speakers Club is not just a place to participate and win but according to Gerald Goh, CL it is where we “watch and learn rather than participate and learn”.
Written By: TM Awfa Nawawi
Photography By: Rano Iskandar, CC, CL