At the recent Area W4 Contest on Sat 21 August, we were impressed by
several young Mantissa contestants. They may not have been the most
proficient speakers on that Saturday afternoon, but their courage to
compete against the likes of Lee Xi Wen (Division W Champion) was
commendable. Although slightly nervous, they tried their best, which
was all that anyone could ask for.






Mantissa members at Area W4 Contest





At the end of the Area contest, as we were chatting with this group
of young students, President Ha invited me to their next meeting on
Wed 25 August. It was not a difficult decision. Mantissa members have
been helping us out at Division W events, even at our recent Area W3
Contest, at Menara ING. On my concern about reaching their meeting
venue on time, President Ha assured me the meeting time can be changed
to 7 PM to accommodate external guests.

On Monday, VPE Kelly sent me the program agenda with all the role
players in place. VPM Meng Yet inquired whether I was familiar with
their meeting venue at Bangunan AHP, TTDI.

During the President’s opening speech, the considerate President Ha
requested everyone to introduce themselves, for the benefit of first-
timer guests.






TME Jia Qi





TME Jia Qi then took control of the meeting. He was very smartly
dressed. He later told me that he took the trouble to dress for the
occasion as he was the TME.

Table Topics Master Derek was very encouraging especially when he asked
new member King to practice on his impromptu speaking. He repeated the
question in Mandarin, to be sure that King understood the question.
Six “Horror” (meeting theme) questions were asked and 6 speakers spoke
of their horrible experience, including ghostly ones. King told us that
he would like to befriend a female ghost, as he is a guy. He will ask
her questions such as – Do you have a boyfriend?






The meeting room at Mantissa College





For project speeches, we had an Ice Breaker speech from Amanda. She
delivered a touching story with a meaningful message for all of us:
spend as much time as possible with your loved ones and friends because
each day could be the last time we see them.

From Jen Wei, we had the second Ice Breaker speech. This time, we were
treated to a story of an adventurous boy who is proud to be a King
Scout. His role model is his dad, which is also a Scout. Jen Wei also
incorporated the use of visual aid in his speech, showing us his King
Scout badge.

Attempting speech no. 3 was President Ha. He was never at a lost of
words with his amusing anecdotes of his life experiences (20 years of
it so far).

In the evaluation session, IPP Derek, VPPR Shang Hui and VPE Kelly
delivered their insightful evaluations. Even though two of them have
not completed 6 CC speeches, they had the courage to take on evaluation
roles which many of us would have shirked from. Grammarian Xiao Qi,
Ah-Counter Miki and Timer Fu Ming were equally diligent and delivered
detailed reports.






Best Table Topics Speaker & Best Project Speaker Amanda being congratulated by President Ha






I had attended this meeting expecting it to be fun. Instead it turned
out to be not only fun, I met a group of inspiring young people. This
group of student was trying their best at their respective roles. They
earnestly wanted to improve in their speaking and evaluation skills,
and applied themselves diligently. At the same time, they created a
fun, learning environment for everyone.

After the meeting, IPP Derek insisted on paying for our meal. Although
I was reluctant to have a student pay for my dinner, he was insistent
that this was the least he could do for his guests. When he asked me
whether I was disappointed with the club visit, my immediate response
was “Definitely not!”






With the young, fun and friendly students of Mantissa






Thank you Mantissa, for an inspiring evening, for reminding me that
great things can happen if we just have the courage to try our best at
life’s many challenges.

Contributed by
Angeline Lee