May Club Meetings Part I

Friendship AGM on Tue 3 May 2011

With the successful conclusion of our club officers’ election, Friendship is pleased to announce that the Club Officers for term 2011/2012 are

President – Angeline Lee
Vice President of Education – Chor Chee Hoe
Vice President of Membership – Alexandra Lau
Vice President of Public Relations – Susan Lim
Secretary – Daphne Au
Treasurer – Ian Tai
Sergeant At Arms – Andy Supramaniam

Past President Freddie has nothing but praise for our President, who has also completed the project requirements for Competent Leader (CL) and Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB).

President Zaiton deserves heaps of praises for her strings of achievements during her tenure. The term is filled with many events which she led persistently from the drawing board to fruition.

President Zaiton, your dynamism has certainly taken Friendship on a higher plane. Congratulations and a big THANK YOU for your outstanding leadership!

 

President Zaiton (center) with members of Friendship

Hasil on Fri 6 May 2011

President Piras never fails to amaze (word of the day) us with his eloquence and enthusiasm on his reading habit. After sharing with us nuggets of information about Tun Mahathir’s book, he then asked us to pick up the reading habit, as reading leads to information. Information leads to knowledge, and knowledge is power.

With Table Topics Master Khif providing interesting topics on Malaysians’ reading habit, sending children to music school and Facebook, everyone spoke their mind on the various topics. Timer Joriah had to remind us that time was up for the 20 minutes session.

 

Members of Hasil enjoying their club meeting

First-timer TME Sotimin warned us he might frighten us with his performance! When he attended his first Toastmasters meeting back in September 2010, his nervousness was apparent to us as he did his first Table Topics. However, his determination to improve and his willingness to take up meeting roles have paid off. Today, we witnessed a remarkable transformation to a confident speaker, as he performed his TME role with ease.


Exact ADC on Tue 10 May 2011
By Caroline, Exact ADC

Table Topics Master Edward prepared topics which were closely related to “Mother”, the theme of the day. First up, Brenda was asked to brag about her mom. She spoke of her mom’s great cooking and how it has resulted in her acquired taste for good wholesome cooking, made with motherly love. Our first time guest, Kang Ling Chee spoke about her strict mother when she was a teenager, which resulted in her siblings and her growing up as obedient children. Second time guest Judy Cheong, expressed that it would not be any different if Mother’s or Father’s day no longer exists, as you do not need a specific day to celebrate or spend time with your parents. Next speaker, Andrew, would bring his Mom to Singapore for a vacation if she were still alive.

 

Brenda is Best Table Topic Speaker

In the assignment speech session, Wan Suzielawati was a natural at delivering her Ice Breaker speech. Suzie told us stories of her childhood and upbringing, living with “Mak Tek”. Mak Tek is her foster mother, whom she still lives with, and is someone very close and dear to her. Mak Tek was always there for her and they spent a lot of time together.


One World on Thur 12 May 2011    

In this meeting, TME CK Ho informed us that we will be travelling from Europe to Japan as we listened to two project speeches on “How To Say It”. VPPR Ivan brought us to Europe while President Jessica shared with us her hilarious tale of her first visit to a Sento, a public bathing place in Japan. General Evaluator Kang, Area W2 Governor, had us laughing out loud when he said that Jessica’s demonstration of the size of a handkerchief had our imaginations running wild as to how she made used of it before she dipped into the hot water.

 

Members & guests of One World with John Cheah (seated, at the right)

At the end of the meeting, Division W Governor DTM Vincent introduced John Cheah, the incoming Area Governor for One World, which will be aligned to Area W5 wef 1 July 2011. John has started on his club visits to get to know his clubs before his duties officially starts on 1 July.

For John’s entertaining evaluation of Jessica’s speech, he won the Best Speech Evaluator award whereas Jessica was the clear favourite for the Best Project Speaker award.

April Club Meetings (Part 3)

KPMG KL on Sat 23 April 2011
With the evaluator roles filled by visiting Toastmasters from AFC, Friendship, Mid Valley and MII Toastmasters Club, it was a meeting of learning and sharing for members from 5 clubs.

With two Ice Breaker speeches and two advanced manual speeches, we were glad that we did not have to curtail the meeting to resume work as it was a Saturday meeting.

New members Janice and Michelle presented “So You Think You Know Janice” and “The Other Michelle”. Coincidentally, the other Michelle, namely Michelle Yip, presented her Monodrama speech from the Interpretive Reading manual. We heard the evil and gloating voice of Green Goblin from the Spider Man movies. Last but not least, Joanita presented her Interpersonal Communication speech.

Joanita & Michelle with their District 51 pins. Janice & Michelle with their red Ice Breaker ribbons

Thank you to TME Joanita who treated us to fruit tarts which she had baked for us. It provided a sweet ending to this lunch meeting!



Exact ADC on Tue 26 April 2011
By Caroline, Exact ADC

TME Andrew introducing the theme of the day “Friendly” (also the word of the day). As Malaysia was recently voted the 9th friendliest country, Andrew asked members their thoughts about the friendliness of Malaysians. In his President’s speech, he talked about the values of friendliness and the role Toastmasters play as an avenue to make more friends.

Table Topics Master Hoey Teng prepared two sets of cards – one set with the table topic title, and another set on the stand which the speaker is to take, i.e. if the speaker agreed, disagreed or remain neutral on the topic from the first set of cards. Instead of having volunteers, Hoey Teng handpicked speakers and invited them to come up to the stand.

General Evaluator Brenda pointed out that the table topic session of handpicking speakers instead of getting members to volunteer, exemplified real life situations where you would most likely be called upon and asked an opinion. It is a good experience to test how fast your brain thinks. With that, Table Topics Evaluator Chee Yoong was inspired to evaluate differently too. Instead of doing the evaluation from his viewpoint, he invited the speakers themselves to answer (i)How well do you think you did? and (ii) If you were to do it again, how would you do it differently?

President Andrew presenting the Best Table Topics Speaker certificate to Lee Lee

This was followed by Caroline’s Project #3 assignment speech, from the CC Manual. Her speech titled “Ipoh Mali” served to introduce the little wonders Ipoh had to offer from the colonial architecture to the natural limestone hills and many local delicacies. It would have been a nice touch if some of the Ipoh food spoken about were shared at the meeting!

Area Governor Angeline also shared news of Area W3 Blog being selected as one of the best website of District 51, with the results to be announced during the Penang Convention. She thanked Chee Yoong for his contribution to the success of the Blog, as he was the creator of the Area Blog.

One World on Thur 28 April 2011

In the Table Topics Session headed by Meifen, Sam told us he would give us his candid (word of the day) opinion about his favourite colour. With 5 other volunteers giving us their candid opinions, we were enjoying impromptu speeches about love, happiness, confidence, success and even about pirated DVD.

Best Table Topics Speaker Alex, Acting President CK Chong and TME
Ivan

In Amenny’s presentation about DISC, we learnt that knowing whether someone is in the Dominance, Influence, Steadiness or Compliance quadrant will help us to understand and handle various personalities that we will encounter everyday.

Lay Choo, visiting from TARC Toastmasters Club, provided a CANDID evaluation for Amenny, consisting of the words Clear, Awesome, Nice smile, Descriptive, Interactive and Direct. For her outstanding CANDID evaluation, she won the Best Speech Evaluator award.

Members & guests of One World

April Club Meetings (Part 2)

One World on Thur 14 April 2011

For the Project Speech Session, Kelson amazed us with his Ice Breaker speech, VPPR Ivan impressed us with his property investment speech and VPE CK Chong dazzled us with his mountain climbing exploits.

President Jessica presenting the Best Project Speaker award to VPPR Ivan

We were fortunate to have DTM Lum Woon Foong, a highly regarded Toastmaster, as our General Evaluator. She was impressed with the strong bond and camaderie among the club members. Her verdict ? It was a very enjoyable meeting !


Friendship on Tue 19 April 2011

For our Visionary Leadership meeting, first-timer TME Ian performed his role with gusto and enthusiasm. It was evident that he had prepared assiduously for his role. We were impressed with his TME skills, as he showed no signs of nervousness and empowered (word of the day) all of us to have an awesome meeting.

TME Ian

Was it “The Curse” as claimed by Immediate Past President (IPP) Ben when he found out two weeks ago that he had a speaking slot for 19 April ? He presented a hilarious and highly entertaining tale of how events seem to conspire against him while he was preparing for his speech. It was an AA (Absolutely Awesome) speech for its humorous content and we wished that it has been recorded so that we can enjoy it all over again.

Congratulations to IPP Ben who has completed his ten speeches for his Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB) award. Well done to our IPP, as he was also the Best Project Speaker for this meeting!

Ben receiving his well-deserved ACB pin

KPMG KL-CIMA Joint Meeting on Wed 20 April 2011

At this joint meeting hosted by CIMA Toastmasters Club, SAA Ai Ling immediately caught our attention when she announced that there will be S.E.X. during the meeting. She then explained that S.E.X. stands for Smile, Enthusiasm and eXcitement.

During the Table Topics Session, we had entertaining and eloquent speeches from 5 “Ministers” comprising of Abu Bakar (Kelab Pidato KL), Grace (KPMG), Michelle (KPMG), Kok Loon (Money & You) and Victor (CIMA). Minister of Works, Victor, was voted the Best Table Topics Speaker.

Congratulations to Ling Sim of KPMG who presented her Ice Breaker speech and also won the Best Project Speaker award.

We also had 3 IBM guests, Kenneth, Wendy and Anthony, who had attended to observe the meeting proceedings. All of them were impressed with the Toastmasters educational program and told us of their intention to set up a Toastmasters Club for IBM.

Charming and enthusiastic TME Soo Qi confessed to us after the meeting that she was nervous, as her boss, HR Director of IBM, was at the meeting. We hope that her boss was impressed with her TME skills as it was a thumbs up performance.



One World Club Officers Installation on Fri 22 April 2011

At this Installation Ceremony, we were joined by One World Group CEO, Dave Lau, who is also the Charter President of Roof Toastmasters Club, Singapore. Just before the Installation ceremony, he asked us to write down 3 weaknesses that we faced and clip it to a RM100 note. He then challenged us to burn the RM100 note and the paper attached to it, if we think it is worth paying RM100 to erase the 3 weaknesses. A number of One World members stood up and pledged to burn the money and banish their weaknesses.

With that dramatic start, we then moved on to the Installation Ceremony of One World Toastmasters’ club officers, followed by the official opening ceremony for One World Damansara branch.

Division W Council members with the Club Officers of One World

April Club Meetings (Part 1)

Friendship on Tue 5 April 2011

At our “Magical Transformation” 5 April 2011 meeting, Past President James Arokiasamy who was our TME asked us, “How are we feeling?” Then he held up a cue card with the word “AWESOME” written on it. Indeed it was awesome, as we had 7 visiting Toastmasters from 5 clubs ! They were

General Evaluator DTM Geoff Andrew from MIM KL
Invocation speaker DTM Mohamad Abdullah from MII
Evaluators Daniel Teh and Jocelyn Lim, and guest Alireza from AFC
Evaluator V.S. Ravi from UEM
Patrick Lim from ITC Bintang

Another awesome fact was that we had 4 non-Toastmasters guests and two of them, Rosalie and Sylvia, signed up as members !

Guest Rosalie, Jocelyn (AFC), Phileo, guest Sylvia, VPPR Alexandra, Past President Lay Theng & Alireza (AFC)

Thanks to the effort of VPPR Alexandra to send out Facebook invitations, Patrick of ITC Bintang decided to attend our meeting as well.

Patrick of ITC Bintang

Exact ADC on Tue 12 April 2011
By Caroline, Exact ADC

For the first part of the meeting, Table Topic Master Chee Yoong prepared table topics based on pictures. Volunteers were asked to select a number and the Table Topic Master revealed a picture which the speaker had 2 minutes to talk about. The table topics session was definitely a nice change and an innovative way to encourage most of the members to participate.

In the assignment speech session, Boby delivered his Ice Breaker speech, titled “Life is Unpredictable”. Hailing from West Sumatra, he shared about his family and his ambition to study and work abroad. He felt that life was full of the unpredictable, just as how he came to work in Exact.


After the break, General Evaluator Ai Shiang, who filled in at the last minute, professionally handled the role even though it was her first time. She suggested to provide an additional stopwatch for the timer, so that it was easier to time entire sessions, while timing individual speakers.


KPMG KL Wed 13 April 2011
By Grace, KPMG KL

At this meeting, our guys took over the stage !

Tell me which club has 3 IT guys bravely giving their CC speeches PLUS they are not talking about computer or programming.

Jowy, Chee Seng and Gary with their TI ribbons

Jowy told us how he got his unique name "JOWY" and it is indeed different from the norm. Be unique, be different and stand out from the rest.

Chee Sing inspired us to dream and to create our own future. He reminded us about the dreams and stories of Thomas Edison and his light bulb, the Wright brothers and the airplane and even Tony Fernandes and Air Asia.

Gary confirmed that with his experiences in IT, with changes, comes resistance. He assured us that the world is moving ahead with time and new technology. He concluded that it is time to be, "Out with the Old and In with the New"

We also had a large group of visitors! Lead by Samantha Tai of MAICSA Toastmasters Club, who is also head of Boardroom Corporate Services, her team of 15 staff visited our club.

Impromptu Speaking Skills Workshop (II)

As a conversation is a two way street, we should also be a good listener. When we compliment someone, be sincere and be friendly. As practice makes perfect, she then asked us to put into practice what we have just learnt in her interactive workshop session.

Practicing our social impromptu speaking skills

In his closing address, Division Governor Vincent gave us an analogy. Seven spoons of sugar will not make a cup of coffee sweet until we stir it. Similarly for us, no matter how many workshops we attend, if we do not take action with what we have learnt, we will remain where we are and will not improve.

DTM LeAnn in action

Short Q&A session with LeAnn

After the workshop, we were fortunate to be able to spend a few minutes with DTM LeAnn. We seized the opportunity to ask her a few questions.

Division W Secretary Marian, Division W PRO Kimmy, AG W3 Angeline, AG W1 Siew Fun, Division W Treasurer Christine, DTM LeAnn & Division W Governor DTM Vincent

Q: How did you transform from the wallpaper to the confident speaker that you are today?
A: Thru Toastmasters! In a Toastmasters meeting, even though you would rather not speak, there will be someone cajoling you to give it a try.

Q: Do you still get nervous each time before you give a speech ?
A: No, I don’t. I tell myself to just enjoy it.

Q: For the rest of us who may still feel nervous, what would you recommend ?
A: Your fears will be because you do not want to disappoint the audience, you do not want to let them down. There will be club meetings where you felt you did great. There will other meetings where you felt disappointed with your delivery. When that happens to me, I acknowledge it and then let go. Life is too short to be unhappy about it.

Thank you DTM LeAnn, for your sharing your insights with us !

Impromptu Speaking Skills Workshop (I)

Parking was perhaps the biggest challenge for attendees of Division W’s Impromptu Speaking Skills 101 Workshop on Sat 22 January 2011 at Tiffani Hall. However, where there’s a will, there’s a way, for 100 Toastmasters who attended this workshop.

Angeline, Joanne, Elaine, Andrew and Caroline from Friendship, Monash & Exact ADC Toastmasters Club

Division W Governor DTM Vincent started the workshop with his presentation on Impromptu Speaking Skills in the Corporate Environment.

DTM Vincent in action

When we communicate, do not complicate, said DTM Vincent. The 6 C’s to effective communication is clarity, conciseness, correctness, courtesy, completeness and consistency.

We create an impression when we create conversations. His tips to us include thinking fast but speaking slower. When we are selling a point or concept, it helps if we were to use powerful quotations.

MMU Cyberjaya member trying out Vincent’s tip to introduce your name, your profession and what you do best, in 20 seconds

DTM LeAnn started with a shocking revelation in her session on Impromptu Speaking Skills in a Social Environment. She used to be a wallflower. In fact, if there is such a thing as wallpaper that is able to drink, that was her, she told us. One would never have guessed that this confident and commanding speaker was once a wallflower.

Stressing on the importance of small talk, she told us that
· Small talk can lead to big talk
· Big talk can lead to big people
· Big people can lead you to big opportunities

The secret to be successful in small talk is to stretch ourselves by stepping out of our comfort zone and broadening our horizon. Start with a smile as it is the shortest distance between two people. Then explore by asking questions. It also helps if we are knowledgeable.

...to be continued

Division W TLI2 11.12.2010

With club officers arriving as early as 12.30 PM and eager to be trained, Division W TLI2 started on time at 1.30 PM. With TME Marian kicking off the show, we had speeches from Organizing Chair Angeline, Division W Governor Vincent and District 51 Governor Thanni.

For our Ice Breaker session, we had a Treasure Hunt for objects such as a Club Officer manual, an SAA, TI badge, TI name card and a Toastmaster pin. TLI Publicity Chair Kuok Sum summarized for us the learning points which are to hone our observation skills, to be resourceful and also to practice our communication skills.

In “Breaking the Vicious Cycle”, Lieutenant Governor Marketing DTM Ramdas spoke of the vicious cycle that all clubs have gone thru or are currently facing – low turn-out, poor quality meetings, low morale, resulting in fewer members. To overcome this vicious cycle, we have to identify the root cause. One way of doing so would be to answer the Moment of Truth (MOT) questionnaire which addresses the 6 dimensions of a club meeting.

Grace presenting KPMG’s Miracle Story

Miracle Story presented by President Grace from KPMG KL echoed what we had just learnt from the “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” presentation. From a roaring start of 70 members, membership dwindled down. Charter President Raja Ahmad did not give up and continued with club meetings even playing multiple roles at times. Meanwhile, talented club members have won speech contests at Area level, Division level and even became District contestants. With the perseverance and effort put in by the Charter President and the current President, membership number has increased, and the club is now aiming for President’s Distinguished Club status !

President Grace with her KPMG club officers Diyana & Yi Hoong

Just before the break, the “Wonder Boys” of District 51 lead us in the Stretching Session. We were dancing to the song “Nobody” sang by “Wonder Girls”, the popular Korean singing group. Who would have thought that our District leaders are good dancers too?

The Wonder Boys of District 51 in action

After our break, it was time for the Moments of Truth break-out session. It was indeed challenging covering all 6 dimensions of MOT within 45 minutes, with participation from all club officers.

One World and Ireka club officers at Area W5 MOT session

While the Area Governors were compiling the finding from the MOT session, club officers were treated to a special video presentation, “Magic Moments”. We learnt that there are many magical components to crafting and delivering a great speech.

In the MOT presentation of findings, Area Governors Siew Fun, Kang, Angeline, Janice and Soo Ling summarized the challenges and recommendations that were discussed during the break-out sessions.

In the Q&A session, there were several questions from the floor which our District Governor answered in his humble and simple manner. He reminded us that there many experienced Toastmasters willing to help. We just have to take the first step to invite them to our club meetings.

DG Thanni adroitly handling the Q&A session

In his closing address, Division Governor Vincent announced the attendance of all 7 club officers of One World Toastmasters Club, the newest club in Division W.

Caroline from Exact ADC shares with us her experience of attending her first TLI training:

It was my first time attending a TLI session and I can only think of one word to describe it – Inspiring! Speakers talking from experience and sharing from the videos were definitely beneficial. The group session, where club members shared their own stories and struggles, made me realize that we were not alone in our battle to keep our club members’ interests going. Grace from KPMG was so kind to offer her contact details and was open to share further what they have done at their in-house club. It evidently shows that Toastmasters is indeed a place where members are helping each other, not just in public speaking but also in leadership and organizational skills.

Club officers of Friendship & Exact ADC. Caroline is in the center

Thank you to our hard-working TLI Team who has made this first-timer experience a memorable one !

Photos contributed by TLI Publicity Chair Kuok Sum

TLI2 2010 – Behind The Scenes

Never in my wildest dream did I think I would be going on a road trip to Kulim with a team of dedicated Toastmasters, as part of our preparation for Division W TLI2 scheduled to be held on 11 December 2010. It all began with an announcement by TLI team that there will be two TTT (Train the Trainers) sessions to prepare all Area Governors for our respective Division’s TLI2.

Having missed the first TTT session on Sat 14 November due to an outstation work assignment, TLI Publicity Chair Kuok Sum suggested that I attend the second TTT to be held at Kulim on Sat 27 November. With TLI Chair Dennis offering his services (and car) to drive us to Kulim, we began our road trip at 8 AM that Saturday morning.

Someone should have warned me that TLI Chair would be subjecting me to a series of tough questions about my Area Governor duties during the road trip. Although brutal in his questioning session (he would not take “Not sure” for an answer), he was also very generous in his sharing about his Toastmasters journey.

TLI Chair Dennis and Co-Chair Pala

Arriving at Kulim in the nick of time, TLI Chair and Co-Chair, Dennis and Pala, started with what was the lessons learnt from TLI1. This was followed by tips and techniques for facilitating discussion which were useful for us, as all of us would be conducting the Moments of Truth (MOT) break-out sessions for our respective areas.

During the MOT mock runs

At 6 PM, the TTT session was over but it was not the end of the day for our intrepid TLI team. After a hearty dinner and having taken our shower, work continued for our team.

This was the scene that transpired. We were in a house, somewhere in Kulim. The time was 10 PM. All was silent in the house. TLI Chair was lying on the floor. He was not asleep. TLI Co-chair was rocking his son to sleep. TLI Registration Chair Choi San was beside me. The only sound to be heard was the voice of TLI Publicity Chair as he rehearsed his presentation for TLI2. He was the centre of our attention. TLI Chair had warned him, “I am going to be brutally honest with you in my evaluation. This is our last practice session, so I will have to be brutally honest.”

It was scene that you will never see in a Hollywood movie. We ended the session at 12 midnight. While we slept, TLI Publicity Chair continued working on his presentation up to 2 AM. TLI Co-chair was beside him, half asleep and continued to provide moral support up to 2 AM.

The next morning we were at Taiping, attending an Advanced Evaluation Workshop conducted by TLI Chair, at the invitation of Division H Governor, May Cheah.

By 7.30 PM, we were back in KL. It had been an eventful weekend. It was an eye-opener for me in terms of the amount of planning, preparation, time and effort that the TLI team had put in for our TLI2.

Back in KL, Division W TLI2 venue was still in doubt. We had made inquiries at 9 venues without success so far. By 30 November, when our ninth option was rejected, we decided to go for the only option left which was Uptown Conference Centre. Division W Governor Vincent requested for District Governor Thanni’s permission to proceed with this option, as it was beyond the TLI2 budget allocated for our Division. For this venue, we could only have 1 elective instead of 4 offered by TLI team. To have an additional elective meant renting another hall, which was beyond our budget.

TLI Co-Chair Pala at Division B TLI2

With permission granted from District on the venue selection and cost, we proceed with our final preparations. Three of us attended Division B TLI2 on 4 December to observe the proceedings as preparation for our event. Our Division Council team met up on 8 December to go thru one last time, the details of our event.

After all the preparation, it was finally SHOWTIME on Sat 11 December 2010 !

Photos contributed by TLI Publicity Chair Kuok Sum

March Club Meetings (Part II)

Friendship on Tue 15 March 2011

In our “Respect to the Individual” meeting, after giving us a brief introduction to the history of Toastmasters and revered (word of the day) founder Dr. Ralph C. Smedley, TME Alexandra passed control to VPM Chee Hoe to conduct the voting in of new members procedure. There were no objections from members of Friendship for our latest membership applications. Welcome to the club, Daphne and Phileo!

Timer Daphne, Abe, Ah Counter Ian, Project Speaker Andy, Phileo, VPM Chee Hoe & President Zaiton

In his “I am a Superman” speech, Andy made us laugh out loud twice. Not bad for someone who told us that his fear of public speaking held him back for 6 months before he decided to do his Ice Breaker speech. This 29 year old bachelor - single but not available, said that he was happy that he is part of Friendship family where we have given him a new nickname - Superman. This Superman promised that he will continue to practice and improve and will someday deliver a powerful speech like President Barack Obama!

KPMG KL – WIM Joint Meeting on Tue 22 March 2011


At this joint meeting, KPMG KL was host to visiting Toastmasters from WIM, MAICSA, Crystal and Friendship. We also celebrated Division W Governor DTM Vincent Hor’s birthday.

Happy birthday to Vincent

Emily Bong from Crystal Toastmasters Club writes:

Not only did we enjoyed ourselves, we have also learned so much from 3 DTMs - Dr. Sharon, NJ Singam and Vincent. We are in admiration of President Grace’s strong will power and the standard that KPMG KL has set. We totally agree with GE Dr. Sharon who said, "The meeting and meeting room don't come just like this. It was so well organized and KPMG members made us felt so welcome and so comfortable.” Well done President Grace and well said Dr. Sharon !


One World on Thur 24 March 2011

For the Ice Breaker speech from CK Ho, we heard why an engineer decided to be a real estate negotiator. For SAA Alex, his “F1” Ice Breaker speech was declared an “A1” by his speech evaluator, DTM Vincent Hor. President Jessica’s “Get to the Point” speech on the nuclear disaster in Japan sought to persuade us that Malaysia should consider alternative energy sources instead of building a nuclear plant.

President Jessica who is Best Project Speaker presenting the Best Table Topics Speaker award to SAA Alex

Hasil on Fri 25 March 2011

With Datin Josephine, Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia’s State Director for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in attendance, President Piras delivered his opening address with this message for us. “When we encounter drawbacks, don’t take it as the end of the world. Look at the big picture. By working on the problem, you will be better at solving future problems and bigger problems.”

Project Speaker Siva, President Piras, Grammarian Joriah & Table Topics Master Mazlin

Table Topics Master Mazlin’s questions about surviving on RM50 a week, mega sales and rising petrol prices elicited many eager volunteers. Not only did we enjoy this session where everyone can’t wait to express their opinions, we also heard from an eloquent speaker, Datin Josephine. She was impressed with this Toastmasters meeting and will be signing up as a member soon.

Humour Master Khif had us laughing at his jokes and our laughter continued during the Ice Breaker speech from Siva. Professing that he was very nervous as it was his first speech, he then presented a highly entertaining speech. It emcompassed his early childhood days and his job transfers to Melaka, Sandakan, Penang and KL as a Tax Assistant. We are certainly looking forward to the next speech from this humorous speaker!


Exact ADC on Tue 29 March 2011
By Andrew, Exact ADC

For our meeting, themed "Unknown", Soo Loon presented Project No. 7 from the Competent Communication manual. His speech titled "The Beast", came from the tribe called "Naisyalam Rac" which also reads “Malaysian Car” if read in reverse order. He told us how the car pollutes the environment and causes hazards to the human race.

After that, Brenda presented Project No. 3 from the Humorously Speaking manual. Her speech title was "World Class Training Ground". Her speech was hilarious throughout. The training ground that she meant was the Malaysian roads and drivers. She described how avoiding potholes on the road, efficient maneuvering of the car in situations of sudden brakes and crossing a busy roundabout has transformed her into a world class driver.

General Evaluator DTM Vincent Hor gave a few positive points of improvement for our club, such as wearing the Toastmasters Club pin and delivering a powerful message in the Presidential speech. We will take note of his advice and thank you DTM Vincent, for visiting our club.

Division W Governor DTM Vincent presenting the Best Table Topic Speaker certificate to VPE Chee Yoong

March Club Meetings

Friendship on Tue 1 March 2011

For our “Trust and Integrity” meeting, Friendship was host to nine guests, thanks to the effort of VPM Chee Hoe, Susan and Past President Kim.

VPPR Alexandra with guests Rosalie, Lana, Daphne, VPE Angeline, Susan & guest Lee Ching

We have three pieces of happy news to share. Firstly, Susan informed us she has just received a promotion, after she joined Friendship. Congratulations to Susan !

Secondly, Susan’s guest, Daphne, announced that she has made the decision to join us, thus becoming the latest addition to Friendship Toastmasters Club.

Thirdly, VPM Chee Hoe unveiled the results of Friendship’s Membership Campaign which started on 19 Aug 2010 and ended on 28 Feb 2011. For her effort in bringing guests to our meetings and effortlessly converting her guests to members, Susan was the clear winner. Once again, congratulations to Susan !

Susan is the winner for Friendship’s Membership Campaign

KPMG KL on Wed 9 March 2011

Toastmaster of the Day Chee Sing has us laughing when he told us he can’t wait to ‘discover’ Joo Lee. We discovered more of Joo Lee when she presented her touching Ice Breaker speech about her difficult decision to move on after being in a relationship for 5 years. With her uplifting message of “keep growing, keep learning and be the best you can be”, she had our hearts and votes to emerge as the Best Project Speaker.

Project Speakers Joo Lee, Patrick and Krystle with their TI ribbons

Not only did President Grace presented project speakers Joo Lee, Patrick and Krystle with TI ribbons for speeches 1, 2 and 8, she had two more to give away. Congratulations to VPE Joanita and VPM Michelle who have completed all their CL manual assignments !

Joanite and Michelle with their CL ribbons

One World on Thur 10 March 2011

We had interesting speeches from our Best Project Speakers. Mei Fen inspired us to say “Yes!” to a new world of possibilities, excitement and adventure. We may even gain new friends just by saying yes to an invitation to a gathering.

Joint Best Project Speakers Meifen and Amenny with President Jessica

From Amenny, her speech on “How to become a property investor with 0 downpayment” held us spellbound for 7 minutes as she told us how she managed to own 5 properties at the age of 30. Last year, she bought 5 units at Berjaya Times Square and subsequently sold it at a profit of 40% ! This successful property investor gave us valuable tips and promised to share more in her future speeches. Interested in joining us at future One World meetings and learning from this enterprising extraordinaire ?


Exact ADC on Tue 15 March 2011
By Caroline, Exact ADC

“Changes” (Theme of the day) were definitely in store, as Brenda took the stand as Toastmaster of the Day. She had lined up a slightly reshuffled agenda, making things a little unexpected for those who were all too familiar with the standard format of our meetings.

Instead of starting off with the Table Topics session, we had assignment speakers presenting their prepared speeches first. Our Area W3 International Speech Contest winner, Loon, on a roll from the recent contest speeches, did his CC speech no. 6 with the title “My Malaysian Christmas”. He spoke of how Santa Claus came about and his version of what a Malaysian Santa Claus would look like.

Our second speaker was TME Brenda, who presented her assignment speech from the Humorously Speaking manual. In her “Anti-gravity” speech, she did not fail to make the audience laugh, with her signature humour-filled delivery on the modern day women’s obsession with youthful beauty and the race to defy age.

The impromptu speech session was up next. Table Topics Master Caroline had prepared some rather tricky topics based on the meeting’s theme. The winning speech was about “If you could change the plot of a movie, which movie would it be and why?” It was clear that Brenda would have liked to be Leonardo’s love interest on Titanic, when she spoke on her topic.

Best Table Topics Speaker Brenda receiving her award from President Andrew

This meeting was indeed a pleasant change from the norm and the general feedback was to see more positive changes in our coming meetings !