December Club Meetings

KPMG on Wed 8 Dec 2010

We were listening raptly to tales of headhunters of Sarawak, in the meeting room of KPMG, far from the jungles of Borneo. Krystle not only had interesting stories of her ancestors for us, we relived the days of Rajah James Brooke in her well-researched speech.

Toastmaster of the Day Chee Sing decorated the meeting room with Christmas ornaments and we had a “Delightful December” meeting, knowing that we were safe from any headhunting activities. General Evaluator Michelle diligently evaluated each role player and was especially impressed with Table Topics Master Nas’ shopping bags, which provided the creative topics for our Table Topics session.

Krystle and Chee Sing with their ribbons, with President Grace

At the end of the meeting, President Grace was presented with District 51’s Select Distinguished Club award for 2009/2010. Congratulations to KPMG !

Hasil on Fri 10 Dec 2010

Mazlin, a new member, presented her Ice Breaker speech without reading her notes. This secretary shared with us stories about her family life. We are certainly looking forward to her future speeches.

Toastmaster of the Day Mustafa also presented his interesting “Beer” speech which was an explanation on tax rates and tax rebates. It cleverly explains how the higher income group is paying the bulk of our bills and is helping everyone to enjoy the benefit of tax rebates. How appropriate that we have a Toastmaster working in the Income Tax Department explaining about tax to us in an easy to understand manner.

Exact ADC on Tues 14 Dec 2010 (By Chee Hoe, Friendship)

First experiences are always memorable. My first visit to Exact ADC was not only memorable, but interesting and exhilarating (word of the day) as well. President Andrew arranged a fun game session, "All I want for Christmas", to infuse the mood of Christmas into our "Christmas in the Tropics" meeting.

Gunalan guessing who wrote the “All I want for Christmas” message

As a first-timer Toastmaster of the Day, Caroline impressed us with her smooth delivery and excellent introduction of role players. Ai Shiang also had her first experience in taking up the role of Table Topics Master. She gave us interesting topics for us to practice our impromptu speaking skills. Then General Evaluator Hairani, also her first experience in this role, lightened up our lunch meeting with her nice smile and friendly feedback. My first experience at Exact ADC was utterly fantastic!

Friendship on Tues 21 Dec 2010 (By Caroline, Exact ADC)

I attended Friendship’s “Make it happen” meeting - and make it happen, they did! They set a white Christmas ambience for the meeting by encouraging a “white” dress code, adorning the room with simple Christmas ornaments and playing cheerful Christmas songs in the background. It was truly a pleasure watching another club in action and TME Angeline sure had it organized with utmost professionalism. Having renowned Dennis Wee presenting “Vocal Variety” was an entertaining, learning experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chee Hoe’s unconventional Table Topics session, which added a twist to the “Passing the parcel” game, which helped to get everyone in the festive mood. I’m sure it brought back many fond memories for those present. It was also a delight to watch eloquent Toastmasters, Michelle and Alexandra, present their respective project speeches. I definitely enjoyed my first visit and look forward to my next!

One World on Thurs 23 Dec 2010 (By Chee Hoe, Friendship)

The year of 2010 was coming to the end, and it was the genesis (word of the day) of One World Toastmasters Club, our new sibling in the family of Area W3. The very first meeting was held two days before Christmas. We had a few high-ranking officers of District 51 attending and supporting the first meeting of One World.

It was my pleasure to guide new Toastmasters to play the roles of Ah Counter and Timer during the meeting. The first timers and fast learners, Ivan and Rachel, did very well. Kudos to both of them!

Inspired by President Jessica's closing address, many members of One World volunteered to deliver their Ice Breaker speeches and take up meeting roles for the next meeting. I certainly like the warmth and friendliness of One World. In the Toastmasters world, no matter who you are, we are under one roof and under 'one world'!

Compiled by Angeline Lee

Visit to Perth

I was going to Perth for a holiday and wanted to check out how a Toastmasters meeting was conducted in a foreign country. From Toastmasters International website, I found that out Victoria Park Toastmasters Club is near where I would be staying. I decided to send an email requesting permission for a club visit on 15 November 2010. Within hours, Gerry Prewett replied with a warm invitation to visit his club.

Thanks to Gerry’s map, I managed to locate their venue easily. Not only was he helpful and efficient, he even waived my guest’s fees and proudly gave me a 5 minutes slot as the inspirational speaker, to talk about Malaysia and District 51.

Michelle at Victoria Park Toastmasters Club

The club meeting was held at The Homestead, a senior centre in Victoria Park. I learned that this was a senior centre hall where the public can rent and hold activities such as talks, games and functions.

The program agenda

I reached the place earlier to check it out and helped them set up the meeting room. The hall was very spacious and clean, and we were seated in a horse shoe style arrangement. The Victoria Park members were very punctual and the meeting started on time.

The meeting room

The Toastmaster of the day Robyn Lloyd introduced me as their special guest and after the Grammarian informed everybody the word of the day, I was invited to present my 5 minutes Inspirational talk. I introduced Malaysia and told them about our tourist attractions and what we are famous for, our diversified culture and our 3 main races. Then I shared a little about District 51, the history of how we started in 1985, how we went through our reformation in 2003 with a new District 80 born, and in 2009 how we saw a rapid growth in District 51 that made us undergo another reformation whereby District 87 was born.

Michelle presenting her inspirational speech

The meeting then continued with 2 speakers giving their project speeches. I was engrossed and was amazed on how well they presented their speeches with no speech crutches and managed to capture everyone’s full attention. I learnt a little trick from Sandra Morton’s CC speech no. 2 - Speaking Off the Cuff. She taught us that in Toastmasters, it is always easier to relate a project speech back to one’s personal surroundings and experiences. She quoted “I can talk about my supposedly billionaire uncle or grandma who witnessed the World War 2. Nobody would ever notice if I went a little off topic about the stories I tell, because it is all about me. No one can ever challenge topics relating to me because no one would know the truth better than me, myself and I.”

After the 2 project speeches, they had their Table Topics session followed by Table Topics evaluation. Another 2 speakers then proceeded to present their project speeches. After the project speeches and reporting from the role players, I was given 5 minutes to share my experience of attending this meeting. I took the opportunity to present gift and souvenirs I had bought from Malaysia, to the club and members attending this meeting. The meeting ended on time followed by a short tea session where I got to interact with fellow Toastmasters.

Michelle with members of Victoria Park

Overall I managed to bring home a wealth of knowledge gathered from the meeting, their presentation of speeches, their cheerful spirit and professional conduct throughout the meeting. On top of that, I even made some new friends. We exchanged name cards and Facebook contacts and we have kept in touch since then!

Contributed by Michelle Yip, KPMG KL Toastmasters Club

KPMG Table Topics Contest

Michelle Yip, the new Vice President of Membership of KPMG KL took up the challenge to be the organizing chair for a very fun and interesting Table Topics Contest - Round 1 on 11 December 2010.

We had 5 contestants competing to tell us their embarrassing moment with a 2 mins each.Our Chief Judge cum GE, Min On, gave us valuable advice and tips on how to improve further on our impromptu speeches.

Min On, our Chief Judge cum GE

It was hilarious and truly a very good experience as higher level has been set for KPMG Toastmasters Club.

Round 1 Winners: Aaron(centre), Yi Hoong(second from left) and Grace(left)

Another round of very exciting and competitive Table Topics Contest was held on 15 December.

Fellow contestants and judge

Although there were 7 contestants, the atmosphere of the contest was so friendly yet nerve wrecking. Every contestant was sharing his or her story about "Slow and Steady Wins the Race" fluently. Grace Loh shared about her slow and steady journey in Toastmasters, which truly wins in this race.

Not only were some of the contestants being called upon to contest with short notice, even the topic for this round of contest was impromptu!

Bravo to our organizing chair, Joanita for successfully organizing this contest. Thank you to our judges, Dr Sharon (WIM Toastmasters) and Dr Abu Bakar Ngah (Money Mastery-KL Toastmasters).

Round 2 Winners :

Grace(forth from right), Nasruna(second from right) , Krystle(forth from left)

Contributed by Grace Loh, KPMG KL Toastmasters Club

Area W7 ISTT at Tiffani Kiara

Jani Ow, Organising Chair of Area W7 International Speech & Table Topics (ISTT) Contest and her industrious Organising Team from Ireka Toastmasters Club, were host to many visiting Toastmasters on 8 April 2010.

Every guest was greeted with charming hospitality at the door. By 6.30 PM, our contest venue, Tiffani Kiara, was filled with Toastmasters and guests, anticipating an evening of excellent speeches.

Toastmaster of the Evening Yeow Yuen Kai with Teo Soo Loon, IS Contestant

There may have been anxiety among some of the contestants as they made their final preparation for their speeches. They gave their best and we were definitely not disappointed. We witnessed five impressive speakers. Some of us were glad that we did not have to take on the difficult role of judging and selecting the contest champion.

The audience!

Freddie Yap provided an entertaining and animated presentation in his "For Crime Sake!" speech. Not only did we laugh out loud at his description of the "visiting hours for thief" signboard, we also had hilarious moments when he explained about his proposed tax relief for crime victims.

In "Rules of Engagement", Tan May Lee gave us some helpful tips to help Men from Mars and Women from Venus to live happily together on planet Earth.

The winning speech was an inspiring and uplifting speech on "Just Smile". Forget about Botox or cosmetic surgery, Grace Lee told us. If we want to look younger, just smile. Why frown when you can smile? Using 2 muscles versus 11 muscles means less wrinkles and a happier person.

 International Speech Champion Grace Lee receiving her award from Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

 From left, 2nd runner up Freddie Yap, 1st runner up Tan May Lee, IS Champion Grace Lee, Area Governor Tan Lay Theng, IS Contest Chair Ganesh Sangaran

For the Table Topics Contest, the challenge was to answer this impromptu question – "Action may not always bring result, but there will be no result without action."

Leonard Yee provided an entertaining speech. He proclaimed that he is an action man. Action is his middle name. For him, action equals results.

For Pirahaspathy, the greatest sin is to do nothing. Sometimes action may not bring the desired result. Nevertheless, you must take action, take the first step, to resolve a problem.

Our Table Topics Champion gave us this winning speech. Just do it, he said. Of course it is also important that we do it with the right planning and execution. Otherwise we will not achieve the desired results. If you take action, you MAY succeed. So start by taking the first step, by putting plan into action.

Table Topics Champion Thomas Chen receiving his award from Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

From left, Table Topics Contest Chair Lee Su Jane, Table Topics Champion Thomas Chen, 2nd runner-up Leonard Yee, 1st runner-up S. Pirahaspathy, Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

Congratulations to both our champions, Grace Lee and Thomas Chen!

They will hold Area W7's banner at the Division W ISTT Contest on 24 April at KDU College. Will the judges and audience be smiling at Grace as she appeals to everyone to "Just Smile"? Will Thomas continue his winning streak and be crowned as Division W Table Topics Champion?

Join us on 24 April to find out.

Contributed by Angeline Lee

Area W7 ISTT Contest 2010 Results

The Area W7 ISTT 2010 contest were held on Thursday, 08 April 2010 @ Tiffany Kiara (Host: Ireka).


International Speech Contest
Champion Grace Lee [KPMG]
1st runner-up Tan May Lee [Ireka]
2nd runner-up Freddie Yap [Friendship]

Table Topics Contest
Champion Thomas Chen [Friendship]
1st runner-up S. Pirahaspathy [HASIL]
2nd runner-up Leonard Yee [Ireka]

Table Topics Champion Thomas Chen receiving his award from Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

From left, Table Topics Contest Chair Lee Su Jane, Table Topics Champion Thomas Chen, 2nd runner-up Leonard Yee, 1st runner-up S. Pirahaspathy, Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

 International Speech Champion Grace Lee receiving her award from Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng

 From left, 2nd runner up Freddie Yap, 1st runner up Tan May Lee, IS Champion Grace Lee, Area Governor Tan Lay Theng, IS Contest Chair Ganesh Sangaran

Special thanks to all role players, judges and guests for making this event a success.

First CIMA - KPMG KL TMC Joint Meeting

1st Joint Meeting between CIMA Toastmasters Club and KPMG KL Toastmasters Club was successfully conducted on Wed, 6 January 2010 at CIMA’s office. It was a friendly, warm and mutually helpful meeting.

For the pictures, have a look at the following doc.

From zero to ten in 1.4 years

Strangely enough, I was not as nervous as expected. Of course, this was my tenth speech and yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I’ve gained more confidence each and every time I delivered a previous project speech (or table topic or evaluation for that matter). However this time I should be more nervous. This time I was expected to inspire my audience, doing something I’ve tried to avoid so far: sharing personal opinions and inner thoughts.

All my nine previous speeches have been on - what I would consider - ‘safe’ topics such as sports, objects, events, situations or other non ‘inner space’- invading matters. But now, I have challenged myself to share bits and pieces of myself rather than generic and general information. And you know what? Not only did I conquer a deep, dark and lingering fear, I delivered my best speech ever!

My speech had zero speech crutches (whereas an average of 10+ would be my norm). The flow of words for the first time came from my heart and not from a sheet of paper. Speaking from my own beliefs was easier than I had ever imagined. And to top it off, all the accumulated feedbacks from the past 1.4 years since my 1st speech seemed to merge back into this one speech. Ah, the sweet taste of personal victory. Doing something outside of my comfort-zone and doing it with the best efforts and intentions paid off really well for me and inspired me to do this more often.

With the taste of victory fresh in my mind and heart, I realized that getting to this milestone had been a fun journey as well as the feeling of being surrounded by the terrific and great people of KPMG KL Toastmasters Club. I owe my gratitude to so many of them for their support, help, coaching and mentoring to get me to this point. It’s impossible to thank them all individually but special credits go out to our highly regarded President, VP Education, PR, Treasurer, Secretary and other super-active members, including our external guests and visitors.

Is this the end of my Toastmasters journey, I’ve been asked? At first I thought it would be: "Mission Accomplished". But having done the ‘unthinkable’, it feels only right to continue with the winning streak and elevate myself to new, greater heights.

Contributed by KPMG TMC VP Membership Ivo Ramon.

A Daring Adventure or Nothing

The meeting was like a ladies' night. First, we had two lady guests from Friendship Toastmasters Club, Assistant Area Governor in Marketing Angeline Lee and Area W7 Governor Tan Lay Theng. Second, there were only 3 gentlemen out of our cozy gathering of 13. Third, we indulged in cupcakes, cheesecakes and chocolates, instead of our usual nasi lemak dinner.

Note to self: Should host bona fide ladies' nights (free drinks, ladies?) if gentlemen don’t turn up in generous numbers.

The meeting was kicked off smoothly and promptly by Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Victoria and Vice President of Education and acting President Grace Loh. Then, controls were passed to Vice President of Membership Ivo Ramon. As the Toastmaster of the Evening and Grammarian, Ivo introduced our guests, role players, project speakers and the Word of the Day (“glitch”). Although this was only my 4th Toastmasters Club meeting, I have already heard of and personally witnessed his reputation as the ever calm and smiling speaker. Hence, despite having the guts to forget to introduce Angeline for her Special Session on Area W7 Connect and Table Topics Evaluator’s Report, he was quickly forgiven.

Note to self: Must master Ivo’s charm, so that I may escape scot free too.

TME Ivo who has a running bet that no one has won yet - to pronounce his full name correctly - Ivoramon Van der Kleij

Enjoying Ivo's TME mastery

Angeline’s talk on Area W7 Connect introduced a brilliant website (which is this particular one you are currently visiting) that collects and shares information among different clubs in Area W7, such as meeting details at various Toastmasters clubs and inter-club events. This educational talk was subsequently followed by a stimulating Table Topics Session held by Table Topics Master Andy Khoo. By throwing in surprise words that participants were expected to incorporate into their 2-minute speeches, Andy’s special twist made the speeches highly entertaining and unpredictable.

Note to self: Will try using suspense to prevent my colleagues from becoming bored of my fortnightly attempts at the Competent Communicator (CC) Project Speeches.

Jasmine listening intently to the question from Table Topics Master Andy

Tonight, three heroines delivered Project Speeches: I did my CC Speech 3, my same name friend Grace Lok performed CC Speech 6 and my first mentor (aka Speech 1 evaluator) Nik Joanita presented Advanced Speech 1. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement to talk about how to improve the way we make decisions in life. I spoke on living life like a daring adventure; Grace’s speech urged us to reevaluate ourselves in face of Armageddon; Joanita’s speech illuminated the mind-mapping techniques used to choose a suitable holiday destination.

Note to self: Could our unintended synchronisation support the theory that women have intuitive powers?

Grace Lee delivering her speech on "A Daring Adventure or Nothing"

Grace Lok asking an intense question - will you live your life differently ?

After a 10-minute break, we reconvened for the evaluation session led by Lay Theng, the General Evaluator for tonight. First, Grace Loh, Looi Ee Li and Angeline offered concise and helpful feedback to the Project Speech speakers. Second, Ivo, Tay Shin Ying and I gave our respective reports on English usage, unnecessary utterance and time performance. Third, Lay Theng shared a detailed evaluation on the overall running of tonight’s meeting. One of her many valuable recommendations that particularly impacted me was to create a reaction whenever the “Word of the Day” was used. Thus, I could not resist hitting my Time Keeper’s bell when she shortly mentioned “glitch.” Lastly, Grace Loh presented the Best Table Topic Speaker Award to Ivo, Best Project Speech Speaker Award to me and closing speech to bid everyone a good night and safe journey home.

Note: I was touched by the sincerity and encouragements of my colleagues once again. Thank you for your kind words and gestures. May we carry on the noble mission of our club to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth!

Our General Evaluator, Tan Lay Theng, giving us an elegant evaluation

Ah-Counter Shin Ying delivering her concise report

Grace Lee providing a Glitch-free Timer's report.

Join KPMG TMC's Meeting on 9 Dec 2009. Click for more info.

Contributed by Grace Lee, a new member of KPMG TMC