Meeting #388 Dance When You Have The Chance

Do the Cha-cha, do a ballet, do a break dance but just do it anyway. For when you have the chance, just dance but always with flamboyance. The crowd was slowly drawing in for a fabulous performance we were having in store for the day and at 7:15 PM, our new member, Mary de Silva, promptly hit the gavel on the podium and called our 388th meeting to order. She was presentable and poised with her duty to introduce the house rules, lead the Toastmasters Promise and finally called the President to officiate the meeting.

Wendy Sim, CC then came on to the stage to deliver her Presidential Address and shared her passion for dancing and how it is great for the body and soul. Dancing you say? The theme of the day was in fact “Dance When You Have The Chance”. Following that, the word of the day “Flamboyant” was introduced by the Grammarian and everyone who attended took turns to introduce themselves, spoke of their thoughts about the theme and used the word of the day as they spoke.

After a year of being the President for the last term, Ron Yeap, ACB finally took stage as the Toastmaster of the Evening (TME) and brought us through the meeting proper, revisiting the history of Toastmasters International and introducing the respective role players.

Yap Ooi Yee played the significant timer, Serena Kong, ACB played the Grammarian after a long time and Srikant our newest member took up the attentive role as the Ah-Counter. We had with us for the night a bubbly and flamboyant Toastmaster, Joshua Chan, CC as our General Evaluator. After everyone took the time to explain their roles, the TME invited one of our veteran and champion speaker Ken Chan, DTM to kick start the meeting with an Invocation speech. Ken Chan, DTM known for his famous abbreviations and attention catching openers, shared with us about the famous Ls of Life which is to simply Learn, Laugh and Love.

Once the ambiance got a little pumped up, the Table Topics™ Master Chitirra, took control of the stage to conduct the Table Topics™ session, where impromptu speaking is known to be the best training for a Toastmaster. She had a simple yet metaphorical list of questions lined up for the volunteers to try on based on the theme of the day. Manish CC, Mary, Paul who was our former member and finally Srikant all rose to the mini challenge and spoke on their feet, some, even with their dancing shoes on.

Alas, it was time for the main performance of the day, which was of course the Assigned Speech Session. Our first speaker was the beautiful Mandy Chan who did her 4th speech in the Competent Communication Manual (How to Say It). She brought us through a remarkable speech entitled A Remarkable Trip about her last holiday trip. Next, we had a member who was back in action after missing in action for a while. It was none other than Chong Ji Sheng with his 7th speech from the Competent Communication Manual (Research Your Topic) entitled Introverts vs Extroverts. He enlightened us on the difference between the two types of personalities.

We then had with us our very humble Toastmaster, Foo Fung Jiun, who was finally ready to inspire us and earn a ‘CC’ behind his name with his final speech in the Competent Communication Manual (Inspire Your Audience). Living Life With A Purpose and as the title may suggest, Fung Jiun shared with us that a mere day to day life may not leave us fulfilled but one with good values and a strong purpose would most definitely leave us content and complete.

The finale of the Assigned Speech Session was by Mathew Phillippose, CC, ALB with his attempt at the Speciality Speeches from the Advanced Communiation Manual. He was indeed high in spirits to uplift the spirits of the audience as he did Project #2 which was themed Uplift the Spirit. With the title, The Final Lap, he empowered us with many inspiring motivational videos and his power filled commentary alongside the silent videos. I had goosebumps for a while there and indeed it lifted my spirits.

Time ticked away as we immersed into everyone’s speech and so we had to have a quick break before we moved on to the next item on the agenda. After the break, we had a short, solemn yet significant session for our 2 new members Mary & Srikant. It was their Induction Session and all the members on the floor welcomed them officially into the club with Hi-5s after they were assigned their mentors. Mary’s mentor is Serena Kong, ACB and Srikant’s is Manish Jha, CC. Congratulations to both mentors and mentees and MMKL wishes both the new members a pleasant journey with MMKL and Toastmasters as a whole.

The TME then transitioned to the long waited evaluation session by inviting the GE, Joshua Chan, CC to take control of the session. After briefly giving an overview of the session, Joshua invited EK Yeo, CC, CL who played the Table Topics™ Master on stage to give his evaluation on the 4 volunteers for the night. EK Yeo was observant and provided his honest feedback to the speakers.

Next the Individual Speech Evaluations took place. Wendy, CC did her first evaluation for Mandy with much humility. Manish, CC reviewed Ji Sheng’s performance, while Hj. Hashim, DTM evaluated Fung Jiun and Ken Chan, DTM evaluated Mathew, CC, ALB. All of them gave their best feedback to educate and improve the speakers. A brief open evaluation was allowed for the members on the floor to suggest improvements for the speakers and then the session continued with the reports from the respective role players.

Joshua Chan, CC then closed the Evaluations session with his General Evaluation about the meeting. He shared what he thought were the pros and cons of the meeting for us to maintain and work on and was most excited to be part of the meeting. With that, the TME took stage to invite the President, Wendy Sim, CC to present the awards.

Unfortunately due to a couple of time disqualifications, no voting took place for the project speeches but Mary de Silva stole the limelight as the Best Table Topics™ speaker despite only being her 2nd attempt at it. Ken Chan, DTM bagged the title as the Best evaluator for night and that was it for the awards. A token of appreciation was gifted to the GE, Joshua Chan, CC and she reminded everyone of the upcoming Area C1 Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests to be held on the 23rd of September 2017 at Unipac, Shah Alam. Finally, Wendy, CC gave her closing speech encouraging the members to come forth and choreograph their best speeches for the upcoming meetings. She slipped out of her dancing shoes for the night and the curtains drew close for that’s all there was for tonight’s MMKL Toastmasters show. We danced in our hearts, as we pranced to snap a group photo, and the meeting was adjourned with the thoughts twirling in our heads, to always seize the opportunity and dance when we have the chance.

Blog writer: Chitirra

Meeting #387 Change, the Only Constant

The 2nd meeting for the term on 8th Aug 2017 i.e. today, was something different from the ordinary, just as its theme suggested. Change, the only constant, something mankind tends to struggle with, at times yet has brought them this far. Today’s meeting was an extraordinary session because all the project speeches were replaced with a detailed briefing session by Pathways Ambassador and Guide, Mr. Ramdas Nayer, DTM on the new Pathways education programme in Toastmasters. 

We had an array of guests who arrived early and enjoyed the classic Nasi lemak we serve here at MMKL. We’re known for our good food and hospitality. When the clock struck 7:15, our punctual SAA for the evening, Yap Ooi Yee, called the meeting to order introducing the house rules, leading the Toastmasters’ promise and inviting the President on stage to give her opening address. 

Wendy Sim, CC opened the session by addressing the theme as a quote by Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher. She then invited the Grammarian, Joel Silas to introduce the word of the day which was “Inchoate”. He described with a beautiful example that just as how a butterfly is inchoate when it is in its cocoon. Inchoate simply means to be not fully formed or developed. Everyone who attended was given a chance to introduce themselves and share their thoughts about the theme of the day. They were also encouraged to use the word of the day as they speak. A variety of experiences, thoughts and ideas were contributed that night. 

Upon that, the Toastmaster of the Evening took the stage to conduct the meeting proper. CP Lau, ACB, ALB, a skilled and experienced Toastmaster took up this role so willingly after a long time and delivered like a professional Master of Ceremonies. He, first highlighted the great history behind Toastmasters to all, especially for the knowledge of the guests and then called upon each role player to describe their role for the night. 

Joel Silas, oh so willingly offered himself when called upon on the eleventh hour to be our Grammarian. Mary de Silva, our newest member rose to the challenge to take up her first role as the Ah-Counter. Mandy Chan, immediately agreed to be the Timer and Lai Yoong Hean, ACB, ALB also the Area Director for C1 was willing to be an immediate back up and became the General Evaluator for the night as one of the pre-planned GE could not make it. It is this sort of support that we look for and also get in Toastmasters. 

It was 7.50pm and although we cancelled all project speeches for the night, we did not want our members to feel like they attended an unsatisfactory meeting. Therefore, we included a brief Table Topics™ Session under the care of our first time Table Topics™ Master, Shain Anand who came prepared with a variety of topics revolving around the theme. He threw the participants, both members and guests a good challenge with his intricate and mind blowing questions. 

The following were the participants who stepped forward for the 2 minutes challenge:

1. Jason
2. Yap
3. Jia Ming
4. KL Loh
5. Srikanth

All of them had great responses and it was a tough time choosing the best speaker indeed. 

The time arrived for the main and important session that was particularly designed on the agenda that night. It was the detailed Pathways briefing that was conducted by the Pathways Ambassador Mr. Ramdas Nayer, DTM as mentioned above. He did a full pledged presentation for about an hour and above explaining about the new education programme. He enlightened the members and guests on the options and track that we had to choose from and follow. He shared with us about the time frame and how the old education would soon be obsolete and gave us a big picture of the new system which encouraged us to embrace the change that came along with it. Although the process is still inchoate, nevertheless with the right support and positive mindset everyone believes that it can be done. He entertained the very many questions from the floor throughout the session and although it went slightly over time it was indeed a fruitful session. He then moved on to officially pass the Pathways kit to the VPE of the club who is key person in charge of the transition of this new education system for the club. 

After the much positively overwhelming session everyone settled for a short 5 minute break before we moved on to the next session. It was time for the breakfast session in Toastmasters known as the evaluation session. Just as how breakfast is the most nutritional meal of our day, evaluations provide the most constructive feedback for Toastmasters members to improve themselves. 

The session was led by our General Evaluator, Lai Yoong Hean, ACB, ALB, who called upon Manish Jha, CC to begin with the evaluation for the Table Topics™. He gave his quality and detailed evaluation for all the participants to take and work on whilst staying motivated. Then, each role player gave their feedback that was tracked on paper under their best observation. Lastly, the General Evaluator gave his views and opinions about what he felt about the conduct of the meeting at our club for that night. He was pretty much impressed with many initiatives done by the club to have a smooth and pleasurable meeting. 

Lai Yoong Hean, ACB, ALB, then changed his hat from being the General Evaluator back into being the Area Director for C1 and gave his Area Director’s address for having visited our club for the term. It was indeed an honour having him join us for our meeting. The meeting drew closer to its end with the awards presentation and the champion for the Table Topics™ was none other than our veteran member K L Loh, ATMG. He’s truly an example to those who wish to speak off hand like a pro. An appreciation was awarded to both our Area Director and the Pathways Ambassador for having made time to visit our club and enlighten us on the Pathways programme respectively. 

Finally, Wendy Sim, CC, the President made the key announcements and ended the meeting with her simple and sweet closing address. Bright smiles were shown for the camera as we took a group photo and the meeting adjourned officially. 

We then proceeded to cut the cake for our August babies in the club and ended the night with slices of that delicious carrot cake and looked forward to the next meeting where we will proceed with our routine agenda of having project speeches. 

Everyone is looking forward to this new Pathways programme and together are willing to move forward for the change which is the only constant. 

Blog writer: Chitirra

Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contest 2017/18

We began our term 2017/18 with “Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests” (HSEC) on the very first day of the term. Our organizing chair of the contest a.k.a Contest Chair, Mandy Chan, did all the preparation beforehand. She was organizing the contests for first time in her Toastmasters journey which began one year ago. Once again MM-KL was ready to bring smiles and laughter to all over the faces.

As the evening was setting down, we were excited to have fun with humorous speeches from veteran speakers. The hall was completely jam packed with the members, guests and friends. The moment was arriving closer and we could see contestants’ face turned green, yellow and red.

We started our contests 10 minutes late at 7:25pm instead of 7:15pm. Assistant Sergeant at Arms EK Yeo, CC CL called the contest Humorous Speech to order. He called the Contest Chair Mandy Chan to give her opening address and open the floor for the contestants. She thanked her team for helping her to organize the contest, acknowledged the VIPs, wished good luck to the contestants and passed the floor to the Humorous Speech Contest Toastmaster Shain Anand.

Shain was also doing his role as contest TM for the first time in his TM short journey of 6 months and he was brilliant in his role. He briefed his team of speakers before the contest on procedures and rules for the contest and checked their eligibility criteria for the contest. Later, in his presentation he mentioned clearly the purpose of the contest, rules and ensured everything was in order to begin the show. Finally he called the first speaker of the Humorous speech contest ‘Kelvin Chong’.

Kelvin Chong with his speech Title- A little bit more. He urged us with his speech to have an attitude doing a bit more to succeed in anything we do in our life. Contest TM called speaker number two Advance Communicator Bronze, Ron Yeap with the speech title Presents for your loved ones. He entertained and brought a lot of laughter to us with his humors. He shared his personal story that how he surprised his wife with surprises. He also shared some spicy conversation between him and his friends and discussing about thought provoking humorous conversation between their wives.

Now it was time to listen another wonderful speaker “Victor Wan” with his speech title One belt one road. He is born to make people laugh with his authentic sense of humor. He shared his life’s recent ups and down very honestly and generously . He also shared how he lost his business of footwear and how he is enjoying his current job as an Uber driver. He also mentioned how he deals the talkative riders and cancels some rides at times, for which in return he gets money from Uber.

Another young talent was lined up with her speech title A roach for a Coach. Her name is Chitirra.  She was participating in her first humorous speech contest. She not only inspired us to learn lesson from cockroaches but also received the 2^nd place in this speech contest. Well done dear Chitirra. Congratulations.

Wow, another veteran speaker Mathew Philippose CC ALB came up with a Saaree with speech title Understanding. We got no clue that what he was going to do with the Saaree. He actually demonstrated a spicy and naughty conversation between him and his wife in the speech. He shared an insight that no matter how much we get irritated at times but there is an understanding that makes our life more beautiful. Later he received the 3^rd place in this contest. Congratulations, Mathew.

The time finally arrived to hear our last, but the best speech of the night from Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Ken Chan with his speech title Misunderstood. His speech was not only recognized as the best of the evening but also brought a lot of excitement, humor and uplifting words. He mentioned how he was misunderstood by many people but he never gave up in life.

After all the scintillating speeches we got to feed ourselves. Break for 10 minutes. I observed people were  busy in fellowship. Some people were socializing with enthusiasm like they were meeting for the first time.

Time flew so fast that our Sergeant at Arms rang the bell to inform us to get back to our seats. He announced the evaluation contest to order and he called TM Joel who was playing the role for the first time . He was cool in his duty. He explained the procedures, purpose and immediately called the Test Speaker on stage, the jolly and lovely Toastmaster Juliana Teh with speech title The Star of Ipoh. She was from MIEA Toastmasters Club but her origin is from Ipoh which we came to know from her speech. She was confident, stylish and bold to share her life’s story. She shared how she became a Senior Property Dealer from zero. There was a time when she was struggling for finance and in last 20 years she became the star she is now. She was awarded the Million Dollar Roof Top (MDRT) award in 2016. This was possible due to her love and passion in her work. Thank you Juliana, for inspiring us.

Contest TM begin with evaluation contest on the floor. All the evaluators were sent to the holding room except the first evaluator as per drawing lot. It was time to learn how to improve as a speaker from the proficient Evaluators. These evaluations were not just for Juliana, but also for us.  This was the list of contestants for the Evaluation contest- Kelvin Chong ACB, Mathew Philippose CC ALB, Victor Wan, Ken Chan DTM, Dr. Thilla DTM and Hj. Hashim Adnam DTM.

After the Evaluation, all were presented with the certificate of participation. Chief Judge Competent Communicator and Competent Leader Jerry Wong who was from PJ Toastmasters Club, submitted the results to the Contest TM, Joel. Finally, the list of winners who won everyone’s hearts in this contest are as follows.

3^rd place - Mathew Phillippose, CC ALB

2^nd place - Dr. Thilla, DTM

The Champion - DTM, Hj. Hashim Adnan.

Time came to call Contest TM for Humorous Speech Shain Anand to appreciate the Humorous Speech contestants. He first gave the certificates to the participants for the courage they had shown and moved on. He, then called upon Madam President Competent Communicator Wendy Sim on to the stage to present the awards to the winners.

3^rd place -  is Mathew Philippose CC ALB

2^nd place – Chitirra

The whole hall was silent for the moment to know who the Winner was

The Winner - DTM Ken Chan

Contest Chair Mandy Chan was called on to the stage to present the token of appreciation to the role players. She appreciated all the efforts done by ASAA, Timer, CT, Blog writer, photographer and the Chief Judge.

Finally, our Area C1 director, ACB ALB Lai Yoong Hean was called to do the closing remarks. He congratulated all the winners and encouraged all to see us in the area contest.             

Last but not the least, it was time to summarize the entire contest by our club President, Competent Communicator Wendy Sim. She was excited, happy and thankful for everyone who contributed to the success of the contest and adjourned the contests with a very nice group picture. Hope to see you all on 1^st meeting of the August, 8^th of August.

Blog writer : Manish Jha CC