If there is one word to describe the people behind Mid
Valley Toastmasters Club, it has to be the word ‘united’. Great empires persist
over generations on the backbone of unity and there is no coincidence that this
simple understanding has brought Mid Valley Toastmasters Club well into its 264th
meeting.
It is always an inspiration to witness a group of
like-minded individuals being affiliated with one another, doing the
things they love, and finding a common purpose. If being ‘united’ is the theme,
then ‘affiliated’ is a befitting word of the day.
The meeting began on time (more or less), thanks to our
Sergeant-at-Arms Garrick Lim, who quickly made way for our lovely President
Chong Carmen to inject some early doses of adrenaline to get the crowd going.
Carmen had set the tone for a good evening with the story of
her 5-year old nephew from whom she drew valuable leadership lessons. She went
on to acknowledge the unwavering commitment and contribution from the EXCO team
and concluded by calling each and every one to always lead by example. That’s
the first step towards a united team!
Toastmaster of the evening (TME) Ryan Ting did well in keeping
everyone engaged throughout the meeting with his wit and composure. After the
usual introductory rounds, the table topics session took centre stage with Sky
Siew at the helm presenting five different speech titles to eager participants
who volunteered themselves for the challenge.
Impromptu speeches like these are no easy feat and having a
go at it was already an achievement. Chris was the first in line and he spoke
about how sports can unite a country.
Chee Yong continued the momentum in his passionate speech on
how a ‘yes man’ culture can only bring us as far as survival is concerned.
What’s more important is being true to ourselves even if it means saying ‘no’.
But I guess it will take a lot of courage and maturity to take a contrarian
view in a society that has difficulty embracing differences.
We also gave one of our guest, Yi Zhe, who went through a
baptism of fire and kudos to him for keeping his nerves to tell us about his
views on how a nation’s leader must be supported by the citizens in order to
move forward. Meanwhile, Ian was in his element in describing how integrity
plays an important part in leadership through his real life example of dealing
with ‘dictator’ partners.
A lesson learnt the hard way is a lesson learnt
nonetheless. Finally, Sivades gave us a simple and practical equation to
follow; trust equals respect.
If Table Topics is the appetizer, Project Speeches are the
main course. We were served with 4 delicious dishes with 3 of them coming from
our newly minted chefs (Toastmasters’ maiden speeches).
Quah began his Toastmasters journey with his compelling
narrative of the three choices he made that changed his life.
1) His foray into scouts that taught him discipline and
teamwork.
2) The decisive switch to pursue his passion in finance.
3) His courageous moment in taking on a frontline role in
the line of work. We all have choices in life and the choices we make today
will define our tomorrow. Be brave in making those choices!
Phang also had a first taste of his Toastmasters journey by sharing
his life journey. What stuck to our hearts were how his brothers and sisters
actually taught him what truly sharing and caring is all about. He also
inspired us with his diligence in pursing his passion in the banking industry.
Life is never an easy journey and only perseverance will carry us till the end.
Victor gave a memorable first speech with a few rounds of
push-ups and that little trick did well to catch everyone’s attention. He went
on to describe his journey in scouts and how it left a deep imprint on him both
physically and mentally. Harsh experiences during his early days turned out to
be a boon as it awakens and emboldens his views towards life. After all,
diamonds are forged under extreme conditions.
The last of the main dish is reserved for none other than
our always young-at-heart Wong Woon Pen. This was his first advanced level
speech and hats off to him for delivering another masterpiece. He demonstrated
how management can communicate austerity measures to employees effectively by
practising empathy and managing their expectations.
There was also a Q&A session and I have to say Mak Kum
Shi gave him a hard time by being a difficult employee. Well, on the brighter
side that’s good practice to deal with real life situations later on!
We had Chee Yong’s wife to thank for bringing an
ultra-delicious durian cake. The cake was to celebrate four birthdays for four
members: Chee Siong, Lai Yee, Chee Loon, and Carmen.
After the scrumptious three-course meal, it’s time for evaluation
and feedback. Mak delivered his evaluation of the Table Topics participants and
was thorough in his assessment. Chee Yong was eventually elected the Winner for
the Table Topics challenge.
Daniel gave an interesting evaluation on Quah by using the
analogy of Assets and Liabilities. Quah’s assets would be his moderation and
authenticity with time management being his only liability.
Yeap’s liked Phang’s confidence, and suggested that Phang
can improve by having better speech organisation in terms of having a clear
opening and body, and add more flavour by speaking about his family and education.
As for Victor, Chris liked the calmness of Victor’s movement
and expression, the clarity of his voice and the enthusiastic delivery of his
speech.
Ian had the honour of being Wong’s evaluator and he was spot
on in highlighting that Mr. Wong has a unique brand of humour and emotion. The
speech was well delivered and perhaps a little more empathy would make it even
better. It was apt that Wong was elected as the Winner of the Project Speech.
Jonathan Mah delivered his General Evaluator report and it
was refreshing to know that the food was good, the people was better and the
venue was top notch. He was also pleased with the professionalism in how the
meeting was conducted. Some points for improvement include advising evaluators
for CC#1 speakers to focus more on the objective of the speech.
Last but not least, we’d also announced the winners for the
latest round of the Blog contest. Chee Yong and Chee Siong were second and
first runners-up respectively while the champion went to Yeap.
Heartfelt congratulations to all winners!
It was definitely a good evening and hopefully we all
continue to stay united for years to come.
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