Meeting on 8 Dec 2009

My record shows that 13 lucky members attended the meeting with one guest Justin, courtesy of Rozine.

Yours truly was 3 minutes late as he has to pick his dear wife from home. She was not working as her eldest daughter was sick and wants to see a doctor. Just wonder how life can be? You cannot plan always - but that does not mean that you do not plan at all; still you do not have to plan but no need to Plan A till Plan Z - leave that to the Kiasu people.

Rozi our TME doing her meiden TME Role did well in preparing for her night and when you over prepare you tend to get too detail and not audience friendly. How to do it perfectly? Good question I don't have the answer. As usual, she likes to be different and bribe us all with gifts for doing a role. Many got chocolates and sweets and naturally sweet words come out from their mouth for her.

Willy was our invocation presenter and Philip conducted the TT Session with Masdiana as the Evaluator. Philip question was very current from Budget to GST, etc and as usual Masdiana very animated in her Evaluation giving examples at the same time suggesting ways to improve the delivery. Best TT Speaker went to Wei Lyn (who disappeared into thin air when the award was presented).

Mano our HM (not headmaster) gave two jokes very clean and very intelligent. Not many can catch them instantly.

After our usual good dinner we had Wong, Jerene and Mano doing their assignments. Wong spoke about his Career Transition telling us how he landed into the insurance industry and never look back. Jerene talks about Men and Women and why they just cannot see eye to eye since Adam days. She spoke very confidently and won the Best Speaker Award. For Mano he turns to space and spoke about the vastness of the Universe. He said we are not alone as there are zeelians of stars in the Universe and to travel by light itself will take us billions years. Mind boggling, perhaps our children in the next century will be able to analyse and appreciate it better.

The evaluators for the three speeches were Leong, Anna and Philip and the winner goes to the lady Anna not the IPP or the Prince.

The other Role Players are Grammarian - Monsieur Tilaka, Aah Counter - Levine Lee and Timer - Justin. They all did wel and Monsieur beats everyone else to be the best Role Player. We must see him more often now.

Mohamad was the GE, (Hokkien say 2nd Auntie) nagging and nagging at all to improve themselves at every meeting no matter what role they are playing.

For the night Willy was extra friendly helping everyone with the food and so he won the Most Friendly Person. I think he derserve it. And for me no honour but maybe someone will give me the Award as the Most Boring Blogger.

Just my observation: People are generally quite reserved in giving their evaluation of another for fear of being evaluated themselves negatively. Let us give positive evaluation to our friends and help them develop. I know it takes time and intelligence too and if we keep sharpening our Evaluation Skills I am sure people who matters will value us as we have helped them; caution though we must always use different strokes for different folks.

Meeting on 24 Nov 2009

I just could not recall much of the meeting on this day perhaps someone who attends will do some justice by adding more info for all to read.

I know Tash could not attend and his speaking slot was given to Mohamad Abdullah. Mohamad's GE role was given to the Area Governor Hazrin. The other speakers were Rozina (the best speaker for the night) and Yuki. Mohamad's Evaluator was Philip and Yuki's Evaluator was Thilo and Rozina's Evaluator was Masdiana (the best Evaluator for the night). Notice how the audience vote?

Table Topics session was great with Willy running it with very profound subject and the winner goes to Anna Hue.

The GE did a good job and got the Best Role Player award and the most friendly person went to Rozi I think. Sorry can't remember.

One thing I can remember is that Mohamad was called to give the closing Ode and he surprised everyone by showing his appreciation to everyone who has helped him during his recent "Idiotic behaviour" like leaving his passport in Subang, his car in Kluang, his luggage in Pulau Sibu and he in Tg Leman. He thanks Willy, Leong and many others for their resourcefulness.

Views of an IPP

Dear Toastmaster Ho Fook Chuan, CC


It is indeed commendable that you have remembered
the club's birthday. It is little things like this that brings
true meaning to our club motto - " For Better Fellowship ".


My Dear Fellow members,

I returned to KL from Kiasuland on Tuesday afternoon and
immediately went to MCOBA-TMC as the GE and the
following evening , i was at ING-TMC again as the GE.

Walking into these "distressed novice" clubs constantly reminds
me to cherish my presidency and membership here in MII-TMC.
I have visited more than 30 clubs during my short membership
here in MII-TMC and i dare say that there is hardly a handful of
clubs here in the Klang Valley that matches our stature and the
prestige that goes with the introduction -
" I am from the Malaysian Insurance Institute Toastmasters Club ".

Like the mighty United States of America that has been brought
down to its knees by its arrogance, we too may suffer the same
fate sometime in the future if we do not constantly remind ourselves
that we must ;
accept our mistakes , learn from our mistakes and along the way
profit from our mistakes.

This process of of self-development is the reason why we are
members of this illustrious club. I am absolutely certain that
the road ahead of us is bright and full of promise.
Lets continue to pave this road with knowledge and we will
continue be together - " For Better Fellowship "


Happy Birthday MII-TMC .


Saya yang masih bertugas,

ipp

Happy 18th Anniversary MII Toastmasters Club

I must confessed that I am now not in the best of spirit but having been inspired by our friend Mr Ho Fook Chuan who remembers our Anniversary Day and wishing all the members I like to record this here too.

ROZI,

CHEER UP !!!!!!!!!
AND YAM SENG!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MII TOASTMASTERS CLUB... LONG LIFE TO THE CLUB TILL ANOTHER 100 YEARS TO COME...SAME GOES TO THE PAPA MOHAMAD AND MAMA MASDIANA FOUNDER OF THE CLUB...

ANOTHER 100 YEARS LONG LIFE FOR THEM TOO...

CHEERS,

MII Toastmasters Club was actually formed much earlier and I could recall as far back as 1985 when I was called to form the club. A circular was sent out to all the staff of the Insurance industry and to my surprise there were over 60 people who came. I did some introduction to Toastmaster and finally we elected En Zainal Che Din as the Protem President of the club.

Though I did come once in awhile to help the meeting were infrequent and after few years it dies off. I was again called to help resucitate the club and with the help of Masdiana I managed to round up a few guys and started the club. We got a lady from Prudential Assurance then to lead the club but the club still could not survive.

My memory has failed me as to how I came back to the club, then I was with Perdana Toastmasters club that help to initiate the formation of the district 51 by organising the first District get together at Hyatt Saujana Hotel. Only Singapore and Indonesia came besides the host Malaysia so we got Gerald Green (Malaysia) as District Governor, a Singaporean as Lt Governor Education and Indonesia as LT Governor Marketing. That was in 1990.

After lots of hardwork, difficult times and good money spent I managed to Charter the club on 19.11.1991. At that time I did not realise the significance of the number, we have the first and the last digits only.

As time goes by we were up and we were down. But the best time was when I got the three Ds to support me to revive the club till what it is today. I like to honour the three Ds and they are Diana, Daniel and Devan. They have stood by me and worked hard to make MII what we have today. I hope the present set of members will work equally hard to bring MII TMC to lead the District if not the world.

The Past Presidents of the Club are:

1. Levine Lee
2. Leong Kok Wah
3. Sherine Lim
4. Jeffrey (left)
5. Larry Toh
6. Philip Wong
7. Mike Teng
8. Anna Hue
9. Kiang Faang Pyng (left but now President of KL Advance)
10. Keats Markandu (left)
11. Daud Creelman (now in Canada)
12. Daniel Liew (left)
13. G Devan (left)
14. K L Yen (left)
15. M S Maniam (left)
16. Masdiana Ooi Abdullah
17. Mohamad Abdullah (two terms)

Meeting on 27 October 2009

We started on time with Tash as SAA calling on the President who as usual ask us to give ourselves a round of applause before she starts the meeting. After a brief announcement President Levine pass the gavel to the TME PP Philip Wong. Since there were not guest except for his wife who happens to be his driver cause he just had an operation but yet come to the meeting to carry out his obligation. A great Toastmaster I must say and a supporting wife who is prepared to venture into the mysterious Toastmasters world.

Yoke Wai did the Invoccation as Willy our Table Topics Master was delayed and Adam being ever ready jump to rescue with Leong taking over the TT Evaluator Role since S Ho is stucked somewhere. The Table Topics Session was impromptu as well and Adam did well. The speakers were Mohamad, Khung, Manian, Dr Gan, Willy and Masdiana. The winner voted by the members present were ..... Masdiana.

The Humour Master for the night is our Life Insurance man 2H Wong he gave a profound joke and only those intelligent people got it whilst the rest I think laughed when they are at home.

Dinner as usual was good with Khung supplying his banana and Willy as always with his water. He even brought Patrick Ooi, our former member Janice brother. And as usual we were late by 10 minutes enjoying the food.

The first speaker called for the night is Adam Fung giving us an impromptu speech and was evaluated by IPP Leong also as SBVPE. Adam spoke about being successful and as far as I can recall he told us that we need, Money, Time, Friends and the most important one is purpose. We all have our purpose in Life and that is to ENJOY but it is more than that; why are we here for?

The next speaker is Lim Ah Hwai and he told us to Fight. Fight for our rights fight for our left and fight for everything. He said by fighting only that we become successful. He was evaluated by Dr Gan.

The last speaker is PP Thilo who was doing his Advanced Manual on reading and as usual he read with lots of animation and action. He was evaluated by Adam. I thought he ought to dress up a little to give the audience some respect when he is reading the story; perhaps as a Samy.

The Evaluators did a great job and Leong also did well I thought by giving example of another speaker which I thought was creative. The Best Speaker went to Lim AH Hwai and the best Evaluator goes to Leong.

The Grammarian reported that only two persons used the word of the day "Resilience' and I guess it is not a common word but I felt that it is a good word to know to align ourselves to it - to show that we are capable of getting up when we are down. His report on the grammar used was a little lengthy as usual wanting the members and audience to keep improving themselves. He even got the audience to repeat the words that have been wrongly pronounced.

Ah Counter report came from Manian and the Timer's report was done by Khung whom I understand do a job without his tool - a stopwatch.

Finally the lecturn goes to the the fiery and feared Masdiana the General Evaluator. She lambasted everyone from lecturn protocol to language, from clapping to walking and from speaking to evaluating. With such fury everyone voted for her to be the best Role Player - dare they choose another?

The closing Ode was carried out by PP Thilo and as usual he loves to advise everyone to take care and drive safely home. However, the President jumps in again and detain us by showing us the Better Speaking Series program organised by the District which I thought did not go well with the audience.

Finally we managed to close the meeting at 9.35 pm and the usual gang stayed up to clean and pack the stuff. We must thank these guys for doing this and Salute to IPP Leong, President Levine, Tash, and some others as I had to leave home....sorry guys.

Oh yes, my record show that we have 17 members and 2 guests present for the meeting. We miss our bubbly VPE who is now cuddling her Grandson in Dublin, Ireland and of course people like Mike Teng, Anna Hue, Mano, Chin, Patrick, Joyce, and especially Sherine.

While Dr. Gan and my big sis, Diana are still caught up with the issue of national unity and the 'hantu spirit' of 1Malaysia, here I am in Dublin happy and proud to be by the side of my grandson whose father is an Irish decendent. If this 1Malaysia spirit is forever going to be an issue, just think what it's going to be like if my Mat Salleh grandson decides to live in Malaysia.


An email from Mr. M asking me whose turn to update the MII blog has got me worked up. Well, in the present freezing condition where the VPE is holidaying, she is unable to contribute much to MII. With a frozen brain, her hands are tied up playing masak-masak for her family in the cold Dublin kitchen. Talk about the freezing cold weather, even her stools are hard and cold everytime she wants to poo-poo.

Rozi and her Grandson in Dublin recently.




Anyway, if the VPE is forced to update the blog, the only recollection she has at the moment of the MII toastmasters meetings were that of the Madam President's favourite phrase - 'Lets give ourselves a round of applause' and then of course the IPP's common saying 'fed up betul'. This could only mean he is genuinely fed up with everything and anything that comes under his nose. Could this be the cause of his sinus? Over in Dublin, my grandson's favourite phrase is ''Whaz's Dat!!!

Cold, cold hugs to all!

Recollection 091013

Aidilfitri about to end and another celebration is fast approaching, the Deepavali or Diwali. As usual, very boring the meeting went well, am happy we had everyone in the meeting schedule coming to carry out their obligations.

This time Jerene did her maiden role as TME and as a confident person she did well. Rozi has mentioned some of the things that has happened during the meeting and I just like to highlight that Masdiana did the Closing Ode after the President did her closing and later IPP did the final by putting the meeting to an end but yet we ended on time.


This meeting we saw three birthday child (if we add their ages all together we can have over a century)and from the picture the cameram S Ho caught all three in the act. Masdiana the oldest on 6th Oct, Lyn on 23rd Oct and Mohamad the youngest of them all on 29th Oct.

The GE gave a good report card and that is not what we want. We need our own members who love to bash us so that we can be better.

All in all we were happy except that we miss Uncle Khung bananas.

Meeting on 13 Oct 2009

Fellow Members,

I would like to be the first to wish all my fellow friends, irrespective of their religion or race, Happy Deepavali.

On a personal note and in retrospect, I would like to share my thoughts after last night's meeting. It's invigorating to witness 5 highly respectable senior members coming in full force to lend their undying support to the Club. As a new member who has been with the club barely 7 months, I could detect the strong sense of belonging and the pride and joy the senior members have for the Club. Their genuine commitment was proven with their regular attendance and their unrelenting participation in the role plays. Believe me you, these continuous display of support will certainly go a long way in building a strong bondship among the old and new members.

As you all know, I have this phobia of speaking and expressing myself under the scrutiny of others. I have always had the thought that it is better to shut my mouth and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubts! It was really heart warming and encouraging to have my 3 big sisters couching and giving me tips on how to overcome my phobia during dinner last night. With that I will be taking leave from MII toastmasters for a while and I hope when I return I will be the toastmaster with a refreshed mind, fully energised to assist the Madam President and the Bossy IPP (aka Slave Driver) with the energy zapping tasks of coordinating and organising the Club meetings.


Warm hugs to those who are in need of hugs,

Message from IPP Leong Kok Wah

My dear fellow members,

Green Green Grass of Home was a song made popular
by the evergreen Tom Jones in the 60's. Its a song about
the wonderful feeling of homecoming.

Too often we always say that the grass is greener on the
other side of the fence. But this evening , for those who
attended the " joint meeting " with WIM, we definitely walked
away with our heads held high. No, in fact very High.
The final score was MII - 17 members , WIM - 4 members.
By the time , the meeting ended, WIM were reduced to being
just mere guests in our club and not a joint meeting as was
stated in the meeting schedule.

We have come a long way since we were founded in 1985.
The founders, - DTM Mohamad Abdullah and Masdiana had
to labour on when we were down to our last 6 members during
the early years. Those were the difficult days.
Even during my time as Acting president, we went below charter
strength ( below 20 members ) at the half-way renewals.

Tonight, the 4 Past Presidents who attended the meeting must
have beamed with pride that the MII-TMC have put those
dark days behind us. Let us not forget the legacy that have been
left behind by the Past Presidents, for history punishes those
who choose to ignore the hard lessons learned along the way.
Consider the LGM's plea to all club presidents this morning -
only 58% of the clubs in District 51 Peninsular have renewed their
membership to TI USA before the deadline 30th Sep.

There will inevitably be hiccups along the way especially on our
membership ( which Madam President will address the club
during the next meeting ) but as long as the members remain focused
on fellowship, the EXCO remain focused on teamwork and the
Past Presidents remain focused on guiding the club, the future will
remain brightly lit here at MII-TMC.

Let us continue building on the strong foundations here at MII-TMC.
We have every reason to stand proud tonight and we will continue
to record achievements this term.

Good night and till we meet again on the 13th Oct.

ipp.

( btw, our capable VPE has informed me that the speech slots
for our 13th Oct meeting are full already )

Meeting on 8 September 2009

Sometimes I felt it is too boring for me to write that every meeting is a great meeting with good fellowship, excellent food with great speeches, evaluators and role players. I need another adjective to spice up the report.

Themed "Friendship" the meeting went well with ASAA Khung (our 'youngest' member) hitting the gavel to signal the start of the meeting sharp at 7pm. The President Levine took the floor and as usual welcome all present for the meeting. President Levine then pass the control to Anna and as usual with confidence and competence she short circuit the briefing by saying that 'since there is no guest tonight' she begin the meeting with words of appreciation to the MII Management and Staff for their support and cooperation. Later she called on the President to show our appreciation by presenting a small gift to En Mazrul on behalf of the staff of MII.







Following this we break for Buka Puasa and the food was good and plentiful. Thanks again to our good friends Khung for supplying the bananas and Willy for the water and Rozi for buying the cakes. We start our dinner sharp at 7.18pm (Buka Puasa time)a respect reminded by our TME Anna.



It is also a night where we inducted a new member Tashvinderjit Singh aka Tash Beriana. He was presented with our Folder and a T Shirt and in response he shook hands will all the members present. Anna also told us that he was a recent father of a boy and being a happy father he gave us chocolates, more food.



We even celebrated our Waterman his 37th Birthday and he was smiling from ear to ear. The cake as usual was great and Mohamad took three portion to prove it.

When we resume our meeting, immediately our TME Anna calls on H2Wong to present the Invocation and as usual in MII the invocation was well presented. This followed by our HM, S Ho who gave a slow, well crafted speech with suspence but the audience was waiting for more - but as usual we all laugh not at the joke though.

The Table Topics was conducted by Mano and as usual, always prepared with beautiful printed full colour pictures of unique friendship between animals from different species. The speakers have to comment on the statement and it was not easy but PP Philip, PP Mohamad, PP Thilo, TM Wei Lyn and VPM Gan took the challenge and the winner was our new member Wei Lyn, the young, beautiful and enegetic lass flooring all the experienced speakers.

The prepared speakers for the night were TM Chung Yoke Wai #2, PP Thilo ACL#3 and VPE Rozi #2 - Believe me it is the 7th month and they are all talking about, The Hungry Ghost, Heaven and Hell and H(a)unted Down by Chung, Rozi and Thilo respectively. The winner goes to Rozi who really tickled us by declaring that she was conned by the Devil IPP.

The Evaluators were PP Mohamad, IPP Leong and PP Philip and being the 7th month we allow the Devil IPP to win. The other role players were Imported GE Ng Lay Choo, Granma Dr Gan, Ahs Counter, Wei Lyn and the two timer Willy. The best role player for the night went to.....Lay Choo (we always take pride in voting our guest to win something). Finally, the meeting ends with the usual closing ode by our PP Philip telling us how blessed he is to be a member of MII.

Oh Yes, this night belongs to the young, beautiful and enegetic lass Wei Lyn. She took the Most Friendly title, Best Table Topic Speaker and also for the last meeting title which were not recognised with a certificate.

Good night and wishing all our Muslim brothers and sisters, Selamat Berpuasa, Selamat Beraya, Maaf Bersama dan bergembira selalu.

COLORS OF INDEPENDENCE

Meeting held on 25TH August, 2009
The cleverly-chosen “Colors of Independence” was the theme of this week’s meeting in honour of Malaysia’s 52nd national day celebration, 31st August, 2009.

In spite of it being the fourth day of the fasting month of Ramadan, 3 muslim members attended the meeting. At the specified time, they were accompanied by other non-muslim fellow members to break fast, reflecting a show of unity among our multi-racial members.

It was an evening when things didn’t go as planned too! In her excitement, our Madam President overlooked the order of the programme and instead she jumped-the-gun by introducing the Toastmaster of the Evening when it should have been done after the break of fast. There was also a time when Leong could not run the video presentation of his humorous act (recorded from a contest performance), when the laptop failed to read the DVD. To add salt to his wounds, Mohamad remarked that more preparation should have been made before the presentation! Unfortunately, when it was Mohamad’s turn to present his Table Topics presentation on Power-point, he too encountered technical problems and this was when Leong teased back at him. Could it be that its ‘puasa’ time when even the laptop was affected? I would call this an “impromptu” humour session with moments of light bantering, which provided amusement for everyone.

Our honourable guest for the evening was Mohd Hadzrin Shah, the W2 Area Governor, who took the honour of being one of the evaluators for the project speakers.

As the evening progressed, the programme fell into place and it all proved to show that “to err is human and to forgive, divine” in this holy month of Ramadan! After the ‘buka puasa’, everything went ‘boleh - Malaysia sure Boleh!!!’

Raja the King gave us food for thought with his invocation after a sumptuous dinner.



Wei Lyn was baptised as a member of MII TMC in the New Member Welcoming ceremony. Immediately after that she was put into action as the official toastmaster of the evening. With her bubbly and enthusiastic disposition, Wei Lyn impressed everyone with her spirit of patriotism. All sang the national anthem with flags held in our right hands led by our MIA (missing in action) member, Monsieur Tilaka. Flashes of fond memories came back to us, memories of the time we were taught to sing ‘Negara Ku’ in our early days in school.

Mohamad, the Table Topics Master, conducted the table topics session using his laptop, projecting the topics on the projector. The creative approach got everyone on their feet giving their views relating to Malaysia. Members got to pick the topics based on the letters they chose from the word Malaysia.

Ho, who was one of the table topics speakers, chose the letter S and the statement upon which he had to elaborate was “Solidarity amongst all races is important”. He kept chanting the word “Merdeka”, as though he was possessed by the spirit of the first prime minister of Malaysia! At that moment my imagination went wild, Ho was suddenly transformed to Tuanku Abdul S Ho!!!

The best-speaker award for the table topics session went to Anna Hue, who was presented with a leather wallet, compliments of Mohamad.

Meanwhile, the Immediate Past President, sandwiched by the Madam President on his right and the Lady Vice President on his left, was in need of “Kwan Loong-Cap Kapak “ medicated oil throughout the meeting to calm his nerves while guiding both women in their new roles.

Members were later entertained by 3 project speakers, comprising two gentlemen and a lady. Wong Hang Hiang with his ice-breaker speech, Jerene Yap and Khung Varn Fatt with their second project speeches. The 3 speakers had everyone perked-up listening to their refreshing speeches.

The evening ended as scheduled and everyone was happy to take home a hand-held Malaysian flag each, as a token of appreciation from MII Toastmasters Club.

Our 3Jokers, The AG Mohd Hadzrin, Mano and Kok Wah celebrating a 1Malaysia, The Drafter, The Speaker and the Conspirator at the recent Humorous Speech Contest coming together at last at our Meeting. Believe it, Hadzrin is wearing Kok Wah's and Kok Wah is using Hadzrin whilst Mano using his own. Guest what?


Another meeting among fellow toastmasters has ended. The next one to look forward to will be on the 8th September,09 with new project speakers and role players, ever-eager to play their roles. Until we meet again in two weeks time, Selamat Berpuasa!

Specially Reported by Robin Hood (RH) aka Rozina Harun

2 ICE BREAKERS AND 2 JOKERS

Warm greetings to all,

As it turned out, “2 ice breakers and 2 jokers” was a very appropriate theme for the evening. We had two ladies giving their maiden speeches and two humorous gentlemen giving their respective project speeches.

The Club was graced with the presence of Bryan Soo, from MIM TMC. He was the General Evaluator for the evening. His evaluation was full of praise and he was impressed with the record of the Club’s achievements displayed on the meeting room wall. He felt right at home with the members. It was indeed a delightful experience for both Bryan and the Club!

Our Madam President Levine invited Grace Tan from Friendship TMC to be in charge of the Table Topics session. Grace came up with an innovative method of getting members to express their thoughts during her session.

Anna eagerly volunteered to be the first table topics speaker. She was very eloquent when asked to elaborate further the opening sentence “I am sexy……

Leong was given the task in convincing the other passengers on board a plane that is about to crash, as to why he should be given the last parachute. His reasoning was that he was once the most powerful President of MII TMC!

Wong was cornered to speak and was asked to choose from 3 creatures (panda, piranha and hyena), which one he thought would be appropriate to rule the world. He chose the panda, naturally.

T. Raja was given a very comical hypothetical question: What if he were to become invisible, where would he go? His response was amusing when he said he would snoop around the government offices and eavesdrop on officers who were involved in awarding Tenders.

Raj, a guest of T. Raja was a good sport when he was thrown a question as to choose an animal tattoo which signifies his love for his girlfriend. His tongue in cheek response was he would choose a rabbit and since he has dark complexion, the tattoo would have to be white, or luminous.

Our new member, Tashvinderjit did a commendable job in the role of Sergeant at Arms, the first role assigned to every new member.

During dinner we celebrated Lim Ah Wai and Manian Birthday and everyone sang them the Birthday song. You must be there to see the smile of happiness on their faces.

The Project Speakers for this meeting were:

1. Chung Yoke Wai - “Looking Back”. Fondly known as Yuki, she gave a brief
recollection of her childhood and an account of her career progression to date.


2. Rozina Harun - “The “S”s in me” – in an unconventional way, approached a senior member to give her perception of the speaker, before she proceeded to describe her own personality.

3. T. Rajasingam - “4 bottles of life”. Raja, the king of all kings,
enthusiastically shared his thoughts on the cycle of life that most people go through.

4. Mano – “An Overdose”. Mano narrated a true story about an overdose of motivation that had left a friend stuck in a rut instead of achieving his goals.


The meeting ended on time- (the Immediate Past-President made a remark that during his presidency, the meetings always exceeded the allocated time, while during the Madam President’s term-of-office, meetings end on time and attendances are always high!).

And as we all know, it is not just the time-keeping that counts, but it’s how the members learn and enjoy the experience of the MII TMC!

Reported by: VPE Rozina Harun

An Unusual Evaluation!

At our meeting yesterday evening Tuesday, 11 August, after a nice hearty dinner and dessert (our usual monthly birthday cake), I sat back in a relaxed manner looking forward to listen to the speeches from the assignment speakers. I was suddenly jolted when our 3rd assignment speaker, Rozi, called out my name and said to everyone “Anna will be my evaluator this evening and I want her to evaluate me before I make my speech”
My goodness….when on earth can Toastmasters do evaluations BEFORE the speech?!
I was flabbergasted. I was amused. I was challenged. I waited for her further instructions.
Then Rozi said “Please give us a quick evaluation on what you think of me?”
“Boy-oh-boy”, I thought, “how shall I do this??” In that split second, I think this is what I said (I cannot remember all the exact words but the gist of it goes something like this –
“In my 12 years as a Toastmaster, this is the first time I am asked to do an evaluation BEFORE a speech. Well, fellow Toastmasters and friends---what can I say about Rozi? In the brief time I have known her, communicate and interact with her, I find that this is one special charming lady, always smiling. She is hospitable, helpful and warm to those around her and is someone that is easy to get along with. However, mind you, this is no ordinary lady – I believe she plays golf in the morning, bowl s in the day, shops in the Pavilion in the afternoon and have tea in the Shangri-La in the evening. Such is her life. She dresses well, has a delightful personality and I am glad to know her”
Prepared by: Anna Hue (12 August 2009)

Dear Fellow Members,

As the VPE, I am pleased to announce the winners of the recently held Club Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests.

Our heartfelt congratulations to these winners and we are confident they will do us proud in representing MII-TMC at the Area W2 contest on 19th Aug.

Humorous Speech Contest Winners
1. S. Mano
2. Leong Kok Wah
3. Chin Kong Meng

Evaluation Contest Winners
1. Dr. Gan Eng Meng
2. Anna Hue

Rozina Harun
Vice President Education

Congratulations Dr Gan Eng Meng, AMN

Just to share with you guys that our Dr Gan Eng Meng has recently been conferred the Award Ahli Mangku Negara (A.M.N.) (Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm) by the YMM the Yang diPertuan Agong.

The Ahli Mangku Negara is a fifth rank award of the Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara. It is conferred for extraordinary and meritorious service. The Ahli Mangku Negara is also conferred on those who have carried out their duties beyond the normal limits. Under certain circumstances, the award can be conferred on civil servants who belong to the Administrative and Professional Group and those in Grade 2 and 3. In an extraordinary situation, support officers can also be considered. There is no limit to the number to be awarded this honour.

The design the badge is the same as that of the Darjah Kesatria Mangku Negara but the kris lies in the centre. The badge has a radius of 1¾ inches. It is pinned to the chest. It suspends from a riband which is of the same colour as that of the Kesatria Mangku Negara. For women, the riband is tied in a bow and the badge suspends from below the centre of the bow. The Ahli Mangku Negara was instituted on 6August 1958 and gazetted on 25 August 1958.

(This has been extracted from the research done by our Mr Resourceful from MSIG Manogaran Sinnathamby.)

Let us all jointly congratulate Dr GEM (Gan Eng Meng) for her recent Award by posting your comments in the Blog.

Meeting on 14 July 2009

IPP Long Kok Waaaah making a statement





Masdiana receiving her Certificate from President Levine for Best Table Topics Speaker








Dr Gan Eng Meng, AMN smiling so sweetly at someone







VPE Rozina Harun receiving her Certificate from the President for Most Friendly Person of the night








This is the inaugural meeting under the new term and a new President, Levine Lee; and the attendance was encouraging. We had two guests from AIG, another guest who was busy clicking away on his camera throughout the night, yet another who was brave enough to come out and handle the table topic, also one that came late but he made it, and one from CIMB who came and sign on as a member straightaway.

Mohamad receiving his Best Assignment Speaker from President Levine Lee







IPP is a firm believer of Fung Shuei and he had planned all these by getting us room #2.01 where he saw many members fall in love with MII Toastmasters Club and without hesitation had joined in.

To those who had joined in we wish to welcome you and to those who are still thinking about it, stop thinking about it but just join us; it will be a decision that you will never regret – believe it from someone who has been in Toastmasters for over 30 years.

The meeting went as planned, just like before and the President gave us her maiden speech, a little nervous though. Everything went well and the TME for the night was our newly promoted Dr Gan Eng Meng. Want to know more about her, well you have to ask her personally, come for the next meeting. All I can say is that she is now heading one of the major public hospitals in KL.

The Invocation was presented by a ‘new’ member joined on 1 July 2009, a young, vibrant and energetic member Wei Lynn and she just tell us to move on – just like a train.

The Table Topics Master also her maiden role is Rozina Harun. She did it differently. She asked the first speaker to speak on a subject and the following speaker to speak on the last word uttered by the earlier speaker. Adam came up first and followed by Wei Lynn, Masdiana, Seow (a guest), and two others.
The Evaluation was done by yet another virgin role player Manian. Considering it was his first time I must admit he must have been paying a lot of attention before to know the way to handle the Table Topics Evaluator role.

The Humour Master for the evening is our Joker S Ho L E @ F C Ho. Well in the old days such humour would be frowned upon but at the meeting everyone seemed to enjoy the joke about this guy with the two S Holes.

Dinner was as usual, good and we have to thank Mr Khung again for his long bananas and of course Willy for his Holly Water. MII TM Club members and guests are really blessed lots; we have people who took the trouble to bring these stuff every time they are there – to me it is not easy to go and buy the bananas and to bring the heavy water up to the 2nd floor and then to the 4th floor. Thank you, Khung & Willy for your contribution.

The prepared speech were presented by PP Thilo on the Advanced Manual regarding presenting an award he gave to IPP Leong and the next one was our Ice Breaker Jerene who bare herself to tell us who she was and is. Finally, Mohamad gave his Advanced Speech #5 from the Persuasive Speaking and told us about being united.
The Evaluators were PP Anna, PP Masdiana and FP Adam respectively. Each of them gave positive feedback and the best Evaluator for the evening went to PP Masdiana. (Oh yes FP stands for Future President).

Our GE Leong wrap up the session and called on the Evaluators named above, the Grammarian Willy (who won the best role player), Ah Countant Khung and Timer Wong.
The closing Ode was done by Leong who also took the opportunity to award his outgoing Exco who were not present during the Installation.

If you see the picture please don't pass judgement on why some are big and some are small - I just downloaded it the same way but don't know how it appears this way.

Get Up

I hope this video will inspire you especially those who are now feeling down and out. Make sure you have your tissue box with you when you view this.

2009 Installation Dinner

This time our Installation night was held at Dataran Prima Condo and all the members and family were invited for FREE. Which club can provide this? On top of it some of our members even got lucky and bring home some prizes, including their family members. Our IPP Leong was very generous, he donated back his gift for another lucky draw and a young lady (possibly Adam's daughter) was happy that she brought home something.



Assembly of members present for the night. Were you there? Sorry if you have missed it.



Our new Vice President Education Rozina Harun being installed by President Levine Lee.




Dr Gan Eng Meng being installed as Vice President Membership.



Adam Fung getting consultation from Dr Gan.



Two old classmates discussing about old flames.



Dr Gan receiving a Ginseng root from her President (now IPP) Leong for her service as SAA during his term.



Your VPE posing for Ho (I think) trying to get his attention.

2009 Installation Dinner

The members present during the Installation Dinner at Dataran Prima Condo. Sorry if you were not there as we had a wonderful time with the family.



Our VPE Rozina Harun just been installed by the President Levine Lee whilst the rest are waiting in Queue to be installed.

Farewells & Thank You's

23RD JUNE, 2009 – Farewells & Thank You’s

Warmest greetings to all,

The 23rd was a truly memorable day for me, not least because of the horrendous traffic! At MIITC, it is important for members to be punctual and in the past, meetings always began on time. It was imperative for me to be punctual for I was assigned to an important role and this extremely heavy traffic was a severe test of my patience.

That evening’s meeting was an important event; it was a Farewell for our dear President. He must have been pleased, for there was a record attendance of 38 people, despite the heavy traffic. To the members, President Leong Kok Wah was a special person. It was a lovely gathering as the President was accompanied by his First Lady.

Everyone was tinkled pink when Mrs. Khung announced in her introduction that she had come so as to check and see if these MIITC meetings were as real as her husband had claimed every time he left her at home!

Members and guests were further entertained when Adam Fung (ACB) and S. Manogaran (TM) had every one in stitches with their short act in the form of eulogy to the out-going President. It was an impressive eulogy, detailing a long list of the fine qualities of Leong Kok Wah. It was a list of the qualities required to be an outstanding President of MIITC, including the qualities of being persuasive, forceful, compassionate, passionate, dedicated, caring, creative, resourceful and the list goes on!


There was a special appearance made by Keats Markandu (PP), a past-president of MIITC, who gave a presentation on “Glimpses into Storytelling”. Keats is a good storyteller who has organised storytelling sessions with children at the local bookstores and libraries. During her presentation, she shared her experience as a storyteller and also gave some pointers like using props, good facial expressions and a variety of voice tones in order to be a good story-teller. Also, the most important quality of a good storyteller is the ability to enjoy telling stories to others.

The grand finale of the evening was of course the farewell speech by our dear President. It was a very touching and emotional speech, I felt, full of fond memories, a recollection of a year’s achievement and an inspiring statement dedicated to the 3 newly wed couples (who got married during his presidency tenure). He wished them well, that they would have a marriage as lucky as his, where they could wake up every morning with their lovely partner next to them and be able to say “I don’t want anything more”.


The evening ended with two bottles of sparkling drinks being popped-out and poured in paper cups, sipped with muffins made by Mrs. Leong Kok Wah.

No regrets, according to the President. It was a wonderful evening for Mr. & Mrs. Leong Kok Wah.

TI Tips

July 1, 2009


Announcement
Club Presidents! Last Call for Proxies!
Make arrangements for your club's votes to be cast in August at the 2009 Annual Business Meeting in Mashantucket, Connecticut. There are three ways a club can use its proxy. Do you know all three?
More..

Last Chance for Early-Bird Registration for Convention & Hotels
Act fast and take advantage of the early-bird discount by getting your registrations in by July 20. Don't miss this opportunity. We'll see you in Connecticut!
More..

Plan Now for Success in Jun
It's time to start strategizing for the new Distinguished Club Program year. Smooth your progress by using the Club Success Plan in the DCP manual and make use of social networking tools to mine the knowledge of other successful clubs.
More..

Features
Start Off on the Right Foot
With the start of a new program year, make sure your club is well prepared to build and maintain its membership.
More..

Can Your Club Top That?
Last year 820 clubs were awarded the Smedley Award. Can your club reach a new number to top this?
More..

Please Follow the Contact Rules
You may be unaware that the e-mail you just sent out to a group of members is in violation of policy on the use of Toastmasters' member contact information.
More..

Welcome 2009-2010 Club Officers
Did you know there is a club officer section of the TI Web site tailored just for you? The Club Officer Resources page provides a host of information and tools to help you succeed in your new role.
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Why Have Two When One Will Do?
In order to provide the most relevant information to all new prospective clubs, the community and company new club information kits (now Item 123) have been combined.
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Interested in Volunteering at the International Convention?
In less than two months the 2009 Toastmasters International Convention will commence at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. There will be over 600 volunteer opportunities to serve your fellow Toastmasters and you can be a part of this adventure by volunteering for one of these many positions!
More..

Calling All Toastmasters Educators
If you're a middle school or high school teacher who is also active in Toastmasters, and you're interested in test-driving the new TI Youth Communication materials, we'd love to hear from you.
More..

Meeting Report 9 June 2009

TM Mano presenting a Cheque to Mr President









TM Mano donating a VDO Cam to the Club









My warm and joyous salutations to all,

I took a brief break from writing on the Toastmii Blogspot, so I may have missed a report on the Club’s meeting held on 26th May, 09.

Not filing a report for this Blogspot does not mean that there was nothing much to report or that the event held on 26th, May, 09 was uneventful. On the contrary, the evening was fun, hilarious, entertaining and of course had some interesting moments when assigned speakers gave their prepared speeches to the attentive audience.

The theme of the evening was “Guest is King” and we were truly blessed with an overwhelming attendance of invited guests. (to post photo of guests).

The evening’s highlights were the four speeches, delivered with gusto by:-

Leong Kok Wah with his Advance Manual, Project No. 2 titled “Life is short, do not have an affair!”

Lim Ah Hwai and his Competent Communicator (CC) Manual, Proj. No.2 “Six Sigma for Life”

Ho Fook Chuan completing his CC Manual, Proj. No.10 “There is Hope” and

Simon Soh , CC Manual, Project No. 7 with the title “ PAEI”

Meeting Held on 9th June, 2009

Like I mentioned earlier, there will never be a dull moment in MIITC once the Sergeant At Arms strikes the gavel to announce the start of the meeting.

This time, our dear Mr. President organised an impromptu debate to blend with the theme of the evening, “Battle of Wits”. Everyone was energised to capture the meaning of the word of the day “Energise”.

My favourite toastmaster of the evening, Adam Fung (ACB) became the Moderator for the debate and he took centre stage.

The topic of the debate, “Couples are encouraged to live together for a period of time before they get married”, was picked by the President himself. No one knew about the title of the debate until it was presented by Adam, the Moderator, after the two teams were set up that evening. It was indeed the “battle of wits” cum “battle of the sexes”!

The Proposer: Mohamad Abdullah (Captain)
S. Manogaran
Willy Tan

The Opposer: Anna Hue (Captain)
Dr. Gan
Jerene Yap

The men’s team began the debate with all kinds of unreasonable statements, arguments and excuses that I find too shameful to record in this blog. As a show of support to my kind, I shall not elaborate further.

The women on the other hand pointed out that men “stray” both before AND after marriage. There is no guarantee that the man will marry the woman after cohabitation and the man has to gain more than the woman with this arrangement. Without the responsibility of marriage, the man is free to stray as he pleases. The bottom line is that cohabitation is an excuse to take the girl to bed! (I could carry on listing down the reasoned arguments of the women’s team, but in doing so I might appear to be biased!). Suffice to say, all speakers from both teams contributed to a great debate that left everyone feeling impressed and happy.

Before the meeting ended, Mr. President made a surprise announcement, informing members that TM S. Manogaran, out of his good heart has donated a brand new Sony Camcorder to the Club. The Club is indeed blessed with such kind-hearted members like TM S. Manogaran. Thank you Mano, your thoughtfulness will go a long way. Such gesture shows that MIITC is where good people congregate in the spirit of comradeship!

Your BlogMaster: Rozina Harun

Meeting on 12 May 2009

MII Toastmasters Club extends its warm greetings to all the wonderful people out there. If you are reading this MII blogspot and you are not yet a member of this great Club, let me tell you this - you may be missing out on something special in life!

We welcome guests with open arms to our regular meetings which are held on every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at Level 2, Malaysian Insurance Institute, Jalan Sri Semantan Satu, Dmaansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur.


Meeting Held On 12th May, 09

The theme for the evening was “Dare to Dream” and the word of the day was “Courage”.

Ho Fook Chuan was the centre of attention this evening as he was the sole designated speaker. His General Evaluator was Thilohthaman (ATMS, CL). Our tall, dark, handsome and bald General Thilo had teasingly advised Ho to have another go at his Project No.9, knowing that that was already his second attempt and to try for the third time would spell bad luck. In spite of that teasing, we have all given Ho our blessing to proceed to his 10th Project.

The most talked-about person whose name I heard so often during my first few weeks at the Club is, of course, our dear Dr. Gan. It was really a great privilege to be able to meet and rub shoulders with her for the first time. Dr. Gan had taken great trouble to be with us this evening and, true to her personality, the unassuming medical doctor exuded warmth and gentleness.

Enough of bodek-king, but according to General Thilo (my nickname for him since he was the General Evaluator), one of the Club’s great strengths was its members, who were a knowledgeable, seasoned and caring lot. Among the other plus points of the club is the current President, who has the great vision, leadership and organizational ability to bring the Club together in good and bad times. The meetings are always well-organised, with ample stationery and both name tags and a printed programme provided for all members. Furthermore, the Club’s banners and emblems decorate the walls at every meeting. In short, the Club takes both pride and pain in the presentation of the meetings which are always conducted with great decorum.

This is my fourth time attending the Club’s meetings and I have already learned the skill of multi-tasking. I was given the role of the timer, where I need to time every activity of the meeting from start to finish. It may sounds easy- peesy but try and man the stop watch, listen to the speakers attentively and jot notes for the blogspot, all at the same time…that is what I call multi-tasking!

Immediately after dinner, the MIITC had its AGM and its new office bearers were elected unanimously as follows:

President - Levine Lee (pronounced as Lovingly)
V. President Education - Jerene Yap
V. President Membership - Dr. Gan
V. President Public Relations - Willy Tan
Treasurer - P. Maniam
Secretary - R Harun
Sergeant At Arms - F.C. Ho
Committee Members - Monsieur Tilaka
- Wong Hang Hiang



3 female names holding the 3 top positions, I reckon the men had vested their power on these women or the women had decided to overpower the male dominance.

Three cheers for the new office bearers- Hip Hip Yahoo!!!

Yours truly the Honorary Secretary 2B

Meeting on 28 April 2009

Helloooo, is there anyone out there? If you have accidentally opened this BlogSpot, I welcome you to the MII-Toastmasters Club BlogSpot with warm hugs. Writing this blog and not knowing if my blogs are being read by others is like writing a love note to myself!!

The sweltering hot and humid weather has taken a toll on me; therefore I need to be excused on medical ground, from doing this next blog!

Ah shucks…! Mr. President alias Ah Leong has been breathing down my neck. He does that often by checking on me every time he sees me on line via Google.

Don’t worry Boss, I was just pulling your legs…Wah… such long legs you have!


Meeting Held on 28th April, 2009

Theme for the evening was W.I.N.E. It stands for “Winning is not Everything”. The word of the day is ‘Impossible’.

TM Khung the Invocation Presenter of the evening took the liberty to share a short write up on “Don’t Quit”. An inappropriate topic for those who decided to quit smoking!

TM Mano took charge of the Table Topic Session throwing simple but yet interesting topics like men are better cooks than women, would you dare put your parents in the old folks home and can women cohabit in the same house.


There was another induction ceremony held and this time Mr. President was proud to induct Jerene Yap as a new member of MII Toastmasters Club. Before the ceremony began, Jerene was accompanied out of the room, while Mr. President asked the floor if there were any objections to induct Jerene as a member. CTM Masdiana cheekily commented that Jerene is too pretty. We took that as compliments to our new member and also to MII-TMC as it has attracted beautiful people to the Club.

Three main speakers for the evening were:

1. DTM Mohamad Abdullah with his project titled “Focus NOT on the
Bottom-line”

2. TM Ho Fook Chuan with his project titled “Feeling Down”

3. TM Willy Tan with his project titled “Care and be Cared”

Mohamad gave a speech related to MII-TMC goals reminding office bearers not to focus so much on garnering points for the Club but instead to focus on building fellowship, help members grow by developing their skills, be different and to add value to the Club.


TM Ho’s “Feeling Down” presentation was back fired when his evaluator, ACG Anna told him that his speech content did not meet the requirement of the manual. He needs to redo the presentation again. I was particularly amused when the A4 size papers which he distributed to members as part of his presentation depicting negative emotions such as anger, shit, and upset had to be used on him instead.





TM Willy has a good reason to celebrate that evening, it was his 10th speech and with that he is now granted the title CC or Competent Communicator. Let us congratulate Willy for his perseverance. We were also touched by his generous gesture in footing the dinner bill as a celebration to his achievement. May he be blessed to give more speeches at the next level! It must have made his day too when he was awarded the Best Speaker for the evening.

A big hand goes to TM Lim, the Sergeant At Arms who managed to control the programme with his excellent time management. By the time Mr. President took over the rostrum, it was just 9.00 pm, half an hour ahead of time.

As a closure Mr. President took the opportunity to share a comment made by an outsider who attended one of MII-TMC meetings a long time ago. The person told Mr. President that he felt embarrassed when he attended the MII-TMC meeting, and this was because all the male members of MII-TMC wore blazers except for him. To interpret Mr. President’s sharing, all members are expected to continue the legacy of dressing smartly to show their pride in attending such prestigious meetings.

Mr. President also presented a box of Brand Essence of Chicken to TM Mano as a cheerful gift after his recovery from a Dengue sickness and an unfortunate car accident; a caring gesture indeed by our beloved Ah Leong in helping boost TM Mano’s low morale.

With that, I end this report with a happy note –‘Saya Yang Dipaksa Bertugas!’

Rozina Harun

Meeting Held on 14th April, 09

I don’t have the faintest idea why I was asked by Master Leong aka Mr. President to take charge of MII BlogSpot. I doubt it’s because of my writing skills or because of my proficiency in English but when I asked my master, he said “it’s because you are capable and no one wants to do it!.” Will someone out there attest to my Master’s claim?

Whatever the reason may be, I have to oblige my Master because he is my Master and I am his ever obliging new servant.

(Kindly take note that some of the information shared with you here might be factually true or they were simply being made up to fill up the space.)

14th April, 09 was a first to everything for me in MII Toastmasters Club. As a new member, it was my first meeting; I was also assigned the Sergeant-at-Arms as my first role play. CTM Masdiana, the Toastmaster of the evening announced my role as “Rozi’s virgin role in MII Toastmasters Club”.

The theme for the evening was “Multi-Faith Holy Days”. Like I said earlier as it was my first meeting, my brain was overloaded with information that was toasted. I am unable to explain here precisely what the theme was about as I was busy switching on and off my hearing aid when my Master did the elaboration. The only thing I could recall was that April is a month where some religion/races in Malaysia have their holy day celebrations. To those who don’t believe in holy days, April is considered as the Fools Day for them.

We were honoured with the presence of two honourably young guests, possibly being dragged or arm twisted by the father, Mr. Wong. Mr. Wong was inducted to the club with a simple induction ceremony. I guess it must be a memorable evening for Mr. Wong because during dinner my Master has brought out a birthday cake to celebrate his birthday. Mr. Wong deserved to be mentioned in this BlogSpot because he had taken the efforts and initiative to join the MII Toastmasters club without being lured or harassed to the Club. According to him, he was hunting cum window shopping for an ideal club to join and after numerous disheartening queries, MII TMC was the only club that responded immediately to his request. Three cheers to Mr. Wong and to MII TMC, they are destined for each other.

I got to meet Monsieur Tilaka who has no resemblance of a Frenchman at all. The members gave him warm welcome back hugs after his holiday retreat in the hospital.

Interesting enough I need to highlight here that the word of the day was the interesting word of the day and that was “interesting”. The most appropriate word of the day because we had 3 interesting speakers who had interesting topics to entertain us such as ‘Cold Calls’ from En. Mohamad Abdullah, ‘the Demonstration Talk’ by Anna Hue and ‘Joint Management Bodies’ by F.C. Ho.

The ‘no-no’ word for the evening was ‘should’. Mike the General Evaluator for the evening brought to members’ attention that, that word was a very strong word, in fact too strong to be used during evaluation moments. No one has the right to tell the other person that they should or should not, therefore the word should, should not be used.

In the midst of sharing our enthusiasm among members during the handing over of roles on stage, we were reminded by our mother hen, the Toastmaster of the evening to observe the stage protocol. The rule is, nobody is to leave the rostrum until the next speaker goes forward to take over the rostrum. There must be change of guard, that’s how I would put it.

Ok lah Master, I have given this work way ahead of the deadline which is this weekend. My weekend is for my golf and there is no way I am going to sacrifice my golf to attend to my Master!!!!

Rozina Harun
Your New Blog Master

Monsieur Tilaka - President's Report

My Dear Fellow Members,

Yesterday afternoon, Past Presidents Anna Hue & Philip Wong
together with 2 term VPPR FC Ho + the current president visited
VPPR Monsieur at Room 515 Block D , Pantai Hospital.

When we arrived, Monsieur was wheeled out of ICU not too long ago
and from the picture attached you could see that the nurse is checking
his pupils response to light. From our observation, Monsieur is lucid but
i am deeply concerned that although he constantly addresses me as
mr.president, he cant seem to remember that i have a name.

His abdomen on the other hand is in a sorry state.
I counted NO less than 6 incisions and the scars all over his
abdomen was something like a spreadsheet full of " cut & paste ".
Even Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon would give up this case.
He is so pumped up in steroids that his waist has ballooned out
of proportion to the rest of his body and he is on adult diapers as
the doctors dont want him to get out of bed. ( I believe he is still
mildly sedated but not hallucinating as he still remembers that i am
the most powerful man in the club ).

My dear fellow members, while we have already celebrated CNY
and also our clubs 17th anniversary, VPPR Monsieur's only
celebration has been our visits to the hospital to cheer him up.
Since being admitted to Pantai on the 24th Jan, he has been
battling one surgery after another. In fact he was only home for
about a week for the entire month.

My heart goes out to this young man who despite having the odds
stacked up against him at this moment, is still able to maintain a
cheery disposition. Lets rally around Monsieur by calling him or
sending him a text message at 012 - 295 3668.

Monsieur's words to me as i was leaving his room -
" I want to go home and attend the next meeting "


Good night,

leong

Addendum to Anniversary Meeting

I have just been informed that I made a grave mistake by forgetting that our IPP did the wonderful Invocation. She has done it the way I would love to do it. She pick an appropriate Poem, print it and distributed it, read it with clarity and vocal variety including style.

How can I do this to her? Sorry IPP Sherine Lim, it is my omission and I bid for 1001 apologies.

To the person who has prompt me on this I like to say Thank you to you too.

Anniversary Meeting - 24 Feb 2009

We were honoured by the Division Governor for giving us a 5 Star rating for our Anniversary Meeting. This too has been echoed by members from other Clubs. Personally, I agree with them. We have 1 Star for Hospitality, 1 Star for Punctuality, 1 Star of Quality Program, 1 Star for Great Role Players and 1 Star for Food. Sometimes I like to give 2 Stars for our food, especially for this meeting as Khung brought his Bananas and this time he even brought some Nyonya Kuih, whilst Anna brought a Layer cake. The food we had was great and to my surprise they even have Bread Pudding for dessert; my favourite.

President did the usual thingy and pass it to Larry who as usual, slow and steady set the meeting atmosphere to warm. Pyng our Table Topics Master or Mistress, chose a controversial topic, Men and Women and really got the speakers excited and the audience tickled. The Speakers were Masdiana, Low Yat Seow, S K Leong, Anna, Adam Fung, Willy Tan and Philip Wong. The winner goes to our visiting TM from Speecom Mr S K Leong - no relation to our President. Dr Choong from Taman Indrahana TM Club gave a kind Evaluation of the speakers.

Oh yes, Puan Khadijah was also present and we cut the Anniversary Cake - the Presidents (Past and Present) together with her. Later she gave a short speech congratulating the club and wishing the club better success.

After dinner we had 'Prepared' Speeches from Past Presidents of our Club. Masdiana starts with her 17 Years of Pain and Pleasure, Anna with her Addiction (to Toastmaster), Mike with the Networking thingy and Mohamad on the Tools for Success - that is communication skills. Finally, the main speaker was PDG Low Yat Seow who spoke on the Fun and Frustrations of a District Officer. This man has been a TM for over 15 years and I saw the tremendous improvement in him that night. He as humour and he has substance with great delivery. I am proud of him and truly appreciate that he took the time to prepare and come to the meeting - inspite of having another commitment elsewhere.

Besides those named, I must also add that we had Levine as the Timer, Chin as Grammarian, Mano as Aah Counter and Ho as ASAA. Ho really surprised me when he start the meeting with his remarks which sound something like this, "With the Power in me I will now call the meeting to order." Even after almost 30 years in TM I have never seen an ASAA speaking so commandingly like this. PP Philip did the closing and IPP Sherine sitting pretty and doing back room work.

After the meeting the President calls all the members together and told us the news about Monsieur who was re-admitted to Hospital for the blockage again. We have to pray harder guys.

We had 15 members present and 15 guests - a big crowd no doubt but the food is more than enough to feed 40 pax. I saw Jerine our 2nd time guest who had decided to join us and Salmah, Willy's guest who would consider after the next meeting. The Guests that I remembered but not mentioned above were Mrs Choong from Taman Indrahana, Miss Toh (Larry Sister) and some others that I just could not recall. Please forgive me.

Whilst writing this I got a call from a friend Leanne Yeoh a former member of our Club. I was surprised that she called as I was expecting her at the meeting but strangely she thought it is today and she was disappointed to find no one at the meeting. I am sorry Leanne for the confusion and I hope you will come back again.

Meeting on 10 Feb 2009

Inspite of the rain and inspite of the heavy traffic I am pleased to see 13 active members present and two guests with three visiting Toastmasters. The visitors were Kiang Faang Pyng, DTM from Premier Advanced our Past President, Wei Lin from TTDI and Lincoln from Gurney, Penang. The guests were Jerene (Pyng's guest) and another a guest of Lovingly.

Thank you guys for bringing your guest to the club and I hope more members will make an effort to bring one for the next meeting. Identify them now and start your strategy in wooing them.

This time our VPE Levine started the meeting and introduce the TME our Mr Leong Kok Wah. After the ritual he called on Ho to present his Invocation which I though was well done but it should not be a speech as it has a negative impact. Just read a poem or motivational piece it would be more refreshing.

Table topics was carried out by IPP Sherine and he let us dig into her bag and took out red stuff. The speakers were Mohamad, Willy, Philip, Jenine and Mano. The winner goes to Willy. The Evaluator for this session was Anna.

For the Manual Speech only Philip took the rostrum and give his project #10 whilst Leong did his preparation for the Area Contest. Dr Gan was Philip's evaluator whilst the rest of us were having a fun time poking at our President.

Birthday boys for Feb were Mano and Ho. The food was good as usual and Mr President also brought a goodie bag for each of us. Some of us brought more than one bag home. On top of this he gave us an Ang Pow with 1+3D in it. (Didn't know about it until Thursday). Tough to keep up with him always bribing us with good stuff.

Anyway, the Most Friend Person for the night goes to .......and the King... YES its ANNA Hue and the Best Role Player for the night went to non-other than another PP Kiang Faang Pyng as GE.

Some Announcements were: Area W3 Contest will be on 22 Feb 2009 at Sai baba Club at 3.30pm and our 17th Anniversary will be on 24 Feb 2009 at our Club. Members are strongly recommended to take note of this and bring their friends especially for the Anniversary meeting.

FAQ on Contest rules

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Speech Contest Frequently Asked Questions

At World Headquarters, we get hundreds of speech contest questions each year. Here you can find some answers to the questions which we are asked most frequently. As we get more questions, we'll add them to this page, so check back to see if we've answered your questions! If you don't see your question here, you can e-mail us at speechcontests@toastmasters.org.



What are the situations in which it is permissible to nominate a contestant to move forward in a speech contest?

What is the standard protocol regarding timing? Since we’re supposed to have two timers, should both timers be timing simultaneously?

During an Evaluation contest, will paper be provided for me to take notes on or should I bring my own?

What are the rules regarding bringing children to a speech contest?

Are contestants permitted to play music during their speech? What about using a PowerPoint presentation? What are the rules regarding usage of props?

What happens if I paid my dues on time, but my club treasurer did not submit my dues to World Headquarters by November 30?

If there is only one contestant at a speech contest, does the contest still have to be held?

I know that immediate past district governors are ineligible to compete, but what about immediate past lieutenant governors marketing (LGMs) and education (LGETs)?

If I'm thinking of becoming a candidate for district governor, director, or international officer, at what point do I become ineligible to compete in a speech contest?

If there are only two contestants in a speech contest, and the first place winner is unable to attend the next level of competition and the other contestant was disqualified, can we nominate someone else to attend the next level of competition in their stead?

Are contestants required to have completed a minimum number of manual speeches to participate in a speech contest?

What are the situations in which it is permissible to nominate a contestant to move forward in a speech contest?

At the club level, a contestant may be chosen by whatever means the club desires, therefore, a club may nominate their contestant to the area level contest. However, in the event that a club contest is held for a single contestant, should that contestant disqualify themselves by not meeting the timing requirements, the club may not nominate a different contestant to represent them at the area level. Similarly, at the area, division or district level, if there is only one contestant participating in the speech contest, should that contestant disqualify themselves by not meeting the timing requirements, a different contestant cannot be nominated to represent the area, division or district at the next level of competition.



What is the standard protocol regarding timing? Since we’re supposed to have two timers, should both timers be timing simultaneously?

It is up to the discretion of the contest chairman as to how the timing is handled during speech contests. However, please note that in the case of the International Speech Contest, at the World Championship of Public Speaking, two timers are used, with one timer managing the stopwatch and the other timer managing the timing device that displays the green, amber and red signals. This helps to avoid the confusion of two timers having different results.



During an Evaluation contest, will paper be provided for me to take notes on or should I bring my own?

Each contest varies in their speech contest procedures. The important thing to remember about the written materials used during an Evaluation contest is that they must be collected by the sergeant-in-arms before the first contestant gives their evaluation. Each contestant will have their written material returned to them prior to their evaluation.



What are the rules regarding bringing children to a speech contest?

There are no official rules against bringing a child to a speech contest, and having the support of your family when you compete is wonderful, but please practice common courtesy. Make sure that your child is well-supervised. If your child is disruptive or distracting to contestants, please handle the situation appropriately.



Are contestants permitted to play music during their speech? What about using a PowerPoint presentation? What are the rules regarding usage of props?

Both music and PowerPoint presentations are allowed during speech contests. Please note that World Headquarters does recommend against the use of both, as they have a tendency of eliciting negative responses from judges. Also, it's the contestant's sole responsibility to handle any props or technical gear used in a speech. They may have an assistant help them set up and take down props, but the stage must be cleared for the next contestant.

What happens if I paid my dues on time, but my club treasurer did not submit my dues to World Headquarters by November 30?

In this situation, you would unfortunately be ineligible to compete, because in order to compete in a speech contest, you must be a member in good standing of a club in good standing. The only way to maintain your good standing is to make sure your club treasurer submits your dues to World Headquarters before the grace period expires (by November 30 for contining members, or by the date of the speech contest for new, dual, or reinstated members).

If there is only one contestant at a speech contest, does the contest still have to be held?

Yes. And if the contestant speaks over or under time, he or she is disqualified and may not continue to the next level of the contest.

I know that immediate past district governors are ineligible to compete, but what about immediate past lieutenant governors marketing (LGMs) and education (LGETs)?

Immediate past LGMs and LGETs are eligible to compete in speech contests, unless they have announced their candidacy to become district officers for the term beginning July 1.

If I'm thinking of becoming a candidate for district governor, director, or international officer, at what point do I become ineligible to compete in a speech contest?

The moment you announce your candidacy, you are no longer eligible to compete in a speech contest. Any firm declaration of intent to run for district governor, director, or international officer for the coming year may be construed as an announcement for these purposes.

If there are only two contestants in a speech contest, and the first place winner is unable to attend the next level of competition and the other contestant was disqualified, can we nominate someone else to attend the next level of competition in their stead?

No. You cannot nominate a new contestant to compete at the next level of competition, nor can you allow the disqualified contestant to compete.

Are contestants required to have completed a minimum number of manual speeches to participate in a speech contest?

The only speech contest with a minimum manual speech requirement is the International Speech Contest. To participate in any level of the International Speech Contest, a full member must have completed at least six manual speeches from the Competent Communication manual prior to the club contest. A charter member of a club chartered since the previous July 1 may compete without having completed six manual speeches in the Competent Communication manual. The club must be officially chartered before the area contest.