MII Installation Dinner Photographs

Past Division W Governor making his presence Our Past VPPR Master Piece - the sign at the door.

Rear Picture of our guest from Australia
Another rear shot by our cameraman.
Good piece of photography.
Our (Immediate Past) District Governor K K Chee chatting with his TLI Chief Ramdas Nayar with Mohamad busy interrupting them.

Meeting 22 July 2008

I can now proudly said that I have completed 100 posting in this blog and I am now starting with the 101. Looks like I will pursue until someone will be kind enough to take over from me to post this blog.



Our President starts the meeting with a touch of humour and quickly pass the control to the Toastmaster of the Evening PP Mike Teng.




As usual Mike Teng lots of pain in explaining about Toastmasters and took lots of time too but his humourous way of presenting it made it fun for most.

The Invocation was done my first timer Mano and he did research well to quote us from Mother Teresa. This reflect on his nature of being a person who is caring and concerned for the less fortunate.

Our Dr Gem took over the Table Topics Session and gave various topics. Zarini who volunteered was asked to comment on Environment, Philip on how to break an ice. Willy our new member was great with the subject of "Your Idol". Our veteran Masdiana Ooi could not sit too long and volunteered. She was given the topic Ladies should wear make up. The last speaker was Patrick our new member from MSIG who spoke on Old Habits die hard.

Levine was the TT Evaluator and as usual gave us some good and some not so good things about the presentation and how to improve it.

The highlight of the evening was actually for Willy and Rosli. Both of them were inducted by our President Leong and Levine and Mike Teng their respective sponsors were made to be their respective mentors.

We had dinner as usual but the surprise was we got some bananas - kind contribution of Khung. Keep it coming Khung. Durian for our next meeting?

After the dinner we were back at it again and since all the four speakers are from the first Manual Anna read the objectives for all to know.

Rosli was called first to speak and all of us got to know him a little more. He speaks Japanese and still a bachelor at 41. Such a nice man and I just wonder why the ladies are shying from him. Maybe his destiny is in MII????

Chin was the second speaker and he is very focused. He wants a title before his name so he worked hard but got it at the end. We told him that when he finished his 10 Assignment, we will give him the title CC in from of his name.

The third speaker is Zarini, who loves to sing like her mother. She spoke about herself and we all get a glimpse of her. Well you know what she even brought her husband to support her first speech.

Willy our last speaker said, "It is not how much you learn but how much you use it." He quoted his grandfather very fondly.

Evaluators were Mohamad, Sherine, Philip and Anna in that order of speaking. The Gramarian is Mano and doing it for the first time he really learn fast. Khung was our Ah Counter and he really a firm and no nonsense man. Ho our Time Keeper was very strict and even hit the bell twice for our GE Masdiana.

The Awards for the night went to: Will Tan for Best Table Topics Speaker and Best Assignment Speaker. Anna Hue go the best evaluator vote, Mike Teng got the Most Friendly Person whilst Masdiana won the Best Role Player vote.

Oh yes, I forgot we got two guests, Zarini's husband and Patrick's colleague. Beside those I named earlier, we have a few other members - one of the best attendance. Keep it up guys.

Div W - Club Officers Training

In Toastmaster I have been trained to "listen, think and speak" and I believe our new Leaders ought to be reminded of this basic principles. I was at the COT (Club Officers Training) for Division W at the WIM and I believe that I should take some time to do a review and hopefully, my views rightly or wrongly, can be discussed amongst those who value the training we gained in Toastmasters to further improve the organisation and its members.

Before I proceed to state my views I must qualify myself here that what I state here is my personal view and not of any club, district, division or any individuals. It is not my intention to be critical of any individual but as Toastmasters I felt we must be thankful for the evaluation we receive.
I like first to question the leaders of the District as to what COT is for. To me it is to prepare our Club Leaders when they take up office. How can a leader learn something on 28th June to take office on 1st July? Is this too short a time for anyone to learn, plan and prepare their task during their term? If we notice the high rate of clubs collapsing and lots of members disheartened I am not surprised as we have half-baked leaders - though it is not entirely their fault.

It is about time our District and even International Leaders rethink about this. Can we have our election, say in December and have our COT before April the following year so that they will have time to learn, prepare and plan. If we are elected in May and be trained in June (which I learn is the earliest so far) and most of the time in July or August, how can you do our job well?

My next issue is on the subject or the substance that is being provided to the trainees or club officers. Most of the time, I observed that the subject is more on how to become a President Distinguished Club by getting the 10 points. Here we are taught on the bottom line alone. Why are we so concerned about the points when what we should be focusing is how to make our members to be better members and better leaders.

In my opinion, the purpose of the COT is to train the club officers and what we are doing is totally irrelevant. What I like to see is a session focussing on the individual club officers portfolio. If he is the President, how do we train him to be an effective President. I am sure if each club officers are empowered with the respective knowledge and skills the club would function better and members would benefit from it. Here again, as a President, we should also train him on the duties and responsibilities of the various club officers so that he is aware as to who is doing what. Of course he can read all the books and expect him to know everything and if this is so then we do not need the COT at all. The COT should be more focused on issues that will help the club officers to do their job better.

My next point is on the quality of the Facilities. When I was at WIM for the training, I was asked to go to a room somewhere at the top and a bunch of us went and then someone else told us that is further at the top. We waited and waited and finally the door is opened and we sat. Unfortunately, the trainers were not able to proceed for some reasons or another and I left in disgust. How can this happen? Why can't someone do something whilst we wait? It is just a group of non-comunicado affair to me; when we teaches people to communicate. This may not be the fault of Dr Sharon but I hope someone in WIM must be alert enough and rectify the situation.

Finally, my disappointment is with the selection of Trainers. Whilst I like to encourage Division and Area Officers to take on the job, I strongly recommend that all these people must go for training themselves - and be trained thoroughly. How can they impart to us when they themselves are 'green horn'? We want the best and we expect the best. We want to have great clubs and if the kind of trainers we have I am afraid we would not go far.

Trainers should not deviate. They should only focus on the syllabus but with the topic given I don't blame them. As I have said we should train the club officers to be prepared for their respective role but what I hear is that personal opinions are expressed. To me trainers personal opnions should be kept to themselves. Let the participants suggest on ways to improve their club and let the participants share their experiences. Trainers should shut-up - just listen and let the participants contribute. Your job is a facillitator and not to express your personal likes or dislikes. Worst never to argue with the participant who merely ask a simple question.

Before I conclude, let me also say a few good words to the organisers. They have done well, starting on time and ending on time - this is something I commended. They may not have the power to secure good premises and trainers but I hope future leaders should consider future trainings be don for the whole District and be held in Bangi where Maybank, Petronas, RHB Bank, and others have their training centres there. We must invest in training as the club leaders of today will be the International Leaders of tomorrow.

I must also commend on our three District Officers for being present and being there. Please recommend to TI that we need to have some changes, like our AGM & Election should be held earlier and our COT be done at least three months before they take office.

Our District is now most likely to be in the top 6 spot in the world and I hope we can achieve better result in the years to come.

18th President's 1st day at Office

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT LEONG KOK WAH:

My first 24 hours as President of this club has been rather eventful.

The day started with a congratulatory call from PP Mike Teng early in the morning.
Mike was so relieved that he can finally drop the Incoming and address me as just plain President.
Quote: " Get your lazy A** out of the bed and start working !! ".

My first official duty as President of MII-TMC was to attend the Club Officer Installation of our baby club -
Great Eastern Toastmasters Club. All i had to do was just attend, sit, smile, clap , eat ,
pose for a few photos, engage in small talk ( sodomy and the likes ) and collect my designer GE T-shirt.
If this is all a President has to do, darn, I want to be President forever.

My visit to GE-TMC however was not without fanfare.
Both the "parents" in our club, aka the founders of the club "accompanied' me to the function
just like any other ordinary parent would do on their child's first day at school.
I guess, like all parents, they have found it very hard to let go, lest this very green President
"misbehave", "conducts himself improperly in an inappropriate manner" , that will bring
disrepute to this great institution called MII-TMC.
I guess, i passed with flying colours because i was even chauffeured driven home
in a Mercedes Benz !!!!
Darn, if this is the lifestyle of the MII-TMC President, I want to
be Presiden seumur hidup lah !!

That my fellow Toastmasters is my first 24 hour report as President of MII-TMC.
I will no doubt keep all of you informed till that momentous day -
7pm - 08 - 07 - 08.


Cheers,

leong

Something from VPE LKW

My Dear Fellow Members,

The podium finish of the F1 race,
The Oscars at the Academy Awards,
Centre Court at the Lawns of Wimbledon.

What do the above 3 events have in common ???

" Winners Never Quit and
Winners always drink Champagne "

Ok maybe we had the "halal" version of the champagne,
but only winners celebrate with champagne, whatever
version you may choose to have.

Yes, we have just completed another eventful year here
at the MII Toastmasters Club.
Yes, it was a year of twists and turns but once we
turned the corner , it was a race to the finish line.
Cross the line we did and we crossed it in style.

And what a glorious year it was..................
Our "rebranding " exercise was completed.
We secured 2 speechcrafts, with more on the way.
President Sherine found the one true love of her life.
And along the way, came a lovely surprise by the name
of " The Presidents Distinguished Club Award ".

The lessons of the past year here at MII-TMC has
reaffirmed my lifelong belief in the motto :-
" Winners Never Quit & Quitters never win ".

Winners are always ready to succeed in whatever
they have set out to do.
Winners are always ready to reach out to their dreams
with conviction and commitment.
Winners do not merely start the race, winners always
finish the race.

Our success here at MII-TMC is proof that the key to
success is to keep moving, learning & training and
eventually, we will be able to improve and speak better
& longer the next time.
To all our new members - Khung, Jimmy, Mano, Chin,
Zarini, Kasturi, Manian, Patrick, Caren, Rosli & Willy,
this is the MII Toastmasters Club promise to all of you.
It is one small step leading into the entrance of the MII
building but one giant step for all of you.

To my fellow EXCO members, President Sherine, Levine,
DTM En.Mohamad Abdullah, FC Ho, Joyce, Monsieur,
we did it because we believe we could reach the stars.

To my Past Presidents & fellow members, your
unwavering support throughout the year was the key
to unlocking the Treasure Chest of knowledge.

This will be my last report as the VPE and before I sign
off for the final time, I want all of you to know that the
winners of tomorrow were born here today at MII-TMC.

Ribuan terimaksih for a truly memorable and fabulous
year here at the MII Toastmasters Club.
Till we meet again on the 8th July.

I remain,


Yours truly,

vpe - kok wah

Night of Leong Kok Wah

Ok guys pictures speaks a thousand words and thanks to our DVG Azmi Sharin DTM who supplied the photos I am able to exhibit some.

Will revert with some stories later.

Meeting 10 June 2008

Thank you, thank you and thank you for reading this blog. I know not many would like to see or read about others but the some or few would still enjoy reading it. Do drop me a line if you think I should change my style of reporting so that it is more friendly for readers. Whack me if you think I deserve it.

Our first meeting in June was great, we have 19 persons attending and what is greater we have only two guests; meaning we have 17 members. This is almost 85% of our membership. If you are one of them, my salute to you for the support and again for reading this blog.

The meeting theme was "Toastmasters Transform" and the word for the day is "HIKE". Toastmaster has transform so many of us from a timid kancil to a assertive tiger, from a small atom into a devastating bomb, from a softie to a hardie. Whatever it is we must thank our organisation that empowered us to be better everyday.

Our Acting President Leong Kok Wah came on stage sharp at 7.00 pm to address the floor and in a short 3 minutes he handed the control to the TME, Mohamad Abdullah. Our TME strongly emphasised that he intends to end the meeting sharp at 9.13pm and requested all Role Players to help him achieve this by being on time.

Our TME quickly introduced the Role Player and briefly explained the roles for the benefit of the guests except for some Role he had asked for the Role Player to explained it themselves. Later he introduced the members and asked the Guests to introduce themselves. All within time.

Anna then came on as Invocation Presenter and read an article from our old Invoccation booklet to inspire the members. After that the TME introduced the Table Topics Master PP Philip Wong. He had some easy and some difficult questins about current affairs and 5 members participated. The winner goes to Leong Kok Wah.

The Table Topics Evaluator for the evening was PP Thilo and PP Anna. We had a double dose of Evaluation from the floor due to a confusion. The TME thought he would discount with the Evaluation session but Ag President appointed PP Thilo and Anna on her own accord seeing that the assigned TTE was not present cover for her. In view of their efforts the TME allowed both to give their Evaluation.

Just before dinner we had an Induction Ceremony conducted by our President Sherine. As usual she confidently and professionally conducted the session to induct our new member Zarini Nazimuddin and Chin Kong Meng. Time allotted was 10 minutes but she finish it within 8 minutes. Great ceremony, official yet not boring.

Dinner was as usual on the 4th floor and surprisingly we had a new catering staff and the food seemed to have finished before the TME could take his share. Anyway, Levine as usual arranged for the cake to celebrate our June birthday Girls or Boys, and for the night it was only for President Sherine. We sang her a song, she blows the candle, only one, cut the cake, made her wishes and distributed it to all.

During the Prepared Speech Assignment Mr Khung Varn Fatt did his maiden speech on "Opportunity" by telling us something about himself. We now know he is 70 and not 17, has been in insurance for over 20 years with the Harpers and later on his own. Now happily married to one woman and have one son and three grandchildren. This day we can claim that Mr Khung is the most senior member of our club.

The next speaker is our lady Dr Gan Eng Meng attempting her C&L 8th Project with the topic 'Bones, moans and groans'. She prepared a great power point presentation on osteoprosis (I hope the spelling is right) but more importantly how we can prevent it when we are old.

The third speaker for the evening was our friendly Adam. I am pleased with his presentatin lately. He is well prepared and he must have read the Manual a couple of times before he make his presentation. His enactment of how to influence a member to do his manual by asserting his wish seemed natural. I must also congratulate Ho for taking the role of co-acting with him as he seems to be a natural actor. I suggest he should go to Hongkong and follow Jackie Cheung.

After all the excitement we have to come down to the routine of calling the General Evaluator and this time is another virgin RP Ag President Leong Kok Wah. Considering his length of service and time with the club I am proud that he handles the role well. He gave a run down as usual. However he was interrupted by Masdiana Ooi when she pointed out that Dr Gan's PPt presentation and that is when Anna joins in and time went by - though he still think that we were ahead of time. Anyway, who would like to fault the new boss?

The other evaluators are: Grammarian goes to King of Toastmaster aka T Raja. The Aah counter was the Football Club of Holland aka F C Ho and the time keeper was new born baby Zarini Najibuddin. For the speech evaluators are Levine for Khung, whilst Anna evaluated Dr Gan and Thilo evaluated Adam.

Due to time, the TME quickly invited the President to conduct a simple business session. The TME being the Hon Secretary of the club announced that our incoming Treasurer has withdrawn from the post due to her work commitment and there was a proposer from Leong Kok Wah for Zarini to take over. Since there was no objection the motion was carried and Zarini will now be our incoming Treasurer.

Next the President gave away Certificates to the following:
Best Table Topics speaker - Leong Kok Wah
Best Assignment Speaker - Adam Fung
Best Speech Evaluator - Anna Hue
Best Role Player - F C Ho
Most Friendly Person - Mohamad Abdullah

Since someone forgot to prepare the Certificates, everyone was given the opportunity to take a picture with her. Hope I can load it up when the pictures are in hand.

I would also like to aknowledge the following who came for the meeting:

Guests: Miss Ng and Mr Willy
Present and Past Presidents: Anna, Masdiana, Philip, Thilo, Mohamad and Sherine
Members: Leong Kok Wah, Mano, Chin, Levine, Kasturi, T Raja, Ho, Zarini,Dr Gan, Khung and Adam.
Absent with apologies: Mike Teng and Larry King (Toh)

Drop me a line and tell me the other way of writing this that would make you enjoy reading this article.

Bye and may God bless you all.

Year 2008 - Exciting But Taxing Outing FRIM Trip

Dear All,

Hi, on the first day of June 2008, 8 members and their family members plus friends from MII TMC wearing MII T-shirts were gathered at Forest Research Institute of Malaysia ( FRIM ) at 8am for an exciting outing - Picnic Breakfast + Jungle Walking + Canopy Walk !!!

See the pictures and you will know how enjoyable we were ................




These are our members and their family members + friends ............




See, what do we have ? Curry Chicken, Bubur Cha Cha, Fried Mee Hoon with hotdog, Fried Chicken, Sandwiches, Fruits and Drinks............ Yummy ! Yummy !




We are enjoying the food and fresh air !




After a delicious breakfast, we are heading to meet up with our Tour Guide




Half way of the trip, before reaching the Canopy Walkway ............. see what our VPPR doing ?





Group photo .............. at the ' Toilet Tree ' ............





Yes, we did it ! All of us managed to climb up to the Canopy Station ............. see Khung is still with full energy




With such a lovely wife taking care of him all the way up to the Canopy Walkway, how can Khung not enjoying the walk ???




See our VPPR - a man to get marry soon, so excited over the " Tongkat Ali " tree




Can you see the quality of our member - 71 years old Khung !




VPPR + Forever " Joker " of the Club = Ho !




Our Young and Energetic Past President - Larry




What are they looking at ?




Yes, we did it !!!


After this activity, the members became wiser and they know what kind of President to be elected in the coming term !


From : " Not The Usual Reporter "

Message from Incoming President Leong Kok Wah


Hi all,

Looks like we are all online discussing club matters.

First of all, I would like to thank Madam President for
taking the lead in organising this fun but taxing event.
I was surprised that i could finish the course without
much problem as I dont exercise.
My kids enjoyed the the whole event too as they dont
get to go out often. I am sure Mike and Yip Sau's
kids also had something great to remember this holiday.

Now that we have established the fact that although
we are above average speakers, we are below average
walkers/climbers. As the incoming President, I have
decided that there will be more outdoor events for the
benefit of members who do not exercise very often.
We have a need to be all rounded - speak well, play well.

As for you Mike, I will ask your kids for permission and
Daddy have to go along - no choice. I would also like to
thank Mrs.Teng, for the delicious curry chicken and the
bubur cha-cha which I had at least 5 bowls ( tambah
more coconut next time ). As for the nasi lemak, well I
believe Mrs.Ho will have to answer for it. (replaced with
karipap )

Our next school holiday will be from 16 - 24 Aug and I
am sure Madam President or rather Madam IPP by then,
will organise another fun event for all.

Before I say good night, cramps on my thighs are
beginning to set in. How are all of you doing ???

Good cramp night.

kok wah

Meeting 27 May 2008

It is a pressure having to complete this meeting report within 24 hours of the meeting when work in the office is escallating and tasks at home is increasing. If the news I am writing now is a little stale, please give me some space as I am going through a busy time of the year.

I must say at the outset that the last meeting was another fantastic meeting with 24 people attending and participating. Only 11 members, 11 guests and 2 visiting members and with the TME Adam Fung at the centre, all went well. I must confess that Adam has improved with his dressing and his preparation. Keep it Adam and we are confident you will be successful in whatever you are doing right now.

The Acting President Leong took over as usual and he did well getting the guests to introduce themselves. Later he introduced our Adam Fung to take control of the meeting. Adam fully prepared took the stage and after the routine rituals call on the Invocator or rather the Invocation Presenter Mohamad to come forward.

Mohamad took a little longer this time and presented an invocation, a writing from his friend Lawrence Walter Ng a well known trainer, and read it. Full version of the invocation will be published with some small variation.

Later a member from MIA TM Club Thilaga was invited to conduct the TT Session. She did well introducing the subject clearly and get people to participate. The crowd like her style and awarded her the best Role Player for the evening.

The TT Evaluator is Ho and he too surprised me with positive feedback on the various speakers. Keep it up Ho, I am proud of you and I hope you will continue to give your dedication to your own improvement.

The humour master for the evening was, let me see, is - nevermind I come back on this when I remember who he is. Oh I was joking it is not a he it is a SHE a doctor call GEM, a darling. It was her first attempt and from one who is serious, she really took her job seriously and lost some sleep over the presentation. Humour is no laughing matter.

We went for dinner and as usual, very boring to report that our dinner is great. We had good food and enough for all inspite of the large turnout.

After dinner we had a little trouble to show the VDO of Poor Yarn's. We managed to show the full excerpt of the presentation but the speaker was a little soft though. Leong, Mohamad, Adam and Ho gave their evaluation on her performance and generally they are happy with her presentation. Mohamad however, felt that she should dressed up like those F1 girls and recommend that there must be director to organise the show.

Anna Hue took over from the VDO and she was the Cindralella for the night speaking to herself with her back against her Evaluator (by accident I guess) and deliver a perfect rendition of a poor girl fantasy that came to reality. Her Evaluator is Gan from KDU TM Club and he wants Anna to be more dramatic.

Next is Mohamad giving a Status Report entitled Creating Robust Talents. He shared with us the acronym STATE = Solution to attract talented employees. At the same time he also state that S=Skill, T=Time, A=Attention, T=Talent and E=Equipment. Briefly we have to give them skills, time, attention, talent and equipment to realise their unrealised potentials.

His Evaluator is Leong and aptly he said that the statistics given and the facts are insufficient. He felt that Mohamad based more on his opinion than factual evidence.

Later the GE Levine doing her maiden role gave a good run down of the meeting and gave a few good suggestions to improve the meeting. One of her suggestion was to use only one note book for the evening to avoid time wastage.

The Grammarian for the night was our 'young' rookie Khung. It was his first attempt and he took his job in his stride and did well considering the areas he recommend for even some senior members. People when speaking just forget that 'just' and 'recently' are two words of the same meaning and this is called redundant. Another is about people who like to introduce themselves as "married with two kids". You did not get married with two kids (only kangaroo have kids, humans have children), in fact you are married to your spouse. Keep it up Khung, looks like you are good at it and may be given the job again later.

Our PP Larry came back today and close the meeting.

Oh, I forgot, President came before Larry to get feedback from the guests and also gave the Certificates to the winners. The Best TT Speaker goes to visiting TM Gan and the most friendly guy for the night goes to none other than Adam Fung.

If you read this till this part, send me an email to tell me how you like or dislike the report and how I can improve it.

Meeting 7 May 2008

Time really flies and there seems to be so many things happening that takes priority over your schedule and work cannot get done. This delay in reportting has no excuse and I take the rap from you. If at all there is an excuse here is one, my dear wife complains of a chest pain on Friday night and I immediately took her to the nearest clinic and to my surprise the doctor was attending to another patient but on seeing her condition he immediately excuse her and let my wife in. On seeing her he immediately checked her blood pressure and asked me to send her to the hospital. Then off I went to University Hospital. We were there and the doctor kept her for observation till 3 am before she was released.

On Saturday my daughter went to school for Ninjitsu class and was stung by a bee. I thought it was a mere stung which I got plenty when young but the swell was alarming and I took her to the clinic. The doctor gave her an injection and we go home as normal. The next day the swell got worst and I went to the clinic again and the doctor now asked me to send her to the hospital - off again to UH.

That is my Wesak week holiday. Positively speaking it was lucky on a holiday.

For our meeting on 7th May I must say it was a historic day. The CEO of MII Puan Khadijah herself was there and she was earlier than most of our members. Luckily our VPE was there and had time to brief her a little whilst he shift the tables and chairs with her assistance.

We had over 30 pax for the night one of the best turn out and with 7 came from AAO, 4from Takaful Ikhlas, 2 from MSIG, one from Anika and Mike and Levine brought one guest each. The other guests were AG Lim and Soo Pon from Speakers Dream.

The meeting started punctually with our Acting President Leong take control. He briefly explained the theme for the night "Strangers in the Night" and the word of the day "Charm" before passing the control to the TME Mike Teng.

Mike as usual take pains in going through the details of the meeting and the usual rituals before calling on the TTM AG Lim Hin Chong. This evening TT Session was conducted differently - he asked the speaker to continue with his story of a dark night..... The session was well responded and the winner went to Soo Pon.

The Table Topic Evaluator was Masdiana and as usual she was Candid, Open and Direct.

After that we had Ho who did one of the best delivery of his Humour; slowly and got me so impatient and finally he drops the punch line.

Dinner was great, there were enough food though the crowd was larger than normal. Puan Khadijah stayed on but before the break she made a few observation which was welcomed by all. She was happy to see the response to her letter and look forward to further meeting with the club.

After the dinner Kasturi gave her rendition of Breaking the Ice and as usual we were all directed to give her a standing ovation after the speech by the TME. Next was Philip still giving us an account of his to be published book. This was followed by Adam who gave us some insight into MLM. The winner for the best speaker goes to Adam.

Mohamad was the General Evaluator and due to time he has to run the Session quickly. Generally his comment was that the club has done very well when compared to all the other clubs that he knows. However, he also urged the members to continue to be better, though a little at a time.

The winner for the Best Evaluator goes to Anna, the best Role Player to Mike Teng and most Friendly again to Mike Teng. It is about time the other members strive to topple him. The closing Ode was done by Anna and it was appropriate with the many guests we have that night.

Happy Wesak day yesterday and Happy Mothers Day last week and Happy Teachers day this week, Happy Fathers Day next month and above all Have a happy day everyday.

MII Toastmasters got Toasted

On Labour Day we are supposed to lie on our soft bed, relax and dream but yesterday our Labour Day 13 of us were made to lie down alright on a hot floor with a thin towel and a small stool to rest our heads on. I used a small towel to protect my soft cranium but do not know what the others did with their small towels.

Well we were there from 10 am till 2.30pm over 5 hours but got toasted for only 40 minutes. This is a SPA of a kind that allows your body to excrete the moisture from your body through your skin. Our club exco was happy to sponsor all our members who could come and enjoy the anti-oxident exercise (I hope I got it all right) and perspire. As I have said to someone there we don't sweat only horses do - men perspire and ladies only glow.

President & her new husband (sorry her only husband) was there, Leong with his one wife and one son, Mike with his entourage, Ho with his wife 2B, Thilo, Anna, Jimmy (our latest member), Philip, Mohamad, Masdiana came with their respective spouses whilst the singles were Levine, Adam and Dr Gan.

It was fun, meaningful and I believe it certainly brought us closer together. We got closer with the spouses and children of our members and friends.

President briefly took the mike and welcome everyone and VPE Leong briefed the members on the program and what to expect at the SPA as well as gave a run down of our Membership Campaign, Installation Night, Guests Night and Club activities.

Later Mike with the help of Masdiana explain about the trip to Bali in November for the Half-Yearly District Meeting.

We had good lunch and the SPA has given us two more tickets to go back there as well as have our blood check for free. Sincerely, I do not think any club has done this for their members. Glad to be an MII TMC member. For those who overslept and those who are in Nebraska and those who were lost in transit somewhere, I am sorry for you as you have missed a great opportunity to learn something about being healthy.

Thank you to Leong and his Team who organised the session and may we stay Forever Young - Together.

Meeting on 22 April 2008

Each time I go into this page to write I just wonder who will read it and whether they enjoy reading it or not but as my President Sherine said, it does not matter as the one that reads is just like the star fish that the 'boy' helps to throw back to the sea to survive.

Just happy to tell everyone that our President was back from her honeymoon and looking very radiant and reserved. Glad she came and took part in the table topics though she could not speak for more than 60 seconds.

Our Acting President carry out the meeting just like before and conduct the introduction session seeking their names and places they want to go for honeymoon. You should be there to hear the exotic places those present likes to go and some wants to have another honeymoon with a new partner. Believe it?

The Invocation Presenter was Leong Kok Wah our AP (bukan anak perempuan dan bukan the other AP) and he tells us about someone whom I do not know and the message is "Winners never quit and quiters never wins." Actually we can debate on this but not in here.

Table topics was managed by ever loving 'mother' Anna Hue and she really get us all worked up with the current 'political' affairs. Almost everyone spoke more than 2 minutes and our President has to cut hers by 60 seconds. The speakers were Monsieur, Ranjit Singh (guest from Bungsar TMC), Philip, Mohamad, sherine, Leong, Ho and Adam. And the winner went to our guest Ranjit Singh. MII members are very polite they always vote the guest in.

Humour master for the evening was our lovingly lady Toastmaster Levine Lee. She must have bad men around her that make us really sympathise her. When she was scolded she got angry and the man told her that she is too sensitive so she scold the man and he got angry and the man told that she is aggressive. 'How also u cannot win lah!'

Dinner was as usual plenty of food as there were only 12 members, one VTM and one guest. Our VTM is Ranjit and our guest is Jimmy Hooi a guest of Leong. The members present were, Sherine, Leong, Ho, Levine, Monsieur, Anna, Philip, Dr Gan, Adam, Kasturi, Khung and Mohamad.

There were two Project Speakers. PP Philip Wong gave us a speech on "leverage - A Rich Man's Game" talking about his former boss again on how he make his money. He gave us basically three main points - polish the banker, have good friends and take risk. Whilst Adam became a Coach for the evening, not that Air-Cond Coach but a 'trainer'. He gave us one of the method he would use to coach a person and that person is the Presidential Director. Interesting Project and all members should get a copy of this Project and practice it in their daily life. Evaluator for Philip is Monsiuer and Adam is Mohamad.

Our General Evaluator was Ranjit and he did the routine and at the same time add in his comment when the evaluator did not quite cover. Briefly, his comments are positive. He likes the rythm of the meeting - that was the first time I hear someone describing our meeting and I like it. Next he commented on the need for the TME to explain the various Role eventhough there were no guest. His justification is for the members to be able to stand up and express openly the task they are doing for the night. Well we can debate here. He take pain to touch on our Table Topic Evaluator Dr Gan who was doing it for the first time. He likes her focus on 'connecting with the audience'. Her evaluation was basically centred on this area. As usual, invited GE always find our hospitality warm and he felt welcome though the room temperature was very cold - that is why the men wear jacket. His next point was directed at our Grammarian who was whitewashing he claimed. I quite agree with him and he also gave his view why we should HELP our friends by giving them positive feedback besides the 'bouquet'.

The vote for the Best Table topics speaker and Role Player went to our VTM Ranjit and the most friendly went to the person who came late - Adam Fung.

In conclusion, I like the meeting as I learned from Philip and Adam. At the same time I was focusing on the words used and how those words struck me. Philip said, Good Debt vs Bad Debt and Leverage. Leong on Winners never quit and quiters never wins. Ho when he said to 'kick off' the meeting, I find it strange though it is commonly used. Someone also said, Repeating it again and again - just left me wondering on redundancy. The last one is "Give them a round of applause." What does it really mean?

Whatever it is, see you all again soon.

Pictures at Meeting on 25 March 2008

Some of the pictures at our meeting on 25 March 2008.

Meeting on 25 March 2008

After the back to back Contests we were back at regular meeting with 11 members and one guest. Our Guest was from Sai TM Club (our incoming AG) Dr Devikamani Menon and our members present were: Leong, Levine, Monsieur, Masdiana, Khung, Dr Gan, Mike Teng, Kasturi, FC Ho, Philip & Mohamad.

Everything went smoothly except that Dr Gan had to take over Thilo's job as Timer as well and when she handles the Table Topics Session, Philip had to handle the Timer job. Great team work.

The Acting President Leong took the rostrum from our ASAA Khung and start the meeting by saying a few words on the theme for the meeting REINVENT. He later hand over the control to Monsieur as the TME.

I must say that Monsieur has matured somewhat and was comfortable handling the TME position. He did it well and deserved to be voted as the best Role Player for the meeting.

Masdiana took the Invocation session by quoting a poem she got from her research. Very motivating and that should be the way Invocation presenter should do - rather than saying it in her own words.

Dr GEM handles her first Table Topics Session and I must congratulate her for a job well done. Except for some questions which are a little bit long the rest was specific and provoke the speaker to express their own personal views on the theme of the night that is Reinvent.

Six speakers took the challenge to speak at the Table Topics Session and the vote for the best speaker goes to Mike Teng. The Evaluator was FC Ho, his virgin attempt as well and did it very well. (He was so eager to participate and our PP Philip has to give way to him to participate as a speaker.)

The Humour master for the meeting was given to PP Philip Wong and he really made all of us tickled with his story, "At age 35 you still believe in Genie?".

Dinner was as usual great but this time we had more share with less people. The birthday boy is none other than our Presiden berlakun, LKW (not related to Singapore LKY). Thanks Levine for getting the cake.

The two speakers for the night was Levine doing her successful club series that earned her the title of CL and also a point for the club whilst Adam did a splendid sales pitch about some magic stones with lots of demo. Great education for me.

Our guest was the GE for the evening and commented favourably on the club performance. She commented our role players were exemplary, our TTM has chosen good questions, our voting slips was professionally done, Role Players (RP) handles more than one role and members were versatile. On top of these she also commended on our Award for most friendly person and the display of our achievements.

On her recommendations, she suggested that our TTE should not participate, which I agree as he should give others a chance but for someone who is eager to speak I guess we don't mind. She also noticed that we were too friendly and interject a speaker - here I reckon we should be more flexible as it gives the speaker a chance to train on how to deal with it; as you wouldn't know when your next public speech will have such or worst interrupters.

On her suggestion that a project speech must be evaluated by someone who has done the assignement is not right. TI has made it clear that if a person has done three Assignements he or she can evaluate anyone. After all it is all about training ourselves. What happens if a club has no one who has done an Ice Breaker, does it mean that we have to import all the evaluators? What happens if the nearest club is 12,000 miles away? Let us be a little open about this. For me I would appreciate if the Evaluator is my junior as I am listening to a lay person view of my speech not someone who used his or her experience to tell me how to do it.

Anyway, Mike in his usual self always fooling around and worked hard to earn the title of most friendly. I guess if each and every member of the club and also guest could strive to be friendly - I am sure we will all enjoy.

The closing Ode was missed out somehow as time was not with us - sorry Mike.

IS and TT Contests - 26 Feb 2008

This is my personal view of the Club Contests last night and I hope no one will assasinate me for it - all done in the interest of progress.

Last night contests was the first ever I have seen in MII where there are more Judges than speakers; in fact, I saw there are more guests than members. Where have all our members went? My survey seemed to say that they are all over the world carrying out their official duties. I don't fault them. It is also my policy that work must come first and for that matter too, family must also come ahead of the club.

To Anna, Philip, Larry, Thilo, Joyce, Jeffrey and Richard, I know you are not in town and I hope you are well wherever you are. For the rest who are in town but could not attend, I guess you must have your reasons - I must respect your decision.

For those of you who were there like, Sherine, Leong, Levine, Mike, Masdiana, Adam, Ho, Monsieur, Dr Gan, Khung and Mohamad I salute you for your presence.

The Contests went well and I must congratulate our OC Leong for the way he conducted them single handedly - fast and proper. My only recommendation was not to switch roles with Mike too often that it looks like a circus. Cut all the formalities and move on.

Well on the Table Topics Contests, I cannot commend much as I was not there to see how they perform. Only four Contestants took part and they are Ho, Monsieur, Mohamad and Adam. Monsieur took the first place and Mohamad the second. The winner went to Monsieur and Mohamad was the runner up.

On the International Speech Contest I must say that Mohamad could have done better. He did not elaborate enough on his topic "WAT - A3T" (What a Treaty) and his points were not clear. As an experienced TM he could have done a better job. Anyway, he took the first place and from my point of view it could be due to the originality of the message and the way he deliver it. I also overheard his wife Masdiana commented that "...his examples were not clear but this time he uses his vocal variety well".

The next speaker was Adam who spoke on Opportunity. In my view this is one of his best speeches - he seemed to have prepared it well; the contents and delivery. He started off well and structured the speech perfectly. The only area I can recommend is that he needs to move out from motivating speeches as Judges, I believe had enough of it. If he insist on speaking on the same subject for the Area I would suggest that he take out the examples and make new ones that are personal to him. For example, how he misses to see an opportunity and lost and how he embrace another opportunity and gain. Make it more personal and I believe the Judges will appreciate it more. (Adam got second place and since Mohamad will be in South Africa during the Area contest he will represent the club and I am sure with a little bit of polishing he can win the Area Contest.)

As for Monsieur, he uses his personal experience but I miss his message. From Fat to Fitness I like him to tell us how he encourages us to lose weight. Anyway, the title could be better in my opinion if it is 'Fatness to Fitness'. The contents should not have too long an example of being stuck. That example was good but too long and the additional part of it is unrelated. Focus on how you have slim down would be great and use more other examples.

Our Dr Gan to me was at her best for the night. The topic relates to her profession and she delivered it well. I thought she had crafted her speech splendidly and I give her full point for it. Areas where I believe Dr Gan can win, I repeat can win in a speech contest is to introduce vocal variety, emotion and quote some quotations. I find that most Judges are attracted to people who speak loud, full of action and humourous. However, Dr Gan may not win the contest but she win my votes for being the most improved speaker.

The above are my personal views and I hope readers will look upon it as a way TM evaluate speakers to make them better. The recommendations may not be correct but if you agree adopt it and if you do not just ignore it.

Before I forget, let me thank the Chief Judge Area Governor Paul Tan, Time Keepers were Fong (Money Mastery) and Levine Lee, TME Mike Teng, many guests and Sherine our bride to be.

Please post your views to encourage future contestants.