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

Downloaded from TI


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.

Talk on Current World Financial Problems

MII Toastmasters Club is organising a Talk on the above on Tuesday 13 Jan 2009 at the Malaysian Insurance Institute, 5 Jalan Semantan Satu, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur from 3 pm.

This is a Tea talk by a well connected gentleman and well qualified too to speak on the current world financial problems. He will share with us his views and observations on the subject so that we will be informed and can make a conscious decision as to what we should or should not do.

This talk is opened to anyone who are interested in the subject. Refreshment will be served and a door fee of RM18 will be charged to each person. If you are interested plese call Linda or Mohamad at 03-7880 8687 to book your seat. As there is a limited seats available prior booking is recommended.

BIODATA OF THE SPEAKER
Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Lau Ban Tin
PSN, DSSA, JPCA (M), FTII, FCMA, FAIA, MBA, DBA (SCU)

Y. Bhg Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Lau Ban Tin, aged 48, is a Chartered Management Accountant by profession and a member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants. He is a fellow member of the Malaysian Institute of Taxation, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Association of International Accountants. Tan Sri Lau obtained his MBA and DBA from the Southern Cross University, an Australian Government University. He is in the Adjunct Faculty, Faculty of Accounting and Management of University of Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). He is also member of the Young Presidents Organization, The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI Malaysian Chapter) and an adviser to the Klang Chamber of Commerce.

Currently, Tan Sri Lau is the Chairman of Malaysian Red Crescent Society, Klang Chapter and an active patron to Persatuan Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Klang where he is taking care of 70 handicap and down syndrome children. Tan Sri Lau is also the President of Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman School of Business Studies Ex-Students Association and the President of the Federation of Tunku Abdul Rahman College Alumni Associations. He is also the Vice President of Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG). Tan Sri Lau has also set-up a student loan fund in UTAR known as "Tan Sri Lau Ban Tin Student Loan Fund". At present, he is also running a charity body called the Malaysian Centre of Entrepreneurs whose aim is to promote entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

At present, Tan Sri Lau sits on the board of 3 Public Listed Companies namely Yong Tai Berhad, BIG Industries Bhd and Ngiu Kee Corporation (M) Bhd. He is also a director of more than 25 other private limited companies.

Meeting 6 Jan 2009

I heard from the grapevine that I should not write too much as most of our members are more visual that is they like to see pictures more than words.

At this time I do not have pictures to show but just give you a glimpse of what has happened during the meeting.

Attendance

Visiting Toatmasters 4 DTM Soh (Dutama), Sam (MIM) Eu (Premier Adv)and another pretty lady I did not get her name from TTDI.

Guests 4, Mah from China (Adam), Andy from Malaysia (Adam), Thomas from Australia(GEM) and Yan (Willy).

Table Topics Speakers

1. Lim Ah Wai
2. Adam Fung
3. Chin Kong Meng (Champion)
4. Manian
5. Andy
6. Thomas Chua

Manual Speakers

1. Zarini Najimuddin on Criminal Mind
2. Willy Tan on Seaweed
3. Sam Wei You on The Unrewarded Sacrifice (Champion)

Evaluators

1. Dr Gan Eng Meng
2. Adam Fung
3. Masdiana Ooi Abdullah (Champion)

Role Players

1. President Leong Kok Wah
2. SAA Khung Varn Fatt (Most Friendly)
3. Invocation Presenter Levine Lee
4. Toastmer for the Evening Philip Wong
5. Table Topics Master Mike Teng
6. Table Topics Evaluator Ho Fook Chuan
7. General Evaluator Soh Fong Wai (Champion)
8. Grammarian Mohamad Abdullah
9. Ah Counter Lim Ah Wai
10. Timer Sherine Lim
11. Closing Ode Philip Wong

Highlights of the Evening

1. Induction of Lim Ah Wai as a memebr.
2. Announce of the Talk by Tan Sri Dato' Dr Lau Ban Tin on 13 Jan 2009
3. Award to Philip (as his Birthday Present) for his Award by TI during his term of office as President of the club.

Before I sign off, I like to thank Adam, Willy and Dr Gan for bringing guests to the club meeting. Let us do this more often.

Humourous One-Liner

Schizophrenia beats being alone.

If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.

You have the capacity to learn from your mistakes. You will learn a lot today.

A thing not worth doing isn't worth doing well.

Hard work never killed anyone, but why chance it?

All true wisdom is found on T-shirts.

I don't have a solution, but I do admire the problem.

Lord, if I can't be skinny, please let all my friends be fat.
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die

Confession is good for the soul, but bad for your career.



Sometimes too much to drink isn't enough.


It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.

Don't get married. Find a woman you hate and buy her a house. It's a lot easier on you.

A closed mouth gathers no foot.

When blondes have more fun do they know it?

Money isn't everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.

Is reading in the bathroom considered multi-tasking?

Seen it all. Done it all. Can't remember most of it.

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

Borrow money from pessimists- they don't expect it back.

A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.


From me:

If our President is so good, let him keep his job.
Why change when it is not broken?

Meeting 23 Dec 2008

DTM Logandran receiving his Award for Best Role Player and Most Friendly Person from our Vice President Education Levine Lee, CC.







Dr Devi was recognised for her Evaluation of Lee Hin Chong as Best Evaluator for the evening. The Award was presented by our VP(E) Lovingly.





Mr Simon Soh stole the Best Speaker Award for the night from our VPE Lovingly. Besides the Certificate Simon was also awarded with a Christmas tree from our President.






Masdiana Ooi was also Awarded as the Best Table Topics Speaker for the evening.








The President of Speakers Dream Chow Mun Yuen giving her Closing Address. Smiling, full of confidence and happy that the Speakers Dream members came in full support of the meeting.






Gwendoline Gwee the Evaluator for our Past President Philip Wong - very gentle and very firm with her Evaluation.






Our Past President Larry Toh sbna (Single but not available) very poised and sharp in his Evaluation of Simon Soh speech.







Our Humour Master Low Gain Drain always smiling and tickling everyone with his wits and humour without offending anyone - very clean jokes.






Lim Hing Chong, attempting his difficult (to me) assignment - reading a Poem but he started by singing.






Our Area Governor Dr Devi very serious when reading the Objective of Lee Hing Chong's speech. On her left is the DOT from MII looking at some phono I guess.






Another PP from MII Mr Thilothaman - a shining example - sharing his views as he Evaluated Ng Lay Choo a member of GE TM Club.






Ng Lay Choo making her presentation that allows every part of her body to communicate to the audience.







Our General Evaluator listening attentively together with the Time Keeper on his right and the Table Topics Master on his left.




It was the last meeting for the year 2008 and I was glad I came. I was told there were 46 members, (Speakers Dream and MII) with family and guests. The two rooms were crowded and sad to say that some members went home without uttering a word, except of course during dinner.

The President of MII was as usual, gave a speech about Christmas and also told us about turkey the chicken. He said the turkey did not come from Turkey it came from North America, for the Malays turkey is Holland and they called it the Dutch Chicken and to the Chinese it is the Chicken from Fire not to the Fire. We learned something last night. I did not managed to check with my Indian friends what turkey is to them and also from the French Foo Chow Association President, Monsieur Tilaka. Maybe they have thier own version.

He later introduced us to our PP Anna dressed with a Santa Hat and called her Santa Anna where our Toastmasters International Head Quarters is now. Santa Anna briefed us in dtail on the history of Toastmaster and also the meeting schedule.

The Invocation Presenter PP Masdiana read to us a touching poem from Mother Theresa on LIFE.

The VPE of Speakers Dream Lawrence Who oops it is a HOO gave us unpredictable questions as to what we should give to someone and even the most experienced speaker got stuck. Volunteers were Monsieur, Dr Devi, Masdiana, Thilo, Teik Lee and Suresh. The Winner goes to Masdiana for giving Joy to her family during Xmas.

Mohamad was the TT Evaluator and he really meant what he said "to whack the speakers". From the President of the French connection, to Area Governors (past and present), Division Champion, Past President to Lady Diana all got whacked.

The Humour Master was Loghandran (prounced Low Gain Drain) our Malaysian highest achiever that was placed first runner-up at the International Speech Contest in Canada this year. He made fun of the Singh though not negatively.

Dinner was better as it was a Christmas Dinner with Turkey and Apple cinnamon (I do not know what it is but I hope the spelling is correct). Oh yes it was also to celebrate the birthday of Dr Gem, 27 year old Khung (am poor in maths the numbers seemed to switch places) and also World FRU TISC (please figure this out - but no prize for winners).

The Prepared speeches came from Speakers Dream and Simon say........don't ask WHY but ask HOW. Philip from MII our Taipan selling his property in Kuching at a discount for those present, Lay Choo (formerly from Great Eastern) telling us the concept of Kungfu Panda and Lim Hin Chong from Speakers Dream sharing with us a poem from Lord something.

The Evaluators were: PP Larry, GG (Gwenddoline Gwee), PP Thilo and AG Dr Devi. The Grammarian was Dr Gem, Ah Counter was Monsieur and Time Keeper from Speakers Dream, (sorry I forgot to ask her for her autograph). Oh yes the GE is Hi Loss Drain or Loghandran Krishnasamy

Observation from the GE were: Only two father Christmas or rather one father and one mother for the night; one to represent China and the other India (the two most populous country in the world), the food was great and they want to come back next year, the session was easy for him and the Evaluators did their job well.

The Recognition Session saw Masdiana taking the Best Table topics speaker, Simon as the best project speaker, Dr Devi - best Evaluator, and Low Gain Drain took the Most Friendly Person and Best Role Player. MII members are very fair, they try and please their guests by recognising them so that they will have fond memories of MII and will come back soon

Finally the President of Speakers Dream MY Chow (people call her Mun Yuen) close the meeting and also announced that the Speakers Dream Speech Contest will be held on 12 Jan 2008 and all are invited.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

At this time of giving, I like to give my best wishes,to you, your family and your friends too (and that's me) for a happy holiday and don't believe what you hear about 2009 - It is going to be a great year for all of us. Just believe it and it will come true.

The Newly Wed

My Dear Fellow MII-TMC Members,

Life trickles down to a few precious moments.
Today is one of those pure moments.
The happy times and the best years of our lives can come
in our carefree childhood, the growing up years in school,
in full romance, followed by marriage and finally parenthood.




Sunday 23 Nov 2008 - TM Ho Fook Chuan will join
the exclusive men's only section of the club where
the married men get together after each meeting
for a few drinks and cry their hearts out for falling into
the oldest scam in the world - Love & Marriage.

With divorce rates climbing all over the world, its
no wonder that marriage has lost its lustre.
But before we lose faith in man's oldest known institution - marriage,
lets sits back and share today's wonderful memories with TM FC Ho.

Tonight, i will share with you the love story of my fellow
Toastmaster and my very good friend - TM Ho Fook Chuan.
Just after the Asian Financial crisis of 97/98 , Ho also
emerged from an equally devastating commitment failure.
He swore to himself that he had given up on the oldest trick in the world - Love,
and proceeded to bury himself 24/7 in his advertising agency.



But then Love works in mysterious ways and as we celebrated the arrival
of the new millennium, bringing with it a new ray of hope, along came a friend
who introduced him to a shy & demure girl called Shy Yen. Boy, was she shy.
( Shy Yen is a junior education facilitator pursuing her MBA )
( FC Ho is a senior Toastmaster still pursuing his CC )
But through the cloak of her shyness, Ho said to himself -
" Ho Fook Chuan, if you had any sense, you will marry this wonderful girl " .
He practically held a shotgun over his head and said " I do " on the
18th Feb 2008 at the Registry of Civil Marriages, KL.
Even as the Registrar pronounced the both of them husband & wife,
Ho wasn't so sure. Make no mistake, Ho was sure about Yen,
but he wasn't so sure about matrimony and he wasn't sure about himself.
You may think that this is not very complimentary to Yen, but the truth is -
we can never be sure that we are sure , we can only be sure that we are Not sure.

There exists a verse in the Holy Bible that says it perfectly,
" There remains then - Faith , Hope & Love.
But the greatest of these is LOVE. "
1 Corinthians 13.

It is indeed one of the most memorable highlights of my Presidency to see my
fellow members Find Love, Discover Love and finally making that Commitment to Love.


Let us all here in MII-TMC propose a Toast to this young couple who truly deserve each other,

To Ho & Yen,
A Toast to a Long & Lasting Love.
May the days ahead be always filled
with Fun, Happiness & Laughter.


Cheers,

leong 23rd November 2008

P.S - for the rest of you, all your club leaves has been cancelled by the president.
therefore, please report for duty this Tuesday 25th Nov @ 6.30pm sharp.

Message from our new Competent Communicator

Dear all,

Thank you for your kind wishes.

To be awarded the competent communicator award is a great way to cap the year. It has been a fruitful year for me in M11, in terms of learning and fellowship. I especially felt the strong teamwork in the speechcraft program that was held in the middle of the year.I was proud to be given the opportunity and to be representing M11, even though I was a novice then.



I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the 'seniors' for the invaluable feedbacks you have given to me throughout my 'training' in M11. I have 'swallowed' my ego and pride from the beginning, having realised that to learn and improve - the best teachers are my fellow TM at ground level. A special thanks to our infatigable President, who has ensured the smooth running of the club's activites at all times.I think it will be an unanimous vote for you to stay a second term?

Achieving the CC award is not the end of the learning for me. it is the beginning of another milestone . It is a reminder for me to continously put into practice what I have learnt, to keep on improving what needs to be improved, and that I will be a 'model' to those who are still striving to reach that level.

Let's continue to enjoy our journey in learning !

warm regards,
Dr GAn

Meeting 16 Dec 2008

I am back and this is due to two persons who have responded. Thank you for your support and I will continue and hope to get more fans to read it.

Our meeting on Tuesday 16 Dec 2008 was as usual but our TME was William Shakespeare Ho and our GE was Anna. As usual our MPM=Most Powerful Man in MII took the stage and he shamed us all including the Muslim as to how much he is aware of the Qurban Celebration. Well done MPM.

After his Surmon he introduce us the newly wedded Mr WHO, William Ho as the TME. I am happy to note he prepared himself well and did a great job inspite of his shortcomings (puns not intended).

Quickly he introduced the Invocation Presenter our Foo Chow President from France Monsieur Tilaka who gave a rendition of Don't Quit. Though he has to go to the Airport he did sacrifice his time and be with us till the dinner break.

Our Virgin TTM Chin Kong Meng really surprised us with gifts from people he selected to speak on SACRIFICE. Great work and well prepared. People will always need incentives to move. The speakers chosen were: Khung, Dr Gan, Rosli, Mano, Willy and another. The best speaker title for the night goes to the Waterman Willy Tan. The Evaluator Masdiana gave her usual kind of evaluation firm and hard.

Today's unusual program was the Roast of our NMM - newly married man Mr WHO. Questions were posed to him by our Powerful Man, like a table topics session but restricted to be answered by NMM only. Ms Goh our visiting TM from TTDI said that we laugh a lot in this club. Well what do you expect when our powerful man roast a NMM?

Dinner was as usual, a little better food I must say and we missed our Banana as Khung just couldn't get it. Funny, Khung volunteer to bring it and he felt sorry and apologise for not bringing it. I think it is time for other members to contribute something as well and not depend on Mr Khung all the time.

The Prepared Speech Assignments from Mano, Willy and Dr Gan went well and they were evaluated by three Past Presidents Masdiana, Thilo and Mohamad. The best speaker title went to Dr Gan and the best Evaluator title goes to her Evaluator.

Mano spoke about the insurance on Landslip and Landslide and Willy on the same thing but more on his experience in helping the victims. For Dr Gan she gave us a Inspirational speech on giving hope. One of her best speeches and that makes her our new Competent Communicator. A standing ovation was given to Dr Gem.

Our GE Anna takes over and invited Ms Goh the Grammarian, Rosli the Aahcountant and Khung the keeper of time besides the three Speech Evaluators before she starts rendering her evaluation. I like to record that she recommends that the club conduct a Role Play Workshop as we have several new members and they are not quite conversant with their roles. She also recommends that Khung takes up bigger challenge by doing his speeches or bigger role.

Our GE also commended on our President during his Presidential Speech which she said is different from the many clubs she had visited in Malaysia as well as Overseas. For the TME she commends that he did well and recommends that he find out the biodata of the speakers before he calls them up.

The other winners for the night were Best Role Player goes to Anna and Most Friendly Person goes to Chin Kong Meng.

In the Closing Ode, Anna said that she was a member since 1977 and she enjoyed her time in TM and encourages everyone to make TM interesting. She brought in PP Larry her nephew and Dr Gan her school mate and they have done well. She also recommends everyone to visit more clubs and feel the difference.

Total Members present were 13, Visiting TM 1 and Guest 1 ie Chua Koon Tsing Dr Gan's son.

Send me your feedbacks soon.......

Lost Steam

Dear Members, with the response I have it looks like it is a waste of my time to write the report as no one sees it and no one responded to it except for the hardworking President.

I may have lost my steam but I have not lost my enthusiasm as a member of MII TMC. I believe there is another way of getting through to you guys.

Until I find that way, I shall close this site unless of course there are people who are interested.

If you read this just say, "I've read." would be enough to encourage me to proceed.

Meeting 14 October 2008

Our President first 100 days was on 08X08 and I am sure all the members would agree that he has done so much that very few of us can dare to challenge. The next person in line has to work much harder to be near to what he has done.

Anyway for our meeting he has done the usual fixing up of the roles and you can see that almost everyone of the role player came. Everyone came on time except the couple the so called Founders came late. They claimed that they were illegally detained by UHMC.

Present for the meeting were: Leong, Levine, Mohamad, Monsieur, Larry, Dr Gan, Joyce, Raja, Mano, Adam, Chin, Ho, Thilo, Diana, Mike, Khung, Manian and Guests Lim and Yian. With 17 members we have a 61% attendance score. With 2 non-members we have almost 10% of the those present as guests.

After a long break, Joyce managed to take a break from her high flying activities and oblige with a TME job. Considering her long absence I must say she has done her job well. Raja did his Invocation and Mano conducted the Table Topics with Adam taking the TT Evaluator role. The subject was current and controvertial Thilo, Masdiana, Lim, Yian and Mohamad volunteered. The winner went to Mohamad with his machine gun rattling from opening to the end telling us how to look at our commonalities rather than our differences.

The speakers for the evening were Chin speaking on "My Philosophy in Life", Ho on "Vote for Change", Mohamad on "We must open up" and Thilo on "When the going gets tough the tough gets going". I suppose everyone was emotional that night and the vote goes to Ho as the best speaker after he showed his temper and throwing away temper. I guess everyone was afraid that if he does not win he may throw us out of the window. He was so emotional and passionate about what he spoke and all of us can feel his anger.

The speech evaluators were Levine, Masdiana, Mike and Larry. The winner went to Masdiana who evaluate Ho. Apparently, the speech winner has some bearing on the Evaluator too. Her main advise to Ho is don't litter the place - Bandaraya will take him to court.

Monsieur was our General Evaluator. He admit that he has been GE for other club but this is the first time he was given a chance to do it in our club. Khung our Grammarian did well, Caren was absent and the role goes to someone I forgot to note, and the timer is Manian.

President took over from the GE and wanted to close the meeting until he was reminded to pass to Larry to close the meeting. Larry did well to close the meeting as he prepares a poem for us all to ponder and bring home.

Well, the theme 100 days went well without crisis a negative word chosen for the day.

Another great meeting I must add and I am sorry to all who were absent as I was delinquent in writing this report on time. I must try and do it but sometime I just could not as I have to take care of my injured wife, you know ferry her through KL traffic.

Meeting 23 September 2008

We had a DOT to be our General Evaluator and this DOT was imported. He seemed to give good commendations about everything and one that really struck me was on Punctuality (we even have a clock directly opposite him) and how he felt about our members enthusiasm and commitment. I am proud of you Dr DTM William Lau for recognising us and you members of MII for the way you have projected the club to our Guest.

Our meeting starts sharp at 7pm with Levine our ASAA calling the meeting to order and quickly pass the control to our President Mr Leong Kok Wah (no relation to Teresa Kok). This time our President amaze us with his understanding of the Ramadan and Shawal festivities and he also named the 12 Muslim calender month. Good research and this is what I believe Malaysian should practice. We should not be afraid to learn about other people's culture and we should not also be afraid to let others learn our culture. With better understanding we will achieve better harmony.

From my count we had a good attendant with 16 members present, one guest brought my Monsiuer and one visiting TM Dr William.

The TME was Mr Monsiuer Tilaka, a 3 in 1 guy. In the morning he is a Tourist Guide, in the evening he is an Insurance Agent and in the night he is Disc Jockey and whenever he is free he is also a Transporter, taking Test Speaker from one club to another. He got everyone with a Role to briefly explain their job and due to his excitement he forgot to call upon our General Evaluator to do his.

Next Session was the Invocation and this was presented by Chin. Someone need to mentor him before he attempt to handle this role as in our club the person just have to read a motivating verse or poem to start the meeting.

After Chin it went to Adam who conducted the Table Topics and he limit it to only four as time was limited. Only Khung, Mano, Chin and Mohamad were called and the winner went to Chin with his Horizontally Challenged poser.

Oh yes, I forgot this time we went for dinner just after the President's address and we had the usual food but Khung as usual brought his bananas, Mohamad brought Raya kuih called "Akok" named after our President and Teresa and the Birthday cake for Willy I believe was bought by Levine. We got kurma too and I failed to find out who brought it. Too much to eat and we shared it with two from MII office.

The prepared speeches started off with Manian (Evaluated by Masdiana), Philip (Evaluated by Anna), Dr Gan Eng Meng (Evaluated by Mike), Willy (Evaluated by Levine). It was an interesting variety of topics. Manian spoke about himself - how in 5 years he changed 6 schools, Philip on how to play the Stock Market, Dr Gan appealing for support for her Tai Chi Association and Willy talking about Health. The best speaker award goest to Dr Gan and the best Evaluator Award went to Mike.

GE Dr Willian, DTM take over the last session and praise and praise the club for everything. His recommendations were to restore the Humour Session, (actually we will if time permit) and his observation as to how lost Khung were during the Table Topics Session. His recommendations were for the Table Topics Master to explain before starting the session.

The President then took over and presented the Awards. The Best Role Player went to Dr William Lau. Apparently, someone forget about the Most Friendly Person for the night, much to the disappointment of the regular winners like Mike & Adam.

The Closing Ode was conducted by Masdiana and she gave an inspiring speech whilst at the same time thanking all the members of the MII TMC for the support during her recent accident. She felt that MII is like a family to her and besides going for our journey in Communication and Leadership she felt that the rapport amongst members is equally important.

I am waiting for the pictures taken last nigh to come and I hope to post to you soonest possible.

I am not lost of words now as Khung said during the Table Topics I am short of time. Hope you guys enjoy the reading and do give me your feedback. Cherio......

The Area Contest

MII TM Club became the host again and this time our President took the role of Contest Chair for both the Contests. As it falls on the Ramadan month, he quickly start the contest session at 7pm and then declare the meeting adjourned for Buka Puasa. This is just like the translation of Marine Open Cover Policy. In Malay it is cal Polisi Buka Tutup Marin.

There were four Contestants for the Evaluation and three for the Humour. I can't remember the names of the Contestants and the test speaker - perhaps due to my age or the puasa but I must speak up for the sake of freedom of the press - Anna Hue ought to be the Champion for the Evaluation Contest. Just could not understand how the judges gave it to another who in my personal opinion is not even near enough. All the other Evaluators speak from the Rostrum and they kept their eye contact on the speaker - as I have many timesbut we are not talking to the speaker but to the audience at large.

Not to sound like a sore loser I guess, Judges need to be effectively trained if they are trained at all.

As for Humour Session, I believe Mohamad did better than the last time when he won at the club level but the other two contestants were better than him. The other contestants were smooth in their delivery, have enough body gesture or 'slapsticks' and they are good with their words. They deserve to win.

If I may just make by comments here, I find Toastmasters are over dramatic in their presentation. Almost every word they express must have a gesture and this to me is distractive. Perhaps I like to open this discussion with the readers....if any lah.

Let me put this in better perspective, should a speaker use gesture for every word they use and make a speech so dramatic like a clown? I think a speaker should speak and from the words he or she selected the audience is able to picture it without graphic display of our body. Send in your comments and we will debate over it.

P/s. Sshhhh don't tell anyone, whilst Mohamad lost the contest he is happy with himself. He thinks he has done better. If you do not agree tell him and if you agree tell him too.

Am Back Again

Hi guys, I hate to start a conversation with an apology but this must be an exception. I have been missing for sometime now and here I am back - as no one wants to do the job. Huh...pity me huh.

Our meeting on 26 August 2008 was a little different as the President wants all our contestants to redo their speeches at the club and members present to whack them hard into shape. I will leave the details out just concentrate on the program - fine with you guys?

Mohamad, you know who he is, still talking about the DOT, the dirty or Distinguished Old Toastmaster stuff and the members didn't seemed to be very entertained. Everyone gave their opinions on how they view his Humour Speech and I guess Willy hit him right on the head - Be yourself. I guess, I can speak for him as he just cannot relax and be himself. When he is on the stage he is a different monster. He needs to change.

Another Mr M, Mr Monsier he told us about the same thing and Mohamad told him to make it like he is being reborn, getting out of the hole for the second time, but this time he is fully aware of what is going on. Unfortunate for him, nothing went wrong with Mohamad and he has to stand by till next year perhaps.

On Evaluation, Anna was great but our President felt that being too confident is not good. Anna should go behind the rostrum and speak like the rest. Whilst this is true to some point but for the Division and District levels, you would not be able to win if you stay behind the rostrum. Anna as usual, motherly type, giving her evaluation witout notes and very structure. You want to be a good Evaluator, buy her lunch and she will help you improve by leaps and bounds.

I should also report on the Table Topics Session conducted before the Humour Speech Rehearsal. Zarini was the Master and gave topics related to Patriotism and the best speaker went to theis Cellgen guy Willy, very calm and composed kind of a guy. When Adam Fung is the TME all the best roles will be his. He took the Best Role Player and the most friendly person for the evening. Next time he should be graceful enough to bestow his award to another as he is getting too many already.

That is all I got for you and I hope you are happy with the brief reporting style.

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.