Friendship Toastmasters Club: 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Friendship & Exact ADC Joint Meeting

Report by Angeline Lee, VPE, cum Area W3 Governor

Joint Meeting on 30.11.10

A question was asked 4 months ago, by Exact ADC Toastmasters Club to Friendship Toastmasters Club, “Shall we have a joint meeting?” Friendship members, being friendly people as our name implied, did not hesitate to reply, “Sure, why not?” This question lead to our two clubs meeting at G Tower on 30 November 2010, resulting in an evening of Infinite Possibilities.

Our newest member for Friendship leverage (Word of the Day) on the opportunity to do his Ice Breaker speech. Not only that, he had also taken to heart his Toastmasters pledge to bring guests to club meetings. Ian brought not just one, but two guests to this meeting, Scott and Jim.

Ian delivering his well prepared Ice Breaker speech

For the Table Topics session, Caroline, first-timer at the Table Topics Master role, gave us some interesting questions. Brenda explored the possibility of being Rachel Green, with Ross at her feet, adoring her with his puppy eyes, in the TV series “Friends”. Ian spoke of being David Beckham, while Susan was happy to talk about money growing on trees. Freddie took flight in his “If I could fly” impromptu speech. Our two guests, Scott and Jim, also leverage on the opportunity to do table topics and spoke of having super powers and travelling back in time.

In the prepared speech session, Brenda has us laughing at her tale of half an hour of joy as she peeked at a cute guy and he looked back. Not only did she entertain us with her tale of a schoolgirl crush, her message for us was to continue learning from birth to the day that we breathe our last.

Enjoying Brenda's speech !

Freddie took us to an alternate world where “If money is not a problem”, we would be paying our happy taxi drivers RM100 and asking them to keep the change. Andrew in his “Lazy Runner Does Penang” expounded on the pleasures of food and why he has to punish himself by running, after eating too much.

Our GE for this Infinite Possibilities meeting between Friendship and the equally friendly members of Exact ADC was Lee Wei Seong, Club Mentor Chair for Division W 2009/2010. He was eloquent in his sharing of his evaluation, and his wealth of experience enriched our evening.

His team of evaluators comprising of Soo Loon, Michelle of KPMG, Yuen Kai and Kim provided constructive feedback to our four project speakers. Kim was particularly impressive with her analogy of choppy Astro transmission during a rainy day and praising the speaker’s perseverance in delivering the project speech.

Grammarian Lay Theng, Ah Counter Ai Shiang and Timer Sivadas illuminated us on the good usage of language, the verbal crutches in our speeches and the areas of improvement for time management.

Right after the evaluation session, Wei Seong shared with us regarding mentoring. In his opinion, all of us are qualified to be mentors, as long as our heart is in it and we have some knowledge of the Toastmasters communication and leadership track. He stressed the importance of asking the mentees to select their mentors. After that, the mentors need to know their mentees’ aspirations and help to guide them in achieving their goals. Mentors, do not have doubt whether you are doing a good job, just do the best that you can as mentoring is not about teaching, it is about sharing.

Wei Seong receiving our token of appreciation

There were a number of awards presented to the talented club members of Area W3 on this fine evening of learning and enjoyment. The awards presented were

Best Table Topics Speaker – Freddie Yap
Best Project Speaker – Ian Tai
Best Speech Evaluator – Kim Chow

Ian is our Best Project Speaker. Well done, Ian !

The undisputed Best Speech Evaluator - Kim Chow

Tan Lay Theng, Area Governor 2009/2010 presented the following awards to the deserving recipients.

District 51 Distinguished Club 2009/2010 – Yeow Yuen Kai
Division W Toastmaster of the Year for Exact ADC – Lai Chee Yoong

Distinguished Club Award for Exact

Lay Theng also received District 51 President’s Distinguished Area award, a testimony of her commitment to serve diligently, dedication to excel in her Area Governor duties and a shining example of a selfless Toastmaster.

Last but not least, here is our group photo to commemorate our evening of laughter, learning and sharing. Thank you, Exact ADC, for being our marvelous host for this enjoyable joint meeting!

Photos @ 16 Nov 2010

Report by Tan Lay Theng, Past President

You Are Not Alone

In Friendship Toastmasters Club, you are definitely not alone.

President’s Message

As the Club President, Zaiton Zainal Abidin, mentioned in her President’s Message, the members of Friendship have the same dream of being better communicators and better leaders, and the motto “Friends helping friends succeed” has been translated into action by members of Friendship on many occasions. This meeting is another showcase of FTMC’s effort in helping members to grow and develop.

Susan Lim sharing her experience

The meeting witnessed the Icebreaker speech from our new member, Susan Lim, titled ‘Learning Through Life’. A standing ovation was presented to Susan for her courageous attempt – a practice in FTMC for all the Icebreaker speakers.

President Zaiton presented an Icebreaker Ribbon to Susan Lim

Chor Chee Hoe delivered speech Project 9, Persuade With Power, convincing the audience that ‘You Can Change A Life’ by just donating RM2 everyday. The third speech was ‘Organising Your Speech’ from The Better Speaker Series, delivered by Past President and former Area Governor Tan Lay Theng.

General Evaluator, Danniel Lim

Grammarian Alexandra Lau delivering her report

Our specially invited guest, Danniel Lim, President of Money & You Toastmasters Club was impressed with the performance of the club (especially the well prepared President’s Message and consistently published Friend’s Connection) and gave practical suggestions for further improvement (for instance, to print speech objectives and note to the evaluator for the benefits of guests).

President Zaiton presenting a token of appreciation to GE

Best Table Topic Speaker, Danniel Lim

Thank you everyone for supporting each other in this ‘You Are Not Alone’ meeting!

Wai Yee and guests

Ian and guest, Chan Zer

Newsletter_Volume 9 Issue 8

FRIEND'S CONNECTION

Volume 9 Issue 8

Newsletter was initiated by Mohamad Abdullah, DTM, in 2000

Ben Fong took over as editor from 04 July 2006 to 20 October 2009

Angeline Lee was the editor from November 2009 to June 2010

Alexandra Lau is the current editor

Page 1 (click to enlarge image)

Page 2 (click to enlarge image)

Meeting Programme_16 Nov 2010

Click to enlarge image

Notice of Meeting

Tan Lay Theng, Past President

From: Lay Theng Tan [mailto:laytheng@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 7:19 AM
Subject: FTMC Meeting on 16 Nov 2010 - 'You Are Not Alone'

Dear FTMC members,

Good day to all of you!

Right after our FTMC Breakfree and Breakaway on 13 and 14 Nov 2010, a historic event held in the historical city, Melaka, we will be having our next Toastmasters Meeting soon, on 16 Nov 2010.

For those who were at the Breakfree adn Breakaway Program, you would have definitely felt the strong friendship and bonding among the members (and their family members). For those who where not there, I am sure you could also feel the joy of this event.

Yes - as Toastmasters, especially in Friendship Toastmasters Club, WE ARE NOT ALONE, whether in meetings, get-together events, or even outside the normal meetings time. Our motto, 'Friends Helping Friends Succeed', is the key to building our relationship.

In this coming meeting, we will witness the Ice Breaker speech of our new member, Susan Lim, and the 9th Project Speech, Persuade With Power, by our VPM, Chee Hoe. Our General Evaluator, Toastmaster Dannial Lim, is a very supportive Toastmaster from Money And You Toastmasters Club. We will also have a Table Topics session which will be conducted in an innovative way!

So, please bring your friends, family members and colleagues, to join us in this fun-filled learning session. Enclosed is the proposed program agenda, for your reference, please.

I look forward to meeting all of you!

Your humble Toastmaster of the Evening (TME),
Tan Lay Theng
HP: 012 254 5095

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Breakfree & Breakaway Program in Malacca

Report by Freddie Yap, Past President

FTMC BREAKFREE & BREAKAWAY PROGRAM
13-14 Nov 2010 (reported by PP Freddie Yap)

On the morning of Nov 13, 2010 a luxury coach waited patiently by the side of Suria KLCC. It was there to ferry the group of Friendship Toastmasters Club (FTMC) members to the historical city of Malacca. The mission – to “breakfree & breakaway” from the normal club setting and more importantly, TO HAVE FUN. Lots and lots of fun, great fellowship and to meet members of the Malacca Toastmasters Club (MTC)

We started our journey at 10.45am and reached the quaint town shortly after 1pm. The age old charming facade of Hotel Puri simply belies it vast compound inside. You would never imagine what looked like nothing more than a refurbished intermediate shoplot could turn out to be a sanctuary of sorts inside. “Heaven on Earth” ... that was how PP KC Lim described it.

After checking in, we could hear our empty stomach howling for attention. Yes, it was just the right time for a sumptuous Chicken Rice Balls treat. But hold it, you have to join a long long queue and it was a big challenge under the hot sun. Those who refused to succumb to the torturing wait opted for hotel fare instead. We had char-kway-teow and fried rice in the cooling courtyard nestled among some refreshing foliage inside the hotel compound. It was such a nice feeling indeed.

Once our stomachs were tamed, we headed for our first activity of the day- the guided boat ride. This boat ride initially appeared to be no different from any other. But lo and behold, our tour guide turned out to a be a macho man in his fifties who knows the place like the back of his hand. With a well-toned physique and a weather-beaten face, they simply tell you that he is a man who has seen-it-all. To the ladies, it was his manly voice and his unique brand of humour that kept them glued to him. To the men, it was his storytelling abilities and his uncanny ability to translate the word Goodbye in almost all the languages in the world, that left us in awe. To me, he was simply world-class!

After the tour, we found ourselves more endeared to this amazing historical city than ever before. It was actually a history lesson to many of us. With clearly satisfied faces, we strolled back to our cozy hotel rooms for refreshment. When the clock ticked 6pm, most of us were already at the Puri Restaurant busy preparing for a fun-filled nite. By 6.30 we were seen mingling with our guests from MTC. As in our usual FTMC spirit, there were no strangers among us. We had a superlicious buffet dinner Peranakan- styled and of course, we had the must-have ayam-poteng.

With members of MTC still streaming in, we then heard our TME cum CEO (Chief Everything Officer) Grace Tan taking to the floor. After our President’s welcome speech, the TME got everyone singing to the FTMC song “The Eagles”. Table Topics Master PP Teresa Choong got everyone on their toes with ten adrenalin-pumping Table Topics. There were a total of eleven Toastmasters from MTC so there was no problem getting volunteers for Table Topics this time round. The best Table Topic speaker award was won by Ahmad of MTC. Congrats Ahmad, you certainly spoke well on the given topic.

For the record, members present were:
MTC
IPP Joshua
President Melvin
VPE Sharon
VPPR Clarence
VPM – Lena
William
Ahmad
Shima
PP Jennifer
PP Guat Mui
Azizah (also DIV A Governor)

FTMC
President Zaiton
PP Tan Lay Theng
PP KC Lim & his family and friends
PP James & Co
PP Freddie Yap
PP Teresa Choong
PP Tony Lim
VPPR Alexandra Lau & sister Kate Lau
Grace Tan

For the Toastmasters Got Talent session, the following members gave their best-ever performance which could have given Simon Cowell a run for his money. It was anytime better than Britain’s Got Talent!

PP James the crooner sang his hearts out with his soulful redition of ‘Le Bisikile De Belsize’
PP KC Lim demonstrated his martial art prowess learned from his Shaolin sojourn
PP Lay Theng shared with us deep thoughts about her journey as a Toastmaster
PP Tony Lim brought the house down with his well- executed punchlines
PP James and family dazzled us with their captivating Indian dance
CEO Grace Tan played Susan Boyle with an equally mesmerizing rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream”

At the end, it was James & Co (his wife Regina & son Jayraj) who won the Toastmasters Got Talent contest. Congratulations PP James!

The meeting concluded with everyone singing to the ever-touching albeit a newer version of “We are the World”. It was certainly a memorable nite for all.

The second day saw all of us gallivanting the nook and corner of Jonker Street. The objective – to exploit our tastebuds to the fullest and fill our bottomless stomach with everything famous ranging from Baba Cendol, Laksa Mee, Assam Laksa, Assam Fish, Chicken Rice Ball to Pineapple Tarts! Oh, also not forgetting all the cute little collectibles bargained from the flea market.

With weary legs and bag-loads of takeaways, everyone hurried back to their hotel rooms to check out and later bade adieu to this famously charming city of everything old. By late afternoon, we were back to our own abodes in KL.

Breakfree & Breakaway Program in Malacca

Announcement from Alexandra, VPPR

From: Alexandra Lau [mailto:alexandra.lau@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 11:00 AM
Subject: FTMC wants to share photos with you on Facebook Page

Dear Friendship Toastmasters,

Felt like it was just yesterday we came back from the FTMC's Breakfree & Breakaway Program in Malacca. It was FANTASTIC, FUN and UNFORGETTABLE. Of course, it will be even greater if ALL OF US have participated in this event.

I enjoyed myself taking the role as photographer in this event. Although my photography skill is rough than an amateur, I would like to share the photos with you. Please view the photos in our club’s Facebook page

If you do not have a Facebook account, I strongly recommend you to sign up and take 0.099 second to “LIKE” our FTMC’s facebook page. Feel free to put in your comments too. Your effort will help us to promote the club and create awareness. Thanks very much and have a wonderful weekend.

Regards,
Alexandra Lau
VPPR 2010-2011

Monday, November 8, 2010

Photos @ 02 Nov 2010

Report by Angeline Lee, VPE

LEADERSHIP IS ACTION, NOT POSITION

Our Leadership is Action, not Position meeting started off with the President’s address. Later in the evening, President Zaiton suited words to action as she presented “Delegate to Empower” from the Leadership Excellence Series. Our President who is working on her Leadership track, did not fritter (word of the day) the opportunity to present a module from the Toastmasters Leadership track.

President’s address by Zaiton

TME Chee Hoe also showed us that Leadership is Action when he demonstrated to us the various skills he has learnt as a Toastmaster since joining Friendship in January. Bravo, Chee Hoe !

We then had our New Members Induction ceremony for our newest members Ian and Susan. Our new members also did not fritter the opportunity to practice their leadership skills as they are also taking up roles of Grammarian and Ah-Counter.

New members Ian and Susan, with Induction Officer Grace

For the Table Topics session, Emily prepared questions related to the leadership theme. For each of the Table Topics speakers - Ian, Tony, Alex and Susan - she also thoughtfully prepared a gift.

For the prepared speeches, Wai Yee presented project no. 3 on “Break the Chain”. She elaborated on the dangers of chain email and the steps we can take to break the chain. Her informative speech ended with her appeal to us to be responsible email users.

TME Chee Hoe skillfully introduced Vincent by tantalizing us with the date that Vincent first saw the apple of his eyes – on 19 April 2009. We then find out that the apple of Vincent’s eyes is Ezochi. Finally the mystery was unveiled when he showed us slides of beautiful Hokkaido. We were intrigued by Vincent’s tale of squid-flavoured ice-cream, Hokkaido crab, Kobe beef and throwing apples at a bear. The hilarious conclusion of how not to use a handkerchief when enjoying an onsen made his speech memorable.

Laughter and smiles from Ah-Counter Susan, Evaluator KC, guest Michelle from KPMG & Evaluator Freddie

IPP Ben presented his “Invest!” speech for the Humorously Speaking manual. He shared with us several tips for the stock market. It was certainly a sharing of a deep subject on a lighter mood, commented our GE Hadzrin Shah, hailing from Pidato KL and UEM Academy Toastmasters Club.

GE Hadzrin, Evaluator Grace, Invocation Speaker Alex and James

Our GE is an energetic and dramatic Toastmaster. He shared with us a joke on Proton and Toastmaster CC title as he started off the Evaluation session. Never at a loss for words, he added insight to each evaluator’s report.

Freddie who is back after taking a two months break for his examinations, provided a dazzling Table Topics evaluation. His recommendation is to quickly connect to a subject you can talk about and deliver it with impact so that it will be memorable. He advocated, “Hold nothing back ! Speak with your whole body”. It was certainly an evaluation that not only benefited the four Table Topics speakers but all of us as well.

Speech evaluators Angeline, Grace and KC provided several recommendations to their respective speakers such as repeating the main points to help the audience remember what you have just told them, spell-check your slides, make use of more props for example an apple and a handkerchief.

Listening intently to KC’s evaluation speech is GE Hadzrin and TME Chee Hoe

Our newest and enthusiastic members did not disappoint us in their Grammarian and Ah-Counter report. Both Ian and Susan were listening intently throughout the meeting and delivered their reports confidently.

Project Speaker Wai Yee, Table Topics Master Emily, Grammarian Ian, Ah-Counter Susan delivering her report and Evaluator KC

Thank you, GE Hadzrin for sharing with us how to improve our meeting quality. We certainly should strive to speak with more energy.

Thank you, GE Hadzrin

The awards given out this evening are:
Best Table Topics Speaker – Ian Tai
Best Project Speaker – Vincent Wong
Best Evaluator – Grace Tan
District 51 President’s Distinguished Club Award – Ben Fong

Best Table Topics Speaker Ian. Looking on is TME Chee Hoe

Best Project Speaker Vincent

Best Evaluator Grace

Immediate Past President Ben Fong receiving District 51 President’s Distinguished Club Award 2009/2010 for Friendship

Our TME for our Nov 16 "You Are Not Alone" meeting will be Past President and former Area Governor Tan Lay Theng. It has been awhile since we witness this exemplary Toastmaster in a TME role at a Friendship meeting. Will Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone song be heard at this meeting? With our “Friends helping friends to succeed” motto, we will certainly not be alone in our upcoming Nov 16 meeting !