Club Meeting 6 December 2011

It’s not everyday that we have a Past District Governor visiting our club and heading our Evaluation Session as the General Evaluator. Thank you to Low Yat Seow, DTM for making time to be with us in our Esprit de Corps meeting.

VPE Chee Hoe, PP Lay Theng, Past DG Yat Seow and President Angeline

With Past President Ben Fong in charge of the meeting as our Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), we knew we were in good hands.

TME Ben

For Table Topics session, Grace unveiled a surprise. There will be no questions! Instead each speaker was given a picture and asked to speak on it. As our creative Table Topics Master explained, a picture paints a thousand words. Table Topics speaker TL Wuan, Guan Han, Freddie, Alexandra and Sivadas certainly were not lost for words as they each spoke about grandsons, babies, ducklings, rats and monkeys.

Table Topics Master Grace

Starting off the Prepared Speech session, visiting Toastmaster Guan Han from Money Mastery KL shared with us about Neuro Linguistic Programming  (NLP). It was a synergy (word of the day) of energy, enthusiasm and excitement as he talked about the wonders of NLP.

Tan Guan Han of Money Mastery KL

In her “Change” speech, Club Secretary Daphne has us laughing out loud several times about her stories of aliens (IT programmers) and homo sapiens (non-IT programmers). As a true blue alien, Daphne joined Friendship to overcome her fears of public speaking and to understand homo sapiens better. Her fears of not being able to interact with Friendship’s homo sapiens quickly dissipated as she discovered that homo sapiens were not as so alien after all.

During the open evaluation segment, Past President Freddie congratulated Daphne on her remarkable improvement as a speaker. As Daphne’s mentor, President Angeline was more than happy to present Daphne with her Half CC Ribbon as she has completed 5 Competent Communication speeches.

Daphne (left) receiving her Half CC Ribbon

For Kwok Hung’s speech on “Going Beyond Oneself”, he told us about a courageous group of elite soldiers confronting insurmountable odds behind enemy lines. Lay Theng’s “6 Boxes” was just right for the performance appraisal season. She enlightened us on Thomas Gilbert’s Behaviour Engineering Model, from the perspectives of subordinates and bosses.

Just before the break, TL Wuan, one of Friendship’s founding members, presented a touching speech about his happy, crazy days with the late Past President James. He reminded us not to mourn, but to celebrate the happy times we had spent with him. He looked forward to the day Jayrai, James’ son, grows up and joins Toastmasters.

President Angeline, VPE Chee Hoe, Grace, VPM Alexandra, guests Jag, Jayrai & Regina, Sivadas, PP Ben

General Evaluator Yat Seow testified that he has improved as the result of feedback provided to him during club meetings. For example, his pause fillers had reduced when he became more mindful to not use verbal crutches in his speech. As a seasoned Toastmaster, he adroitly handled the Evaluation Session.

General Evaluator Yat Seow

Yat Seow’s team of evaluators comprising of Table Topics Evaluator Tony and speech evaluators Alexandra, Francis, Grace and Freddie provided timely evaluations to our speakers.

The table topics evaluation was short, sweet and to the point. Alexandra was impressed by Guan Han’s tremendous energy. Francis from Money Mastery KL congratulated Daphne in meeting the speech objectives of the “Your Body Speaks” project assignment. Grace in evaluating Kwok Hung was hilarious as she told him that “this is my personal opinion, so please take it personally!” Freddie praised Lay Theng for delivering a speech suited to the target audience and was also knowledgeable about her subject matter.

The awards given out for our Esprit de Corps meeting went to

Best Table Topic Speaker – TL Wuan
Best Project Speaker – Daphne Au
Best Speech Evaluator – Grace Tan
Half CC Ribbon – Daphne Au
District 51 Perfect 7 out of 7 TLI1 Attendance – Friendship’s 7 Club Officers

Grace receiving her Best Evaluator award from Regina, wife of the late Past President James

Thank you to Grace for sponsoring a gift for the Best Table Topic Speaker, and TL Wuan for bringing gifts for the Best Project Speaker and Best Evaluator of the meeting. Thank you, Grace and Wuan, for your generous gestures.

Past Presidents Tony (Table Topics Evaluator) & Ben (TME) having a cosy chat after the meeting

Friendship’s final club meeting for 2011 will be our Christmas meeting, to be held on 20 December. It’s the festive season of giving and receiving and we hope to receive the joy of your presence at our Christmas meeting !

Meeting Programme 6 December 2011

Newsletter 6 December 2011

FRIEND'S CONNECTION

Volume 10 Issue 10

Newsletter was initiated by Mohamad Abdullah DTM in 2000.

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

President Angeline Lee was the editor from November 2009 to June 2010.

VPM Alexandra Lau was the editor from July 2010 to June 2011. 

VPPR Susan Lim is the current editor. 

Meeting Notice

From: Chor Chee Hoe
Date: Mon 21 November 2011 08:40 AM
Subject: Friendship Meeting on 6 December 2011 - Esprit de Corps
To: Friendship members & guests

Dear Friends,
You may be wondering: why did we choose Esprit de Corps as our meeting theme ?

This term, originating from France, means a sense of inspiration, enthusiasm, devotion and honour among the members of a group.

In my opinion, esprit de corps is the foundation of Friendship Toastmasters Club. Our teamwork is the secret of our success in achieving President Distinguished Club award for 7 consecutive years. The enthusiastic and devoted spirit found in Friendship members is the true definition of esprit de corps.

Past President Ben Fong will be our genial host, as our TME. With the services of Low Yat Seow DTM, District 51 Governor 2005/2006 as our General Evaluator, we will have yet another fruitful meeting.

We have three speakers, Daphne, Kwok Hung and Lay Theng to enlighten and entertain us with their project speeches !

Our hardworking VPM Alexandra has officially launched her Membership Campaign. It’s time for us to do our part and bring as many guests as you can to our meetings. Let’s have a massive gathering of Friendship members and ‘uncountable’ guests!

With your presence, we will have a perfect Esprit de Corps meeting !

Best Regards,
Chor Chee Hoe
VPE 2011/2012

Meeting Programme 15 November 2011

Newsletter 15 November 2011

FRIEND'S CONNECTION

Volume 10 Issue 9

Newsletter was initiated by Mohamad Abdullah DTM in 2000.

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

President Angeline Lee was the editor from November 2009 to June 2010.

VPM Alexandra Lau was the editor from July 2010 to June 2011. 

VPPR Susan Lim is the current editor. 

Meeting Notice

From: Chor Chee Hoe
Date: 9 November 2011 09:07 AM
Subject: Friendship Meeting on 15 November 2011 - Where Leaders Are Made
To: Friendship members & guests

Dear Friends,
To embrace the true meaning of Where Leaders Are Made, we have a great line up of role players, just for you.

Our Immediate Past President Zaiton has taken the initiative to be the TME after her refreshing break in Europe. We are also honoured to have our Division W Governor, Marian Lee as our General Evaluator.

What else can you expect ?

Treasurer Ian Tai will a step forward to be a speech evaluator for the very first time. Leong Kwok Hung, a fantastic speaker, is back to deliver his first advanced speech from The Entertaining Speaker manual.

Our Amazing Grace will be our Grammarian, a rare opportunity for her, since it has been 2 years since her last foray as a Grammarian. And a visiting Toastmaster will be our Table Topics Evaluator. 
 

Do join us at our next meeting on 15 November !


Best Regards,
Chor Chee Hoe
VPE 2011/2012

Club Meeting 1 November 2011

On an evening of drizzling rain, members and guests of Friendship convened at Bukit Kiara to Initiate the Transformation to revolutionise (word of the day) our communication and leadership skills.

(L-R) TME Sylvia, Chong Soon (President of Seri Petaling TMC), VPE Chee Hoe, President Angeline, Janice (Puchong Mandarin TMC), Secretary Daphne, Joey (Puchong Mandarin TMC) & Treasurer Ian

At the helm was Toastmasters of the Evening, Sylvia Tan. She was as eager as ever to continue with her Initiate the Transformation journey to be a better speaker and leader, undertaking the TME role for the first time.

The Table Topics Session hosted by VPE Chee Hoe had several intriguing transformation questions. IPP Zaiton spoke of the transformation in her life, moving from her corporate job into the nutrition line. She had just spent the past two months abroad, where she took long walks in the sunny, summer days of Germany.

In Treasurer Ian’s opinion, the greatest marketing transformation was the Internet which brought about a revolution of marketing ideas and created millionaires in their 20s.

Treasurer Ian

For Past President Ben, the best communication transformation was the phone. Without a phone, friends can’t find you and your boss can’t locate you. Don’t leave home without it as you can call your friend to help out, if you have left home without your wallet.

We were wondering who was the “Beauty and the Beast” as Ian started to narrate his fascinating tale of two Wendys and Sylvester Stallone. It was a tale of dejection, elation and transformation with elements of vocal variety.

For Sook Ling’s “Food Revolution”, her key message was that for every problem we encounter, we should change our perspective to find the solution. For the food industry, the revolution started with the realization that instead of having just a best product for everyone, there is much to be gained in creating great products for specific groups of people.

Sook Ling

Zakie (President of KL Advanced TMC) reading out the project objectives to Ben

Past President Ben was the radio talk show guest in the “Morning Breakfast Show” while Angeline was the radio host. He explained about the benefits of Toastmasters to his radio listeners.

Ben on the "Morning Breakfast Show"

In her Entertaining Speaker speech, Grace was brimming with energy and moving with exuberance as she told us about her tomboy childhood days. We definitely enjoyed her transformation into the svelte, amusing and entertaining speaker that she is today.

Grace presenting her "Stay Foolish, Stay Funny" speech

Area G3 Governor Victor Ong capably and humorously lead the Evaluation Session. He jokingly told us that he grudgingly and disappointingly admitted that Grace is as good a speaker as he is. With his “addiction” to Friendship, he had visited our clubs 4 times this year! He praised our meeting as being productive, attended by committed, conscientious and candid Toastmasters.

Clockwise starting from top left: Table Topics Evaluator Chong Soon, speech evaluators Alexandra and Zakie, and GE Victor

The awards given out for our Initiate the Transformation meeting went to
Best Table Topics Speaker – Ian Tai
Best Project Speaker – Grace Tan
Best Speech Evaluator – Ahmad Zakie
Half CL Ribbon – Alexandra Lau
District 51 President Distinguished Club award – IPP Zaiton

VPM Alexandra who has been working assiduously on her Competent Leadership projects was the presented with the Half CL ribbon as she has completed 14 out of the required 23 projects.

Former Area Governor Angeline presented Immediate Past President Zaiton with District 51 President Distinguished Club award, for her leadership role in guiding Friendship to a successful term for 2010/2011.

IPP Zaiton receiving Friendship's President Distinguished Club award

After our meeting, we had an impromptu autograph signing session. Ian unveiled his newly minted “Silver” book. VPM Alexandra and Past President Lay Theng promptly grab the opportunity to request for his autograph.

Ian with his "Silver" book

Our next meeting will be on 15 November 2011 with the theme Where Leaders Are Made. We hope you will be there to witness Where Leaders Are Made after we have initiated our transformation to be better speakers and leaders !

Meeting Programme 1 November 2011

Newsletter 1 November 2011

VPPR Susan

FRIEND'S CONNECTION

Volume 10 Issue 8

Newsletter was initiated by Mohamad Abdullah DTM in 2000.

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

President Angeline Lee was the editor from November 2009 to June 2010.

VPM Alexandra Lau was the editor from July 2010 to June 2011. 

VPPR Susan Lim is the current editor. 

Meeting Notice

From: VPE Chee Hoe
To: Friendship Members & Guests
Date: 24 October 2011 7:24 PM
Subject: Friendship Meeting on 1 November 2011 - Initiate the Transformation

After embracing the past and envisioning the future, it's time to Initiate the Transformation! Transformation is never about a simple change. Transformation is as dramatic as the caterpillar that becomes the butterfly.

We are fortunate to have Assistant Division W Governor Vincent Soon as our General Evaluator. He is a member of Shaklee Dynamic Family Toastmasters Club.

After joining Friendship a few months ago, Sylvia decides to take up the TME role for the very first time. May all of us experience a night of transformation with her!

In this meeting of transformation, Past President Tony Lim will be conducting the Table Topics session. Our regular visitor, Victor Ong, who is a Table Topics expert will share with us tips for mastering Table Topics during his evaluation.

We have another visiting Toastmaster, who is a polished speaker and one of District 51 Humourous Speech Contest 2011 finalists! Who is he? Come to our meeting and find out!

What's more? We have four great speakers who will present their project speeches. We will have three advanced speeches and one CC speech! Truly a meeting of variety!

Together, we will witness how the Toastmasters educational programme revolutionise (word of the day) our communication and leadership skills, from caterpillar to butterfly!

See you on next Tuesday, 1 November.

Best Regards,
Chor Chee Hoe
VPE 2011/2012



Club Meeting 18 October 2011

For our Envision the Future meeting, TME Andy arrived early to prepare for his role, smartly attired for the occasion. It is not a stretch of our imagination to envision that some day soon Andy will be the confident, capable speaker that he aspires to be.

(L-R) Past President Ben, TME Andy, Past President Freddie & Hann,

the handsome gentlemen of Friendship

The pouring rain and the resulting adverse traffic condition did not deter GE SKL Walia and VPE Chee Hoe from attending and enlivening (word of the day) our meeting. They travelled for close to 2 hours to reach Bukit Kiara, and their spirits were not dampened one bit by the weather.

We had two guests, Omer and Jin, volunteering for table topics and first-timer Table Topics Evaluator Ian praised their courage. Omer spoke of Toastmasters as a tool for the future. Past President Tony related the inspiring story of Apollo 13’s captain who envisioned the crew returning safely to Earth despite the spacecraft's engineering problems.

Past President Tony with guest Omer

Jin spoke of the iconic Steve Jobs and how it was fitting that most of the world learnt of his demise thru a device that he invented. Past President Ben believed that the iPhone provides value for money, describing it as “Internet in our pocket”. It turned out that quite a number of Friendship members and guests were fans of Steve Jobs, the visionary leader of Apple.

The late Steve Jobs

Area G3 Governor Victor presented an eloquent table topic speech and convinced us that we can change the future by changing ourselves.

Victor is Best Table Topic Speaker

In her “Cinderella” tale, romantic Daphne described Prince Charming as being attractive, admirable and adorable. Sylvia related to us how she found inspiration from Steve Jobs to overcome various obstacles and finally securing her dream job.

GE SKL Walia (right) with her guest Placia enjoying the fabulous pasta during the break

After the break, GE Walia enlivened the meeting with her expert handling of the Evaluation session. Walia, Friendship’s Area Governor for term 2008/2009, left Malaysia in 1996 to 2007 to join the United Nations, working in various places such as Cambodia, East Timor, Afghanistan and Aceh. However, this passionate Toastmaster continued paying her membership dues for 11 years while she was abroad !

Our guests Omer, Jin, Treasurer Ian, VPE Chee Hoe & guest Placia

Past President and former Area Governor Lay Theng had much food for thought in evaluating Sylvia's speech. She threw in dashes of MSG, salt and pepper in her impressive evaluation speech. In her opinion, Sylvia’s presentation had adequate MSG - Message, Stance and Gestures. With her facial expression and eye contact, it provided just the right amount of salt and pepper to the presentation. We certainly enjoyed listening to this well-seasoned, aromatic and fragrant evaluation speech, delivered with style and substance.

Lay Theng wins the Best Speech Evaluator award

Having missed his allocated speaking slot, VPE Chee Hoe delivered his speech after the break. His persuasive speech was about the change we can bring about as a World Vision child sponsor. Hunger may weaken a child, unsafe drinking water may make him sick but as a child sponsor we can make a difference in the life of a child, his family and his community, by lifting them out of poverty thru training programs and small loans. A better world starts with us making a change !

Chee Hoe is Best Project Speaker

Chee Hoe’s evaluator, Past President Ben provided an impromptu evaluation sprinkled with humour and recommendations. He was impressed with the visual aids used in Chee Hoe’s speech and was moved by his persuasive speech.

The awards given out for our Envision the Future meeting went to
Best Table Topic Speaker – Victor Ong
Best Project Speaker – Chor Chee Hoe
Best Speech Evaluator – Tan Lay Theng
Half CC Ribbon – Sylvia Tan

Sylvia receiving her Half CC Ribbon from President Angeline

Our next meeting will be on 1 November 2011 with the theme Initiate the Transformation. We hope everyone will be there to Initiate the Transformation, after embracing the past and envisioning the future !

Meeting Programme 18 October 2011

Newsletter 18 October 2011

VPPR Susan



FRIEND'S CONNECTION

Volume 10 Issue 7

Newsletter was initiated by Mohamad Abdullah DTM in 2000.

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

President Angeline Lee was the editor from November 2009 to June 2010.

VPPM Alexandra Lau was the editor from July 2010 to June 2011. 

VPPR Susan Lim is the current editor. 

Photos @ 04 Oct 2011

Report by VPPR Susan Lim

VPPR Susan Lim

Photos by VPE Chee Chor and TARC Toastmasters Club

VPE Chee Hoe

EMBRACE THE PAST

Sinage outside the meeting venue

WOD

It was definitely a night for us to reminisce (word of the day) about during our “Embrace The Past” meeting. 

In the run-up to the meeting, VPE Chee Hoe encouraged all members to dress up as historical figures or simply put on costumes from the 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s. It explained why some of our Friendship members looked rather different on this special night. Some even borrowed clothes from their parents. 

Hippies from the 70s - Grace Tan and VPE Chee Hoe

Our first-time TME Daphne Au, donning a sexy off-shoulder dress, started the meeting with her smooth introduction of the meeting theme. 

For VPE Chee Hoe’s invocation, he spoke of the past, present and future. The past may be good or bad but we should take advantage of the valuable experiences and lessons. The past groomed us to be what we are today. Therefore, we should “Embrace the past, envision the future”. 

The Table Topics Session led by Sivadas saw 4 speakers in action. They were Area G3 Governor Victor Ong, Mid Valley VPE Moses Wong, AFC President Lorna Leong and Friendship PP Freddie Yap. They were asked to reminisce and embrace their past. 

Best Table Topics Speakers, Victor and Lorna

For the prepared speech session, our newest member Hann Gan delivered his Ice Breaker speech. He shared with us how he moved from different parts of the world but came back home to Malaysia where he finally found happiness. The wisdom of his “Coming Home” speech was strong and stimulating – “If you are not happy at home, you won’t be happy anywhere else.” He concluded, “I must be home because I’m happy”. 

Hann presenting his Ice Breaker speech

VPPR Susan Lim delivered her fifth speech project: Your Body Speaks. She chose a topic that left the audience guessing “Who are the Scorpions?” in their lives. She shared her stories about how she got stung by different types of "scorpions" - people who hurt or manipulate other people. 

Beware of "scorpions", warned Susan

Our third speaker, the Amazing Grace Tan, a seasoned Toastmaster, delivered an amazing performance with her speech “Stay Single, Fun Double” from the Entertaining Speaker Manual. She revealed to us the benefits of staying single: "A single lady is able to enjoy the attention, adoration and admiration of guys without any obligation".

"Stay Single, Fun Double" says Grace

 

Our fourth speaker is another seasoned Toastmaster. Past President Ben Fong delivered his Public Relations Speech – “The Goodwill Speech”. He related how Past President Tony introduced him to Toastmasters and how it had benefited him. In his opinion, Toastmasters was more valuable than an MBA degree. 

During the short break before the Evaluation session began, we quickly took the opportunity to take some photos. 

From left: VPE Chee Hoe, Jon Lim (TARC), TME Daphne, Sylvia,
President Angeline and TARC President Eric Low

AFC President with her members, Grace and Jocelyn

 

Our Table Topics Evaluator, Area W3 Governor Kimmy Foo, had the challenging task of evaluating speeches made by an Area Governor, a President, a Past President and a VPE. But she performed splendidly and delivered a balanced evaluation. 

Past President Tony Lim praised Hann for his splendid performance in his first speech. He said Hann’s voice was his asset and his stage presence made him Hann the Hunk. 

Jocelyn Lim from AFC Club and the Area G4 Evaluation Champion evaluated Susan's speech and gave useful recommendations. 

Victor Ong gave an incredibale evaluation of Grace's performance which was very well-deserved. 

Freddie Yap evaluated Ben's speech and commended Ben for delivering a message that served as a good example for new Toastmasters.

Freddie evaluating Ben's speech

 

We certainly learnt a lot from our Grammarian tonight who was none other than our PP Kim Chow. Kim gave her comments on pronunciation as well as a report on the good phrases used during the meeting.

Kim delivering the grammarian's report

 

Sylvia, the Ah-counter for the meeting, wore her mother’s dress from the 80s. Kudos to Sylvia for taking the effort to dress up according to the theme! 

Our Timer was Lee Tong Fong, from Puchong Mandarin Toastmasters Club. He performed his duties diligently. 

Our gracious General Evaluator Zaharah Ibrahim, DTM, who is also known as “The Mother of East Coast Clubs”, gave interesting and enlightening feedback on the proceedings. She commended the members for their respectful and grateful attitude. Thank you, GE Zaharah, for your invaluable contributions. 

President Angeline presenting a thank-you card to GE Zaharah

The awards given out during the “Embrace the Past” meeting were

Best Table Topic Speakers - Victor Ong and Lorna Leong

Best Prepared Speech - Grace Tan

Best Speech Evaluator – Victor Ong

Ice Breaker Ribbon – Hann Gan 

½ CC Ribbon – VPPR Susan Lim

A big thank-you to the visiting Toastmasters from Kelab Pidato Kuala Lumpur, AFC, Puchong Mandarin, Taman Indrahana, Universiti Malaya, TARC and Mid Valley Toastmasters Clubs for helping us to achieve a very successful meeting.

Group photo

After this “Embrace the Past” meeting, let us “Envision the Future” at our next meeting on 18 Oct !