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 !