President’s Message (September 2014)

 

I hadn’t been cycling for the past few years and I almost forgot how to manoeuvre a bike. My sincere thanks to our Vice President of Membership, Edrea who organized ‘The Cycling Day’ on last Tuesday, which refreshed my motor memory. We enjoyed the cycling experience very much and we were enticed by the beauty of Taman Pertanian Bukit Cahaya, Shah Alam. I was also touched by the kindness of our fellow members who helped one another when one of our bikes was having technical problem.

In fact, there were other modes of transportation in Taman Pertanian. Why cycling? Cycling is just good enough to keep us moving and at the same time let us embrace the fascinating nature in Taman Pertanian. We were also traveling in a perfectly eco-friendly manner. The joy of successfully getting to the top of a slope is also indescribable. The excitement of racing down a slope is unimaginable if you have never experienced it. For those who have missed this experience, I can assure you that you will be loving your beating heart, your gasping lungs and your overheated muscles if you were there.

 

 

Life is like a cycling journey. Ups and downs in life are unavoidable, just like the bumpy and sloppy road that we encounter in our cycling journey. Every challenge along the road has made us better cyclists. The potholes, wet tarmac and steep slope are like the obstacles in life; we need to overcome them in order to reach our destination. Similarly, in our Toastmasters’ journey, we may halt when we see the challenging slope or when we reach the first peak. How can we advance and reach our targeted destination?

 
Recently, I had a chat with one member from IBM Toastmasters Club. He felt that his progress is stagnant in Toastmasters’ learning journey. He didn’t see his improvement in this self-development programme. In our conversation, I found out that he has been playing Ah-Counter or Timer role repeatedly in every club meeting. He hasn’t deliver his project speech for months. As a club officer, he arranges speaking slots for his club members, but not for himself. My suggestion to him is to deliver project speeches in our club and try out some other meeting roles to learn different skills.

A straight and easy road will not make us good cyclists. Step out of our comfort zone is the key for our continuous improvement. Fellow members, if you are about to reach the stagnant point, try something new, Toastmasters has a lot to offer! Talk to any of our club officers. Please don’t limit yourself on the smooth road, let’s keep pedaling on the curvy and jerky journey of self-development!

 

 

Chor Chee Hoe, ACB, ALB

President 2014/2015