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

Chor Chee Hoe visits Shaklee Dynamic Family

Report by Chor Chee Hoe, VPM

A Visit to Shaklee Dynamic Family

In our club contest last month, I was encouraged by the motivating words from our guests. One of them, Gan Ban Heng, invited me to attend his upcoming club meeting on 13 February 2011. This lead to my first visit to Shaklee Dynamic Family Toastmasters Club.

I was welcomed by the sumptuous potluck high tea buffet and the friendliness of Shaklee members. Many of the members were dressed in Chinese New Year attire and we were delighted with the cookies and the creative CNY style of Table Topics. Table Topics Master used the goodies that we come across in Chinese New Year as the topics, for instance, Mandarin oranges, fortune cookies and 'ang pow'.

Members and guests giving a toast to commemorate the occasion

I was amazed by the special ‘giving a toast’ session which uplifted our emotions. Lead by Division G Governor cum General Evaluator NJ Singam, the toasting ceremony gave the highest respect to Toastmasters founder, Dr Ralph C Smedley, and elevated the meeting.

We were also pleasantly surprised by the unexpected visit of our District Governor Thannimalai and Lieutenant Governor Marketing Ramdas Nayar. Thannimalai told us that he had just finished a Youth Leadership Program in Kuala Lumpur and rushed to attend this meeting.

Division G Governor NJ Singam giving a token of appreciation to District Governor Thannimalai

Although the meeting is on Sunday, the turnout of members is very encouraging. They are very proactive, not only in taking part in the Table Topics session, but also competing to take part in the impromptu Humour Session.

In the prepared speech segment, Mariana shared with us her exciting water rafting adventure and her friend’s embarrassing moment in her speech ‘My Water Rafting Experience’. Tee, in his well-researched speech, shared with us ‘The Origin of English’. It was full of interesting facts on the historical development of the English language.

Beside his sincere welcome and closing address, President Samuel also encouraged all members to find new members in his special presentation on membership building.

President Samuel shares his special thoughts on membership building 

As the Grammarian for this meeting, I observed that the standard of language is very high. I certainly like Julius Caesar’s quote of ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ used by TM Tee, in his prepared speech.

GE Singam provided the climax in his general evaluation by guiding us on how to benefit from the constructive feedback. I learned a lot from this exhilarating meeting and I would like to thank Mr. Gan for his invitation.

From left: Area C6 Governor Jamilah, Division G Governor NJ Singam, District Governor Thannimalai,  President Samuel of Shaklee, Lieutenant Governor Marketing Ramdas Nayar

My fellow Toastmasters, do visit Shaklee on Sunday evenings to boost up your energy level for the week ahead. Even if you are not able to visit Shaklee, have a look at Division W website (http://divisionw.co.cc) to find out the meeting date and time of other clubs. Every club is unique and you will certainly learn new things from each club visit!