Putra Toastmaster Club Meeting - 3 Aug 09

I was late, and that surely is not a good toastmaster trait. Not that I didn’t want to leave early, but the boss held me up for what seemed to be an important meeting at 5pm (which later at 530 pm I was told was not happening).

Making my way to University Putra was not a big deal as I am quite familiar with the road leading up to UPM, but it’s more of finding my way INSIDE University Putra that troubled me. And as I have suspected, I lost my way and wander around asking just about anyone the location of Bilik Pengurusan Sains.

That’s the thing about universities in Malaysia à it’s HUGE. There is no logical way for you to walk from one faculty to the other unless you are thinking of shredding that extra fat off. Luckily VPE Dr Zaidan came to the rescue, and even waited at the front of the building to escort me in.

I felt slightly embarrassed going into the meeting room, when GE Prof Wan Zin was already in action. He even took the liberty to introduce me as the Area Governor for the club, “better late than never”. We exchanged smiles, and crack a few jokes as I introduced myself to the members.


The amazing fact about Putra Toastmaster Club is that they organize their meeting on a WEEKLY BASIS. Talking about sheer commitment there, and probably the main driver behind this is the Past Div Governor himself, Prof Wan. There was quite a good crowd about 12 or so of us, but the laughter and warmth felt like I was surrounded by double that no.

As one by one of the evaluators went to the front to give their comment and highlighted the speaker’s speech, I instantly felt at ease. But at times, I was feeling rather lost at some excerpts of the jokes made by the speaker. Oh well, it was my bad. I could have come earlier and listen to the speeches.

But I got my objectives done. Get to know the members, and seek representative for the coming Area P4 contest. Good job, Suhana!

And when I made my speech, I forgot to mention one interesting fact that people caught off later when I gave away my card. “Oh, our President Prof Sidek is your father?”. “Erkk.. no… Though Binti saya sama.. Hehe…”.

Overall, the bunch were a good crowd, and looking forward to see them again when I become the GE next week.

suhana sidik @ http://toastmistrez.blogspot.com/

Ps: Fingers crossed. Hopeful that the boss would let me go off earlier :D.

TMIKL 31st Anniversary Dinner

Hey there,
A new event is coming up soon on 15 August 09 - TMIKL 31st Anniversary Dinner.

For those unfamiliar with TMIKL Toastmaster Club, IT IS the OLDEST club in Malaysia. The club is richly laced with culture and tradition, and the upcoming 31st Anniversary will carry the theme “Born 1978, Still Going Strong”.

The event will feature many exciting games, with lots of prizes/lucky draws and we are indeed very happy to present to you the man who did Malaysia proud last year by winning First Runner Up in the recent World Championship of Public Speaking, DTM Loghandran.

A definite must to those who are interested to get to mingle around and meet new friends, with an extra advantage of being able to hear from DTM Logandran himself about his championship experiences and sharing some tips on how to become a better speaker.

So, why wait? Tickets are limited. Give me a call today.

Cheers
Suhana Sidik
Area Governor P4
Hp: 013-333 1675

suhana sidik @ http://toastmistrez.blogspot.com/

For your info ... yummy..
Main Course
Pumpkin Soup with Chili Oil
Roast Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce
Wok Fried Squid with Onion & Chili
Fish Fillet with Saffron Cream
Stewed Lamb with Potatoes
Buttered Vegetables
Lasagne Alforno
Mee Mamak
Steamed Rice

Appetisers
Tomato & Basil
Pomelo Salad / Coleslaw
Garden Greens with Assorted Dressing
Bread Roll & Butter
Coffee or Tea
Nyonya Kuih
Fresh Fruit Platter
Mini French Pastries

err.... tempting already....

TMIKL Humor & Evaluation Contest (Area P4)

I missed competing in a speech contest, but I guess that’s just one of the only apparent disadvantages of being an Area Governor.

I attended the TMIKL contest tonight, feeling quite nervous with my first assignment as the Chief Judge.

I competed in the Humor Contest last year, and came out 2nd in the Area P4 contest. The one thing I learned from competing is that for a Humor Contest, you need to speak from experiences cause that is the very thing that would tickle the audiences with. I was single last year, so it was obvious that my choice of topic was in the selection of man. The two contestants that we have from TMIKL, Mas Rizal and Ismail Omar did just that as well. They spoke from their experience in life and we could easily relate well to some of their stories.

I was seated at the corner of the room observing these two speakers from afar, feeling overwhelmed. Contesting as a speaker, and judging another speaker are two separate tasks that complement each other very well. I learnt instantaneously that to be a good speaker, you need to learn how to observe others and study the criteria that good speakers are judge upon. It’s about gaining enough knowledge on speaking skills, some what like cracking the mystery of how to become a better speaker! In the end, with the judges notes that I held from the studying I did the night before, I learnt a lot more observing the contestants spoke about their topic.

The second part of the session, the Evaluation Contest saw the participation of 5 eager contestants: Mas Rizal, Elizabeth Xavier, Emily Tan, Richard Toh and Ismail Omar. The very warm Elizabeth Xavier, a very experienced toastmaster and longtime member of TMIKL emerges champion. 1st Runner up goes to Mas Rizal and newbie Emily came out 3rd.

We may only have 2 contestants for the Speech Contest, but it was a tough fight nevertheless. Mas Rizal was crowned Champion of the Humor Contest.

To all the contestants, again as I mentioned in my closing speech, at the end of the day, there is no such thing as losers. Everyone is a winner! They won their very own battle of courage in which they came out bold in front of some 30 other audiences and spoke confidently. Indeed toastmaster gave that confidence and knowledge to better themselves.

But you know what, audiences were winners as well! They chose to come to the event and learn from these good speakers. Isn’t that just great?

As Area Governor, I was definitely happy with the fact that TMIKL took the initiative to organize the contest earlier. Both winners, Mas Rizal and Elizabeth now have longer time to prepare themselves for the 13th August Area Contest. So perhaps, we could very much have a very high expectation for these two. All the best guys!

My only regret was that i had my camera with me, but i didnt snap any pictures of the event (but not when the contestants are competing of course). Argh.. my bad. Maybe i'll do a better job next time.

To the rest of you, don’t forget.

13th August Area Contest is coming up real soon ~~~ See you there!

suhanasidik @ toastmistrez.blogspot.com