DDYPC/IEM/ITC Bintang/MID/TMIKL/TTDI Joint Installation

Happy Faces of the Organising Committee of the Joint Installation Event

Date: 28 Jun 2009

Venue: Restoran Nelayan, Tasik Titiwangsa

It was an excellent installation event last Sunday, in the company of 6 reputable Toastmaster Clubs: DDYPC, IEM, ITC Bintang, MID, TMIKL and TTDI.

The event was graced by the presence of the outgoing Div P Governor, Professor Dato’ Dr Wan Zin as well as the Incoming Div P Governor Dr Caren Lee. DTM Azmi Shahrin, DTM Sum Chee and a few other notable Area Governors are also among the 74 attendees present on the day.

Prof Wan in his Welcoming Remarks proudly acknowledge the fact that Division P was the first Division to gain the Distinguished Division status, and then carried on to become the third to accomplish the President Distinguished Division in District 51. This achievement was much credited to his dedication to serve and the strong team that supported him.

As the Organising Chair and the Area Governor for P4, I took the opportunity to become the Installing Officer for the event. I started off feeling nervous as it was my very first experience installing a club, but hey, what better way than to do 6 at a time!

We wrapped up the installation with a 2 minutes speech given by the President from the 6 respective clubs. TM Stefanie Khaw from DDYPC (Distinguished Club) mentioned in her speech that her sole intention of joining toastmaster club to meet new friends has indeed blossom to more than just fellow Petronas collegue, but well extended to outside the circle. TM Ismail Omar from IEM (President Distinguished Club) may be a junior toastmaster, but his vast experience has well been a major leadership boost for him to take up office as Area Governor and to continue on as the President for the coming term.

TM Victor from ITC Bintang (Select Distinguished Club) then shared his club’s vision with the audience, which is to start strong this year very much alike to the club’s name of Bintang: “Where everyone sparkles”. TM Izaitul Farah from MID was up next sharing the club’s toastmaster experience and how it has helped her and her club members.

TMIKL President-elect, TM Mas Rizal was up next seeking the support from fellow toastmasters to support the club and invited them to celebrate the 31 years TMIKL has been in existence. 9 years President Distinguished Club, TTDI has a big role to play with it’s 10th President, TM Kuok Sum. He was presented with a challenge to not just achieve President Distinguished Club, but with the shortest possible time this year targeted to achieve the goal.

The speeches were great, and food served next was just as marvelous.

TM Chau Fong and TM Xi Wen then took the stage as the games coordinator and invited all the clubs to a Toastmaster Idol contest. With the 3 appointed judges being myself, Prof Wan and Dr Caren as the very version of Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, the audiences were entertained with the quick table-topic-pantomime from all the 6 clubs. TTDI with its creative pasar-borong act out was crowned the winner. It was a tough fight to determine the winners between DDYPC with their creative interpretation of the brawl between the MIB TMC and Lady in Pink TMC to attract potential members for their club (and the hybrid alien toastmasters) against IEM with the 2-guys-trying to win a girl’s heart-act with the latter eventually announced the First Runner Up.

Later on, 6 of the best dressed participants on the day were challenged to an-act out to be crowned the King & Queen of our Joint Installation event. The eventual winner, TM Azlan Mohaideen from DDYPC wowed the crowd into his very own rendition of Michael Jackson Beat It! His energy was simply irresistible and a crowd pleaser indeed.

In her closing remark, Dr Caren thanked the organizing committee for the wonderful effort hosting the event, and shared with the attendees a challenge posed by the current Division Governor (who also happens to be her Chemical Engineering lecturer) to achieve President Distinguished Division within 8 months!

But hey, the fun was not yet over. The crowds were entertained with another round of makarena specially brought by TMIKL.

Wait…

We have more! Those who still felt the heat of more fun went straight to Raintree Club next, for a karaoke session sponsored by Ismail Omar from IEM. Many talented singers tag along proving that toastmasters don’t just excel in public speaking but in ‘voice variation’ as well.

Overall, a job well done indeed. Thank you all who came, and for those who didn’t hmmm… there’s always next time :D. See you at our P4 Area Contest in August!


All the 6 clubs Presidents taking their oath


Attendees trying out makarena..


The hardworking committees who have made it happen, seen here taking a photo with Div P Governor Dr Caren Lee

TMIKL TMC

TTDI TMC (with me slotted at far most left)

Our crowned King, Azlan with his Michael Jackson's impersonation

Me trying out singing

From left: Kuok Sum, yours truely, Hj Anuar, Dr Caren, Prof Wan

Ismail showing off his singing skill. Lim seemed pleased with his skill.

KL Convention Training with DTM Dunstan

The Genting Convention is coming up pretty soon, and I signed myself up as part of the Organising Committee. I feel like I’m too free nowadays, that all my free hours are spent mostly on either attending toastmaster meeting or doing my planning work for toastmasters.

So, yes, I dreaded the fact that I had to wake up real early on a Saturday afternoon, and that is to attend a training session with 50 other strangers. But hey, in the spirit of toastmasters, the time spent would surely be categorized as time enriching.

Besides, the opportunity to meet countless great speakers as well as some of the very legend of District 51 is indeed investment worth making. And then again, DTM Dunstan is one of those you’d be glad you spent the Saturday afternoon with indeed.

This would definitely be start to a wonderful team effort for the Genting Convention.

And hey, if you haven’t got a ticket yet, grab it quick!

Meeting #25 Best Speech - 'Seringgit'

Speech Title: Seringgit

Speaker: Suhana Sidik, CC

Any of these sights looks familiar? What about the certificate bearing the Jabatan Kebajikan masyarakat logo? Have anyone approached you with these certs as a supporting document?

What I like most about my country Malaysia and what I must be proud the most about being Malaysian is the fact that we may be skimpy on paying the tolls, parking ticket, that extra tips to the waitresses or some (ehem) even resort to stealing the papers and magazines from the office, but we always have the extra seringgit to give away (show money).

But why do we do it?

If you ask any girls in the room, our answer may be too simple. It is what we call ‘Right at Your Face’ syndrome. We are just a fragile creature with a generous soul. We can’t bear the sight of a blind pakcik, or kids in shabby clothing or those poor souls who lost an arm or leg. It just melts our heart away. Besides, we spend more than 1 ringgit to buy chocolates anyway, so why not do something good with it?

But what’s the excuse with guys?
Wait. Have you noticed that beggars don’t normally go and approach a group of boys, especially the smokers type. These people would rather save that 1 ringgit on 2 more cigarettes than actually give you any money. But that is not the case if you approach a group of guys with a pretty lady in the group. Ok, beggar alert from 50 m away. You know boys tend to be competitive right? Out they compete to see who can reach out fastest to their wallet in the hope that she would go ahh at the sight of your kind generosity to help the disadvantage. Ladies trust me, some boys are just a show off!

And there are just tonnes of reason why I think Malaysian is a generous bunch!

So yes, we are trying hard to eliminate the so called ‘Poor-Index’. In our heart, everyone wants to try and be a super hero. So yeah, if we don’t have Hiro Nakamura’s power, let’s reach into the wallet and be our very own modern Robin Hood. We steal from our very own pocket in order to give other people what we think they deserve.

But let me tell you here that it doesn’t work that way.

The beggars that you see here in Malaysia is no ordinary beggar. Instead, they are intelligent beggars or what I would call ‘intgar’. These ‘intgar’ would offer you tissues, stickers and tonnes of other things in exchange for your seringgit. And why do you have to give in to their demand at all times?

Do you notice that the more you give, the list of ‘intgar’ multiplies rapidly. Have you noticed that if you have lunch in Wisma Central for example, within that 1 hour, there would be 2 ‘intgars’ coming to your group screaming for seringgit. Sometime, you would ease your way reaching into your wallet and at times, you would nod and shooh them away. And here I am, recommending that ALL of you present here to do the latter.

Nowadays with the many ‘intgar’ in Malaysia, how do you differentiate between an ordinary beggar with disadvantage, with another intelligent beggar?
And if you are really a generous bunch, why don’t you go through the proper channel? That would probably be a more tax effective way of donating your money away.

Have you ever imagine the irony of these ‘intgar’ and their guide. Their so-called job of an ‘intgar’ is to beg for money, and the guide is to bring these ‘intgar’ around from tables to tables. Look at the condition of the guide. These guides are those perfectly normal human being much like you, with two perfectly working eyes, hands, legs and at times, they look more healthy than you are. Yet, they are working for another lesser capable human being, the pakcik buta as the boss. Just imagine how much the blind pakcik or makcik is earning to be able to pay for the guide, and still make enough money to support his/her own lifestyle.

And for lifestyle, I do mean A LIFESTYLE. Some is capable enough to earn thousand of ringgit to even afford a Honda Civic to drive home everyday. Some would walk with a limp using their cane to Hartamas, and leave away with a brand new Honda Civic everynight with their leg suddenly perfectly healed (yes, true story seen with this very own eyes). Well, that’s how seringgit help improve their lifestyle ... by a mountain.

Imagine this. Seringgit in 2 minutes per table equal to thirty ringgit in one hour. You beg for five hours a day and you get 150 ringgit per day. Multiply that with 20 working days and you get 3K per month, and that is just the basic so called ‘salary’. And you’ve never accounted for the extra overtime, and multiple seringgit per table and etc2. It does sound tempting actually, a probable business venture.

But let’s inject common sense into it.

Please don’t fall into the seringgit scheme, which is much like a Ponzi scheme. Use the legal channel to donate away your money. Seringgit, though maybe small to you may accumulate to a lot more if there are even 10% of the people in this room are guilty of donating their money away. Do not support this seringgit business. Say No to these Intgar.

So L&G, now, what do you do if the ‘intgar’ come and approach you? :p

District Officer Training (DOT) – June 12, 2009

What a better way to spend Friday night than with fellow toastmasters.
And what better gift to compliment that than looking at your perfectly spelt name tag lying on the table, awaiting for us to claim possession.
It was a great start to our toastmaster journey of as we take office cum 1 July 2009.

The District Officer’s Training concluded last Friday was a great success with about 50 Area Governors, Division Governors and Senior District Officers attending the session which was held in MAS Training Centre in Kelana Jaya.

The training kicked off with the opening speech given by DG Joseph Gomez, DTM. Joe, as some calls him, was the epitome of the typical modest leader. He started off his speech asking the governors to begin the journey strong and maintaining that momentum to make an impact up until the end of the tenure. Governors were also asked to enjoy the fantastic next 12 months journey and assist the current team to finish strong towards the end.

The DG-elect, Ritchie Chong, ACG, ALS then briefly talked about the incoming President, Gary Schmidt, DTM and the new motto for the year, ‘Confidence, Leadership, Service’. He then continues on to present the topic of ‘Achieving Success Standard’. Sharing from his previous personal experience as an Area Governor, he mentioned how the experience was a challenging but very fulfilling moment for him, and ensured us that it will be a journey that we will enjoy.

The LGET-elect was up next presenting the topic of ‘Building a Successful Team’. He went to explain that a super team must be mission-focused, service-oriented, know the goals, dedicated to quality, committed to overcoming barriers to success, visible and accessible and most importantly, have the quality to exudes energy, excitement and commitment. He even shared his personal experience of failing in his bid for the position of Area Governor, but determined to try again and successfully securing the job a year after. To him, the right determination complimented with a strong steam will indeed make the challenges ahead be a great journey all together.

Francis, DTM who gave one of the most powerful speech during the last convention to eventually earn his post as the LGM was the next speaker; sharing his passion in ensuring every club is a great club. In his presentation of ‘Maintaining Strong Clubs’, he shared the 4 key factors also as known as CARE (C-CCs, A –ACs, R-Retention of members, E-Extension of clubs) for toastmasters, and with his previous credentials of Area Governor of the Year and Division Governor of the Year, he was indeed one of the most committed toastmaster around.

We were swept away with the next presentation given by Leann, DTM with the topic ‘Building New Clubs’. She even gave away tips on the quest of prospecting new clubs. She mentioned that one must be able to do their very own research on current clubs, target a community with more than 10’000 people, pursue a major corporation with more than 150’000 employees and even use up any possible leads that they could gain. It was indeed a great inspiration to all of us listening to this very first TLI chair, who even shared with us her passion of speaking when she said, ‘Each time I speak, I learn something’. I think it was mutual.

Ramdas, DTM may have taken 10 years to complete his CTM, but the years were all well spent. We were all ears when he took us through the last topic of the evening, ‘Conducting Quality Contest’. With his vast years of experience serving as Chief Judge in many contests before, he shared his many encounters with problem contestants and even provided the many scenarios to test us (which we ace!). He even sound like one of the ones who actually memorize the Contest Rule Book from cover to cover! Well done!

The event may have well wrapped up at about 11 pm, but it was indeed a commendable session organized by the Senior District Council.

What’s more interesting was the fact that all the presenters talked about the Toastmasters mission, which is to enhance the performance AND extend the network of clubs. Even DTM Leann relates it to the story of Alice in The Wonderland. When Alice was lost and asked the white rabbit for direction, the only reply she got was ‘Any road is fine if you don’t have a direction to go’. See, how true it is coming from a ‘white rabbit’? So, start memorizing your mission and make it your toastmaster statement!

15 Division Governors.
79 Area Governors.
‘Confidence, Leadership, Service’.
Together we make it happen!

P Div & Area Governors (From left: Hakim, Sabariah, Suhana, Choi San, Dr Caren)

Reported by:
Suhana Sidik
AG P4 Elect 2009/2010
13/6/09

Installation Event - DDYPC/ITC Bintang/TMIKL/MID/TTDI/IEM

Come and join our exciting event!!!

Date: 28 June 09

Time: 12 pm - 3 pm

Venue: Restoran Nelayan, Tasik Titiwangsa

Cost: ONLY RM40/person

RSVP your attendance today

2009/2010 CLUB OFFICERS

Dear all,
I am proud to announce the line-up for our Area P4 office bearers for the respective clubs as follows:

ITC BINTANG
Meeting days : 7:00 pm, 1st & 3rd Wednesday
Meeting Venue : Federal Hotel, 2nd floor, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, WP, 55300, Malaysia

PRES: Victor Lee, CC, CL
VPE: Penny Chin, TM
VPM: Robin Yap, CC
VPPR: Jeffrey Teh, CC, CL
SEC: Christina Lim, TM
TRS: TBA
SAA: Evonne Chong, TM
IPP: Melvin Tham, CC, CL


TMIKL TOASTMASTERS CLUB
Meeting days :7:30 p.m., 2nd & 4th Tuesday
Meeting Venue : 21st Floor Amoda Building Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur, WP, 55100, Malaysia

PRES: Mas Rizal bin Abd Rahim
VPE: Elizabeth Xavier
VPM: Nik Mohamed Zaki

VPPR: Sidney Leong Sheng Ng
SEC: Emily Tan
TRS: Tan Teong Boon
SAA: Teng Louis Gan
IPP: Cyril Jonas


DDYPC TOASTMASTERS CLUB
Meeting days : 12:00 pm, 1st & 3rd Thursday
Meeting Venue: Level 40 Tower 1 Petronas Twin TowersKuala Lumpur City Centre, Kuala Lumpur, WP, 50088, Malaysia

PRES: Stefanie Khaw

VPE: Tunku Indra B. Tunku A. Muthalib

VPM: Ivan Lai Hung Pei

VPPR: Azlan B. Mohaideen
SEC: M. Muaz B. Azman
TRS: Khairul Fadhli Kassim
SAA: Mardhiyah Mohd Bakir
IPP: Azlan B. Mohaideen


MID TOASTMASTERS CLUB
Meeting days : 2:00 pm, 1st & 3rd Thursday
Meeting Venue : 12th Floor, Wisma Sime Darby, Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur

PRES: Izaitul Farah Ibrahim
VPE: Wan Hakimah bt Abd Rahim
VPM: Normaizatul Akmal bt Tujad
VPPR: Farizah Inting
SEC: Norhazlinawati Mat
TRS: Leelakumari Vennayagam
SAA: Mohd Fadzil Azma b Mat Saad
IPP: Selvarani Siniah

Congratulations all. Looking forward to work with all of you!

DDYPC TMC Election - Office Bearers 2009/10

They say leaders are not born overnight, but I beg to differ. Election does just that!

DDYPC TMC held its election on 21st May to choose the 7 officers to take up the stewardship of DDYPC cum this 1 July 2009. It was a tough contest as all the seats had at least 3 nominations to the post, and at times, the members were asked to re-vote as they could not reach a majority consensus.

It gets more interesting as the members also had the opportunity to listen to the nominees’ quick 2-minutes speech, and their eagerness to serve the members.

Alas, we are proud to bring you the new club officers, as follows:

President: Stefanie Khaw Sui Lynn (PED/ PEC)
VP of Education: Tunku Indra b Tunku A Mutalib (PMU/ PRD)
VP of Membership: Ivan Pei Lai Hung (XD/XPG)
VP of Public Relations: Azlan Mohaideen (DD/ DPG)
Treasurer: Khairul Fadhli b A Kassim (PMU/ POM)
Secretary M Muaz Azman (DD/DFE)
Sargeant-At-Arms Mardhiyah bt M Bakir (R&T)

Congratulations all.

We can all expect a great year ahead of us with these credible people to lead! Our big THANK YOU to the outgoing committee for your effort and hard work to ensure the club’s success. It was not easy to become a charter committee, but all of the officers have done well in building up the momentum of the club.

But all the hard work would not have paid off without the support from the members. YOU can make it happen! Let’s strive towards achieving a SELECT Distinguished Club this year, and a PRESIDENT Distinguished Club the year ahead!