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!

Kuching 2009 Toastmaster Convention

The Kuching convention was definitely a big success!

Myself (Suhana Sidik) and Azlan Mohaideen (the beloved President) were the only two representatives from DDYPC to the District 51 Annual Convention which officially ended today in Kuching. The three days convention starting from 17 August were held in Riverside Majestic Kuching with about 500 toastmasters from all over Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia attending the glorious event.

The annual event which was hosted by Azam Toastmaster is held with the theme ‘Act to Inspire and Motivate’. The event line up includes the International Speech and Table Topic contest for all the Divisional winners, as well as the anticipated inspirational session by the MAS CEO, Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

The event kicked off on Friday for the District Council meeting with the ultimate objective of choosing the 2009/10 District Council members. There was a tough fight for the Lieutenant General of Marketing (LGM) post which was conquered by Francis Ng, DTM who undoubtedly delivered the most forceful 2 minutes speech for the election. Our Division P also saw the contest of two strong candidates, Dr Carren Lee from Premier Advanced TMC and Ron Low Chye Seng from the Ukay TMC. Ron, who was nominated by the floor did not managed to surpass the enormous votes already received by Dr Carren Lee who has executed an excellent election campaign leading up to the District Council meeting. The line up for the top District posts are as follows:

• District Governor (DG) – Richard R Chong (Mas Mawar TMC)
• Lieutenant General of Education & Training (LGET) – Thannimalai Letchuman (YMCA TMC)
• Lieutenant General of Education & Training (LGET) D51 Rest – Mohamad Ariff Irwani (Azam TMC)
• Lieutenant General of Marketing (LGM) – Francis Ng (Money Mastery TMC)
• Lieutenant General of Marketing (LGM) D51 Rest – Mien Soenari (The Catalyst TMC)

But you must also be wondering who the new lineups are for the Division Area Governors, right! Let’s congratulate these toastmasters:

• Area Governor P1 – Hakim Hamzah
• Area Governor P2 - Sabariah
• Area Governor P3 – Choi San
• Area Governor P4 – Suhana Sidik (yes, yours truly)

For your info, DDYPC is under Area P4. So yes, we can expect wonderful result after this :D).

Later on that night, we were then entertained by the Convention Welcoming Dinner with the presence of Azam CEO, Datuk Aloysous, which also included the welcoming dance by the local dances from Petra, who were dressed in a cat(@Kucing) suit. The participants were then pulled to join them to dance to the tune of Pocho-Pocho at the end of the dinner.

The next day (Saturday) was the Run Off for both the table topic and speech contest. With the large no of divisions in the district (District 51 is currently the largest district in the world!), the contest were broken into 2 groups of semi finals. The Division P representative, Ahmad Fakhri Hamzah who was competing in both the Table Topic and Speech Contest had delivered exceptional quality of speeches, but lost out to even better speakers from other division! These were the quality that had both myself and Azlan at awe.

The afternoon did not just end there. Three Educational Sessions were organized with topics on the Aristotle famous ‘Three Musketeer’ in Public Speaking delivered by Prof Zaharom Naim from USM, followed by the ‘The Four Lesson for Success’ by Past D-51 District Governer, Datuk Adeleen DTM.

The Installation Dinner held that night was also an excellent Education Session by itself, with the inclusion of a 70 minutes sharing session given by Datuk Seri Idris Jala, a name who has made headlines over the past 2 years. He has managed to overturn MAS from the brink of a USD400 Million debt to generating profit of over USD 200 Million in less than one year! The Sarawakian felt at ease speaking at his hometown, that he was willing to share 6 of his successful business transformation which formulated the MAS success. The secret that he shared was:

1. Game of the Impossible
2. P&L Anchorage
3. Discipline of Action
4. Situational Leadership
5. Winning Coalition (Does this VERY sound familiar to the PETRONAS folks?)
6. Divine Intervention

Interested to know more? Come and talk to either myself or Azlan to find out more :D

The dinner ended with the installation of the new District Officers, and the presentation of the 24 clubs who managed to achieve President Distinguished Club as at 10 April. Indeed, this will be DDYPC’s ultimate goal to achieve!

The next day (Sunday aka today) was the highlight of the whole conference itself. The participants were entertained with wonderful speeches given by the top three winners emerging from the Run Off held the day before. The quality had indeed improved with the speakers seemed rather more confident than the day before, and it was even tougher to narrow down our selections for our Top picks of the day.

However, the winners were as follows:

D51 TABLE TOPIC WINNERS

• Champion: Palaniappa Subramanian (Silterra TMC, Division N)
• 1st Runner-up: Mary Barton (WIM TMC, Division W)
• 2nd Runner-up: Jeremy Teo (Nilai University Club, Division C)

D51 INTERNATIONAL SPEECH WINNERS

• Champion: Ong Swee Keat (Bayan Baru TMC, Division N)
• 1st Runner-up: Stephen Fernando (Hilton Petaling Jaya TMC, Division C)
• 2nd Runner-up: Saw Chin Bin (Penang Advanced TMC, Division S)

Some of the speakers had us laughing all the way throughout their speech while there are those who had us at tears with their story. One particular speaker, Saw Chin Bin started off with lots of humor injected to his speech before revealing to the participants about the recent death of his wife. In the end when asked about how he copes with the losing, his answer was simply the very last word that his wife uttered, ‘Move On …. I have’. Overall, district 51 is blessed with wonderful spakers indeed!

I am sure you would want to see all the speeches given by the speakers, so no worries! We will bring Kuching to you. A DVD copy of the 3 days event will be made available to participants who want to bring it back as souvenir and yes indeed, we have purchased one for that very reason. There’s a lot that we want to share with all of you, and you can indeed relate more when you watch the videos.

Right now, we are on the way back to Kuala Lumpur on a delayed Air Asia flight (I wonder whether Idris Jala is sending us a message here) with a bunch of other toastmasters who are taking the same flight with us. We made new friends, and have learn a lot from this very first Toastmaster conference. Indeed we are looking forward for the next Semi-Annual Convention which will be held in Genting Highland, and to be hosted by MAS Mawar TMC. Probably a good opportunity for you guys to come and join us, and start preparing yourself to contest for a humor speech! Yes, the Genting convention will host both the Humor Speech Contest as well as the Evaluation Contest. Probably this time, we will fly the DDYPC flag high …

Until later…10.59 pm, 1 more hour to destination.

(Picture of the Lutong TMC who will be holding their 2010 convention next year in Miri. Hurry, come and book your slot and it's a guaranteed to change your life)

HOW CAN NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS IMPROVE THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS?

I think this is an interesting article. Happy reading!
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HOW CAN NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS IMPROVE THEIR LANGUAGE SKILLS?
by J.A. Gamache Third place Champion at the 2001 Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking

Is English a second language for you? Well, it is for me! I live in Montréal, Canada, and French is my first language. So when I started to compete in speech contests, I had to improve the way I spoke English. To do so, I applied the three following strategies:

1- TAKE DICTION CLASSES
I had to learn how to pronounce English words in the proper way. My French accent was so strong that English speakers had a hard time understanding me even when I used the right words and proper grammar! The goal is not to make you lose your accent but at least to make you easy to understand when you speak.

2- READ ENGLISH BOOKS... OUT LOUD!
Diction classes are useless if you don't practice. I found that I could fast-track my learning when I read English books or newspapers out loud. At the same time, I learned new words, got acquainted with the grammar and started to correct myself when I heard myself mispronounce words.

3- CONVERSE WITH A FRIEND
I became friends with a woman old enough to be my grandmother. I met her once a week for lunch and we would chat for two hours. Every time I made a mistake, she would kindly correct me. It was a win-win situation. She had company and I improved my conversational skills. And, most importantly, we both developed a new friendship! Mastering a new language is a huge task.

You can improve your English skills quickly by simultaneously focusing on these three strategies: taking diction classes, reading books out loud and conversing with someone who has mastered the language.

DDYPC TMC Installation Event

On the 8th of January, 2009, the Development Division Young Professional’s Toastmasters Club launched its first ever Installation Ceremony on the 40th floor of PETRONAS Twin Towers 1. To showcase the achievements of its current members and normal flow of events of a typical toastmaster session to the higher management and guests, a demo meeting was held prior to the ceremony to demonstrate.

Gracing the event with their distinguished presence were En. Azhar Noordin, Senior Manager of Development Division, En. Kamal Bahrin Ahmad, upcoming Senior General Manager of Development Division and several members of DD Management Committee. We also had the privilege of receiving other external guests such as Datuk Dr. Prof. Wan Zin, Toastmaster International (TMI) Division P Governer, TM Hakim Hamzah, mentors of DDYPC TMC from MCOBA Toastmaster Club (TMC), as well as toastmasters from surrounding areas such as MIM KL TMC, TMIKL TMC, Semarak TMC, Bintang ITC TMC and the first Malay Toastmasters Club from Pidato Perdana.

Representatives from various PETRONAS Operating Unit (OPU)’s Young Professional Club such as HYPE from Group Human Resource, NEXC from Exploration Division PCSB, EXCITE from PMU as well as its very own members from DDYPC PCSB were also present to show support for the first Installation event.

At 12.15pm, Toastmaster of the day, Tunku Indra, called the meeting to order, thanking all who were present for their generosity in accommodating this ceremony in their hectic schedules to attend this event.

Mas Rizal, Table Topics Master of the day, then gave everyone present a taste of giving a spontaneous speech, testing the wits and integrity of those who were brave enough to volunteer for a 2-minute speech on a topic disclosed only on the spot. The audience was entertained by Khairul Fadhli’s recollection and elaboration on the causes of road accidents, impressed by Nurashida’s opinions on the importance of words instead of actions, and sharing Farid Wahid’s strong support for the Manchester United team.

Siti Aishah, from Petroleum Engineering Department, a loyal member of DDYPC TMC, then gave her 2nd project speech entitled “Chocolate Heaven”. This confident engineer not only educated all present on the health benefits of chocolate consumption but also surprised some lucky souls with several bars of Cadbury chocolates.

Suhana Sidik, Competent Communicator (CC),

the 1st runner up for Area P4
Humorous Speech Contest in November 2008, then gave a demo speech entitled “Thank You”. Her aptly opening remarks, by firing up our pride in the achievements and success stories of our nation certainly caught the attention of everyone present. Gently steering into the topic of Malaysian courtesy, conducting a short self-evaluation, she ended her speech by reminding us to be true to our roots by practicing common courtesy at all times, just by a simple word of ‘thank you’.

TM Ahmad Salahuddin, champion of the Area P4 Humorous Speech Contest in November 2008, then embarked on this demonstration speech on 3 tips to keeping a marriage alive. Successfully injecting anecdotes, analogies and jokes in unexpected areas of his speech won him a strong round of applause from the floor whose funny bones were tickled ‘til no end from the moment he began, at the same time absorbing what he imparted with knowing smiles.

The demonstration session was then ended by TM Ahmad Fakhri, who gave an evaluation on TM Siti Aishah’s speech and commended her on her excellent element of surprise, which surpassed her speech objective, indicating her enthusiasm to excel in the area of public speaking.

The airing of a documentary video on the role play of a normal Toastmasters meeting and the major breakthrough one undergoes upon becoming a member then preceded the Installation Ceremony of the year 2008/2009 Office Bearers of DDYPC Toastmasters Club.

As Datuk Prof. Dr. Wan Zin officiated the installation of the officers by stating the duties and responsibilities of each office bearer, the incumbents proudly declared ‘I will’ and passed on the gavel from the Sergeant-at-Arms , Vice-Presidents and finally to the President. En. Azlan Mohaideen, President of DDYPC TMC thanked all present and stated his action plan and mission for the club. Tokens of appreciation were subsequently presented to the club mentors, sponsors and high achievers of the club.

At the end of the ceremony, En. Azhar Noordin, gave a closing speech and strongly reiterated his vision to see this club growing into a strong organization, which would build up the courage and spontaneity of PETRONAS employees, indirectly fulfilling the organization’s business needs and the individuals’, especially during negotiation with local hosts government internationally on all business dealings.

At 2.00pm, all present were then invited for a photo session at the hanging bridge of Level 42 to mark the beginning of the development of prominent individuals and a reminder of the strong community of support for this young club within the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur.

With continuous support from all levels, DDYPC TMC will strive to bring out the best in its members, spark enthusiasm in improving public speaking skills and take charge in inspiring desires to change for the better to face the challenging times ahead.

Therefore, let us all join a Toastmasters Club today. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You have nothing lose, but everything to gain. Come and experience it for yourself and you will see the difference!

More Pictures are available at: http://photo.ddypc.org/installation_ddypctmc/

History of DDYPC TMC

The initiative of setting up of the DDYPC TMC was first mooted in January 2008 by the PCSB’s Development Division Young Professional Club (DDYPC)-Year 2007/08 with support from the Development Division’s Management to enhance and improve the overall communication and presentation skills of DD fraternity.

An introduction to Toastmasters International (TI) was organized to interested staff on 28 February 2008 with cooperation from MCOBA Toastmasters as the Mentor Organisation. The mock session received an overwhelming response, with more than 100 enthusiastic participants, some of whom had the opportunity of taking part in a “live” demo of spontaneous speaking.

Subsequently, the new committee for DDYPC TMC was set up with the first meeting held on the historic date of 2nd April 2008. Our greatest gratitude to TM Ganesh from Maxis TMC and TM Haji Anuar from MCOBA TMC, the duo who have been playing a crucial role in mentoring the club and helping us realize our vision to have the club chartered, effectively on 26 June 2008.

Meetings are held every 1st and 3rd Thursday from 12-2 pm. The club has since gotten overwhelming support from external guests who have has warmly grace us with their presence in every meeting. Our big THANK YOU.

What is Toastmaster?

You might wonder how Toastmasters came about, so let us share with you some history of how Toastmaster International was established.

In October 1924, a group of men assembled by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley met in the basement of the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, U.S.A., forming a club “to afford practice and training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings, and to promote sociability and good fellowship among its members.” The group took the name “Toastmasters.”

Soon men in other communities and states asked for permission and help to start their own Toastmasters clubs. By 1930, a federation was necessary to coordinate activities of the many clubs and to provide a standard program. When a speaking club in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, expressed interest in forming a Toastmasters club, the group became known as Toastmasters International.

Toastmasters International enters the new century as the undisputed world leader in public speaking training, with over 10,500 clubs and more than 200,000 members in approximately 90 countries. In the years to come, more people than ever will benefit from Toastmasters leadership and education.

We are in District 51 which comprises 3 countries namely, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Toastmasters International offers successful programs and gives its members valuable learning experience in communication skills helping them in turn to gain confidence in speaking in public.

The objective of DDYPC TMC is to ensure that members have the opportunity to learn communication skills that would turn them into articulate and eloquent speakers - and the only way to learn is to do it.

There are 3 main parts of our Toastmasters club meeting.

Firstly, the Table Topics Session, where members can practise their "Thinking and Speaking extemporaneously on their feet" skills. Table topic speakers have 1 to 2 minutes to speak.

In Part 2, which is the Prepared Speech session; we have members who will be delivering speeches based on the 10 projects from the basic Communication & Leadership Manual as well as the Advanced Manual.

In Part 3 our General Evaluator will preside over the Evaluation Session.

Do come to any of our session to learn more.