Katong Toastmasters Club

We were delighted to welcome 3 visit ing toastmasters - Yen from Ulu Pandan TMC, Man oj and Agree Ferrer from Marine Parade TMC and 7 guests - siblings Zhuang Yuan and Keyi who are living in our neighbourhood, Merry, Zhang Jun, Amy , Daijian and Linda. Club President Nik Chua shared an inspiring story with the message: Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. To read the entire speech, go to http://katongtoastmasters.blogspot.com/2011/01/presidents-opening-address-20-jan-2011.html Our in-house Language Evaluator Benjamin Gan gave us the Word of the day catharsis (noun) and cathartic (adjective) - which means the elimination or purification of a strong emotion through the process of writing, talking or acting. F or example, " Music is a means of catharsis for me. " or " Speaking about h er parents' death was a cathartic experience for her. " Leena Santore presented P2 Organiz e Your

Happy New Year and I hope you had a refreshing and revitalising break during the recent year-end festive period. During the start of a new year, it is an especially meaningful time to reflect upon what we have achieved during the last year and what we would like to accomplish in the coming year. While you are busy planning your new year resolutions, I would like to share with you this story: "A father was walking in the mountains with his 5-year old son. Suddenly, the son fell, hurt himself, and screamed: 'AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!' To his surprise, he heard a voice repeating, somewhere in the mountains: 'AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!' Curious, he yelled out: 'Who are you?' He received the answer: 'Who are you?' Angered at the response, he screamed: 'Coward!' He received the answer: 'Coward!’ He looked to his father and asked: 'What's going on?' The father smiled and said: 'My son, pay attention.' The man screamed: 'You are a cham