Pushing Against A Rock

Sergeant-At-Arms Peter began the round of introductions by inviting everyone to share what was their goal for the evening. Many were here to network, to encourage someone through their evaluations or enjoy the evening away from haze. TME Lim Seh Leng prayed for haze to go away. She introduced the appointment holders and anticipated the milestone speeches that would be presented.

In her opening address, Leena told the story about a man who was told by God to push a huge rock outside his cabin. After years the rock hasn't moved an inch.  The man was worn out and feeling like a failure. But as a result he became strong and able to withstand severe testing. He learned patience and perseverance. God said the purpose wasn't for him to change the position of the rock, but to change himself.  In the same way, she felt she was pushing against a rock but through it all, she had learnt to be stronger.  Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it has taken a dedicated team to keep Katong afloat and growing from strength to strength. Leena also took the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the visiting toastmasters who have given us their unstinting support during her term as President: Pradeep, Vera, Navin, Peter Lee, Seh Leng, Kok Peng, Annabelle, Burt Choo.

PREPARED SPEECHES 

Newcomer Parul presented her P1 Icebreaker speech “Made in Iran, Calibrated in the US”. She gave us an insight into her family dynamics. Her father was an Indian diplomat in Iran when she was conceived, and they later moved back to India. The family moved to Kenya and later USA, where Parul spent her college and university years and got married. She shared about her career change from accounting to investment trading, which has allowed her to settle into Singapore.  Her hobbies include reading, zumba, yoga and swimming and she considers her an extrovert who enjoys challenging her fears. She is a huge Harry Potter fan. Her motto in life: Think positive, be positive!

P10 speaker Shahnawaz spoke on the topic “Life is moving too fast”. He began with an anecdote in the delivery room about witnessing the miraculous of his daughter and now 17 years later, he is learning to let go as she prepares for college education overseas. He wished he had spent more time with his daughter amidst the hustle and bustle of his busy career.  He also shared a moving story about a son who brought his widowed mother out on a dinner date that they enjoyed very much as they reminisced the past. The mother wanted the son to bring her out again and she would pay for the dinner next time. However “the next time” never came as the mother passed away a few weeks later. But the son received a note in the mail with a voucher for dinner for 2, which the mother had bought for them but fearing they would not have the chance to meet up again, told him to use it with his wife. Shahnawaz ended his speech by urging all of us to spend time with our family and to tell them how much we love them before it is too late.

Another P10 speaker Raj shared about “Lessons on life”. He opened his speech with a quote by Bill Gates: “If you’re born poor, it’s not your fault. If you die poor, it’s your fault.” Raj went on to share about his family background, how he was born to an Indian farmer. Being born into poverty hurt, haunted and humiliated him.  But a story he read about Abraham Lincoln made him realize the transformative power of education. So he studied hard and that enabled him to go on to greater things and break out of the cycle of poverty. Through it all, he learnt three life lessons: (1) Find the options, (2) Take big risks, (3) Owe it to Them.  

Congratulations to Shahnawaz and Raj on completing their P10 speeches! Shahnawaz was voted Best Speaker for the evening.

CLUB OFFICERS’ INSTALLATION
After the break, we witnessed the Installation of the EXCO 2013-2014 by Area Z3 Governor Nicholas Ong. He discharged the current EXCO of their duties and went on to briefly explain the roles of each EXCO member as they took turns to hold the gavel and pledge their commitment to the club to perform their duties to the best of their ability.  Incoming DG Pradeep gave a toast to the club to encourage us to continue to grow and strive for excellence.

Ida and Joni jointly presented the Incoming President’s speech and shared about the things they were grateful for, which have motivated them to come forward to share the President’s role. Ida was thankful for respect, wonders and sparks (read the entire speech here) while Joni expressed gratitude for the community of learners in Toastmasters, commitment of the members to grow the club and camaraderie shared by the members and visiting toastmasters. Ida presented outgoing President and VPE Leena and Choon Liang with beautiful crystal blocks for their dedicated hard work throughout their term.

TABLE TOPICS

These were the topics chosen during the Table Topics session presented by Aarti:

Kok Peng: Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Burt Choo: Logic takes you from A to B; imagination will take you everywhere. – Albert Einstein

Nicholas Ong: The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.

Ram: If you don’t enjoy the journey, you won’t enjoy the destination.

Burt recalls his training in Accountancy was all about logic, where 1+1=2. That was boring. But with imagination, 1+1 can be any other answer. Imagination allows us to dream and reach for the stars. With imagination, Katong can become the best club in Singapore. 

Once again, Burt was voted the Best Table Topics Speaker!

PROJECT EVALUATIONS

Annabelle commended Parul for her fluency, confidence, and clear articulation. She also has a strong command of the language. Suggestions for improvement include slowing down, using pauses effectively, and maintaining eye contact longer in each direction.

Vera highlighted what was special and stimulating about Shahnawaz’s speech: the connection with the audience, the use of personal anecdote and moving stories and the vivid use of language, such as ‘the air felt so solid, I was breathing bricks!’, ‘shrill cry’ etc. She suggested that Shahnawaz could ‘lift’ the speech to the next level by having a strong call to action, for example, by stating clearly the consequence of not spending time with family.

Pradeep was clearly impressed by Raj for being an authentic speaker who spoke from his heart, much like Mother Teresa. His concern is for Raj to communicate with the audience rather than deliver a speech, and to consider if his story is relevant to the audience, if not, how can he make it so?

Pradeep was voted the Best Evaluator.

The meeting ended with presentation of ribbons, awards and tokens by outgoing VPE Choon Liang and a photo slideshow capturing many memorable events and happy moments by outgoing President Leena. The finale was a special segment when Raj presented a token of appreciation to his mentor Leena for being his ‘guru’, bringing him from darkness into light.

To view photos taken at the meeting, click here