Katong Toastmasters Club

Tonight there was a turnout of 12 members, 2 visiting toastmasters (Cynthia Koh from Tampines West and Victor Ng from IFPAS) and a guest Choon Liang, who had visited last month. Our club Treasurer Elaine Tan kick-started the meeting by getting us to share what we would have done, had we not been at the meeting tonight. Most mothers would be at home with their kids, singles would be exercising or sleeping or even working OT. Everyone was glad to be away from those duties to be at the Toastmaster meeting. Club President Nik Chua shared an inspiring story about a Korean grandmother who finally passed her driving test after 960 attempts in 5 years!! She was motivated to learn how to drive to fetch her grandchildren to the zoo. Her never-give-up attitude is an inspiration for all of us to keep reaching for our goals. VP Membership Bruce Pei officially welcomed our two new members Leena and Shailaja during the New Members Induction. They were presented with a welcome gift of the book ...

The air was abuzz with excitement and the room was crowded with toastmasters busy networking. It was the night of our club's annual Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests. NUS Alumni has graciously agreed to organise the contests for us this year, following our collaboration which started two years ago. There were 3 contestants for the Humorous Speech Contest. First speaker Chew Teck Siong continued his life story which he began in his previous humorous speech in last year's contest with the speech "My Life Part II". He shared snippets of his life in the army and how his recruits feared him as he was the PTI - Physical Test Instructor. Second speaker Nik Chua, with his speech "Garden of Dreams", shared stories about the pursuit of his dreams and how when a dream dies, another is budding. He inspired us to pursue our dreams with zest and passion. Third speaker Joni Siah, in her speech "Are You Ready?", shared about the sacrifices and challeng...

Our June chapter meeting featured a special segment: Club Officers Installation. Division Z Governor Lum Sau Ying did the honours of discharging the present EXCO members and officially installing the incoming EXCO members. The incoming EXCO members present that evening included President Nik Chua, VPE Chew Teck Siong, Asst VPM Ben Xu, Asst VPPR Malcolm Chen and Asst SAA Jesslin Ong. They took turns to solemnly affirm their commitment and dedication to fulfil their duties in their respective roles. Club members, in return, pledged to support the EXCO members and work as a team to help the club grow and flourish. Club President Nik Chua presented his debut Opening Address. He shared an inspiring story about physically disabled contestants at a Special Olympics who turned around to help one boy who had stumbled and was crying. In the end, they all linked arms and walked back to the finishing line. In the same way, we at Katong Toastmasters will give each other mutual support and walk to t...

EXCO Installation Night – 17 Jun 2010 First of all, I would like to thank our Katong members for choosing me as President of the Club for the new term. It is indeed an honour. Thank you once again. I joined the club about four years ago, and I watched it grow from a toddler then to a mature adult now. I remembered in its infancy, we barely had more than 10 active members. However, a team of dedicated founding members trotted on, keeping the club alive for those few struggling years. We would have suffered a premature death had there not been the dedication of this group of individuals to see the club through. Since then, the club has progressed well under the leadership of the past few presidents with the support of new members, and we are now a club to be contended with when it comes to speech competitions. However, what I am most proud of are the camaraderie and the mutual encouragement we have shown each other. Talking about mutual support and spirit of giving, I would like to share...

Katong Toastmasters Club has achieved the Distinguished Club Award for the term 2009-2010! Under the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), clubs are given awards as follows: Achieve any five of 10 goals Distinguished Club Achieve any seven of 10 goals Select Distinguished Club Achieve any nine of 10 goals President's Distinguished Club These are the goals we achieved for the term 2009-2010: Membership Base: 17 Membership to Date: 20 GOALS ACHIEVED [1] 2 Competent Communicators - George Goh, Kenneth Tian [2] 1 Advanced Communicator (Silver) - Joni Siah [3] 5 new members - Jesslin Ong, Stephen Lim, Grace Tan, Malcolm Chen, Mantosh Bhasin (reinstated member) [4] Club Officers Training Attendance: June-August 5 officers Dec-Feb 4 officers [5] Club dues submitted on time both in October and April and Officer List submitted on time Keep up the good work, Katong TMC! Let's continue to grow from strength to strength.

Katong Toastmasters Club celebrated its 5th Anniversary during its chapter meeting on 20 May 2010. A total of 12 members, 4 visiting toastmasters and 2 walk-in guests attended the meeting. SAA Jesslin called the meeting to a start at 7.40 pm. She asked members to introduce themselves and to describe how they felt that day. TME Tarwin addressed the meeting by highlighting the evening’s programme changes. The club president, Joni Siah, then gave the opening address. She used an alphabet game to get the audience to unscramble given words. The final key phrases had a key message: “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome”. The special highlight for the 5th Anniversary celebration was a mini-workshop conducted by Wekie Tay (DTM, Telok Blangah), entitled “Lets Groove”. He spoke about the differences and preferences between men and women. He ended by using the acronym ACTS to encourage us to Acknowledge the differences between the two genders, Crea...

President Nik Chua, CC VP Education Chew Teck Siong VP Membership Bruce Pei Asst VPM Ben Xu VP Public Relations Stephen Lim Asst VPPR Malcolm Chen Secretary Ida Lee Treasurer Elaine Tan, CC Sergeant-At Arms Tarwin Lim Asst SAA Jesslin Ong