On the 27th August 2019, I was at Tampines
Changkat Advanced Toastmasters Club, as language evaluator. This was my 43rd club visit on the
58th day of the Toastmaster year.
The Toastmaster of the Day was Tony Lim Tong Lee. The timer was Craig Lim. The ah counter was Jennifer Tan. The table topics master was Desmond Sim.
In her opening address, the president, Koh Lee Siang, spoke
about the importance of attitude, and how we shape our worldview by it. She quoted Norman Vincent Peale: “Change your
thoughts, and you change your world.”
She said our thoughts affect our emotions, and our emotions turn into
our behaviour, and this determines whether we succeed or fail.
Sangeeta Ashish Deshpande spoke of her leadership journey in
getting her young daughter’s book, “The Wishing Cat”, published. It takes leadership to recognise talent, and
to cultivate belief in those beneath us.
It takes leadership to manage a project, where no one else truly
believed, until it is an obvious success.
It was an inspiration speech, full of teachable moments, and learning points.
Nui Thantong attempted a roast of her mentor, Michael
Wee Sim Guan. She brought us along on
his Toastmaster journey, and how it was his wife who got him to join, years and
years ago, proving the adage, “Behind every successful man is a woman.”
Kion Chuen Rong gave a complex speech, an expansive
elaboration of the tortoise and the hare, and the series of races they
undertook, and all the lessons we could learn from them. The obvious lesson was slow and steady beats
quick but inconsistent. And then it
evolved to quick and ready beats slow and steady, to choosing the race is as important
as racing it, to understanding challenges and embracing change. He ended off by explaining that teamwork is
structured leadership.
Wendy Lee gave another morality tale, about a man who
wanted to divorce his wife after years of marriage because the spark was gone,
and how he eventually came to realise what she gave up to raise his children,
and the cost of her own self. In the
end, she died in his arms, from cancer.
It was a poignant tale, with much to digest.
Finally, Das Ganamanas gave his first speech, his icebreaker,
and he spoke of his journey from working in India, and almost failing, to finding
love, moving to Singapore, and finally his act of love, in engaging a financial
planner to ensure his family has a legacy.
The evaluators were Ethan Lee, Nur Amalina binte
Ohrallayali, Thomas Chen Jun Ying, Chia Choon Kiat, and Michael Wee Sim Guan.
Best Speaker: Sangeeta Ashish Deshpande;
Best Evaluator: Thomas Chen Jun Ying; and
Best Table Topics Speaker: Michael Wee Sim Guan.
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