Money Mastery TMC as Project Evaluator, 27th September 2019

On the 27^th September 2019, I was at Money Mastery Toastmasters Club, as project evaluator.  This was my 71^st club visit, on the 89^th day of the Toastmaster year.

The sergeants-at-arms were Raymond C. C. Ee, and Michell Sheya Wong.  The Toastmasters of the Day were Adeline Yeo, and Alfred Swe.  The timer was Angel Low.  The creative director was Rafid Ahmed.  The photographer was Cherley Wong.  The videographer was Admond Lee.

The programme was of two distinct speech sessions of three speakers each.  As such, each session had its own best speakers f each category, with no table topics session.

The president, Rebecca Tan H. Q., quoted part of John Donne’s famous devotional poem, “No man is an island”.  The essence of the address is that it is great to gather in a community in the pursuit of self-improvement.  In this case, it is public speaking.  She then mentioned three “dynamic duo” tropes: the friends who are alike, the friends who are opposites, and the friends who are adversarial.  The respective examples were Bananas in Pyjamas, Pinky and the Brain, and Tom and Jerry.

Fran Ng gave an alliterative narration on the sins of the father, and sins of the son.  It was raw, unfiltered, honest.  It takes a tremendous amount of courage for someone to give a speech, owning his mistakes, and sharing his lessons with the rest of us.  Like his father, he had successful businesses, and like his father, he frittered away large sums on different women.  And in the, when all was lost, he went home, defeated, dejected, and bereft; and his wife was always there, supporting, loyal, a paragon.

Zhang Xiao Ye gave us a tour de force on his journey to discover his leadership style, and the events that shaped his perspective.  He was liberal in his use of rhetorical devices to accentuate the points of learning in that journey.  He mentioned his early travails with work, and the paradigm shift that made him an active learner.

Eason Lek Ye Shen spoke about anxiety, the causes, the effects, and the stages.  He expounded on the variations of the fight or flight imperative that assails all of us, and how breathing helps.  Controlled deep breathing slows the heart, and calms the heart.

Bryan Chye Bei ‘An brought us on a physical and metaphorical journey, recounting his trek up Annapurna Massif, in the Himalayas.  He spoke of the next step, the step after, and the continuing journey of self-discovery we must all undertake.

Andrew Wee made a credible attempt at behavioural humour, around the theme of silence.  It was a brave performance in a genre most Singaporeans are not familiar with, and he handled the crowd masterfully.

Matthew Tang spoke about resilience, and consistency.  He gave us tips on keeping to our goals and adhering to our commitments.  He defined the concept, he addressed the contentions, and he gave solutions.

The project evaluators were myself, Raymond Zhang, and Celia Jacqueline Lim for the first session.  The project evaluators were Thomas Chen Jun Ying, Jackie Lin Feng, and Michael Ng for the second session.

1^st Session Best Speaker: Zhang Xiao Ye; and

1^st Session Best Evaluators: Myself, Raymond Zhang, and Celia Jacqueline Lim.

2^nd Session Best Speaker: Bryan Chye Bei ‘An; and

2^nd Session Best Evaluator: Michael Ng.