Yishun Health Campus TMC as Table Topics Master, 17th October 2019

On the 17^th October 2019, I was at Yishun Health Campus Toastmasters Club, as table topics master.  This was my 91^st club visit on the 109^th day of the Toastmaster year.

The sergeant-at-arms was Syaiful Hakimnudin bin Sa’adon.  The Toastmaster of the Day was Raymond Zhang.  The timer was Siti Thuraiya binte Abdul Latiff.

Hu Yun gave her icebreaker speech.  She gave an insight into her life journey, from growing up in Southern China, to her further studies in Australia, to now, settling down in Singapore, a mother of two.  She spoke about being a physician in China, and being frustrated at the policies, due to her youthful idealism, and how she matured in her understanding of why things are the way they are, due to practical considerations.

Tony Yang Shun Xing, the facilities manager, is an engineer by training, moving across industries throughout his career, but mainly dealing with machines.  He recounted how that made him forget to smile when finally interacting with people, gaining him the monikers “Robot Man”, and “Poker Face”.  But he came to life when he shared his all-too human passion for soccer, and how his amateur team travels around the region to play matches.

Muhammad Nurfarhan bin Abdul Jaaffar shared with us some of his experiences as a former prisons officer, and how empathy and compassion are necessary when dealing with the incarcerated.  Whatever their mistakes which brought them to Changi Prison, they are still people, with familiar concerns such as family, societal acceptance, and friendship.

Hasniza binte Abdul Khalil invited us to wage war on the scourge of Styrofoam.  She enumerated on its superfluous use, and how it adversely affected the environment, in a passionate call to action.  She segued into health concerns due to the potential carcinogenic effects of using Styrofoam containers for hot food, and how it broke down and affected the food chain.  It was well-researched, and a credible clarion call.

Kan Kin Fung introduced us to the sitting-rising test, which provides a significant, and efficient prediction of mortality risk in elders.  It was initially developed in the 1990s.  He got volunteers to perform it, and he explained it.

The evaluators were Siti Zuhriyyah binte Mohammed Ariffin, Lim Li Ying, Josephine Ng, and Celia Jacqueline Lim.

Best Speaker: Kan Kin Fung;

Best Evaluator: Celia Jacqueline Lim; and

Best Table Topics Speaker: Siti Zuhriyyah binte Mohammed Ariffin.