Cairnhill CC Toastmasters Club: Words Can Move Mountains

On 22^nd January 2020, I was at Cairnhill CC Toastmasters Club as Language Evaluator, my 150^th club visit on the 206^th day of the Toastmaster year.  Mike Woon, DTM, served as Sergeant-at-Arms.  Terence Tan served as Toastmaster of the Day.  Fernando Young, DTM, served as Table Topics Master.

Words That Move Mountains

Melvin Tan, in his opening address, emphasised the importance of using the correct words, illustrated starkly through the example of suicide watch and speaking to the vulnerable.  He argued that words can move mountains, that words can heal, that words can kill, and that words can open people’s hearts.  The claim is not rhetorical exaggeration.  A 2022 study by Dr. Madelyn S. Gould and colleagues, published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, found that 90% of texters reaching out through the Crisis Text Line found the conversation helpful, with half reporting reduced suicidal ideation by the end of the exchange.  That outcome was produced through text, words alone, with no physical presence and no medication involved.  Tan’s central point holds that the specific words chosen, in a fragile moment, are not decorations around the support being offered.  They are the intervention itself.

From Drain Rat to Champion

John Liew shared childhood memories from his old neighbourhood in Chinatown, recounting the day he fell into a drain and nearly drowned, earning the nickname “Drain Rat” among the neighbourhood children.  His father responded by enrolling him in swimming lessons.  In his first competition, he finished first, counting from the back.  He persisted regardless, and eventually became a swimming champion, turning his own detractors into cheerleaders along the way.  He chose to stand where he fell, rather than avoid the water that had nearly taken him, and rode that decision into a different identity than the one his childhood nickname had assigned him.

Climate Change and the Overlooked Cost

Eliina Chan spoke on climate change, referencing regional natural disasters to support her position, before highlighting the effect on biodiversity, a cost frequently overlooked against the more immediately visible human toll.  A speech willing to name the quieter casualty, rather than resting on the more dramatic human statistics, demonstrates a thorough grasp of the subject.

Leadership, Practised Rather Than Merely Described

Zhou Ming Qin gave a presentation on exercises in multiple leadership styles, explaining the different approaches she practises and how she applies each depending on context.  A leader who can name which style she is using, and why, in each moment, has moved beyond instinct into strategic self-awareness.

A Lesson in Living

Angie Ng gave an account of her experience paragliding with her family, drawing the lesson that living fully means actively seeking out new experiences rather than waiting for them to arrive.

The Evaluators and Results

Sushant Pandita, Penny Radcliffe, June Tan, and Lim Chee Hoo served as Project Evaluators.  Best Speaker went to Angie Ng.  Best Evaluator went to Lim Chee Hoo.  Best Table Topics Speaker went to Rosie.  A meeting that opened by naming the weight language carries in a crisis, and closed with the freedom of a family paragliding together, covered a wide emotional range for one evening, and did so without a single transition feeling forced.

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Terence Nunis, DTM | Division Advisor, District 80 Division M | Club Advisor, AIA Toastmasters | Past President & Founder, Awesome Toastmasters