Jauhari Bilingual TMC as Toastmaster of the Day, 18th January 2020

On the 18^th January 2020, I was at Jauhari Bilingual Toastmasters Club, as Toastmaster of the Day.  This was my 147^th club visit on the 202^nd day of the Toastmaster year.

The sergeant-at-arms was Siti Zuhriyyah binte Mohammed Ariffin.  The Toastmasters of the Day were Muhammad Nurhakim bin Mohamed Yusop and myself.  The timer was Hasniza binte Khalil.  The language evaluator was Mohamad Hijazi bin Sudarmaji.

Wiwiek Najihah binte Hairudin, in her presidential address, mentioned the peribahasa, Malay proverb, “Melepaskan batuk di tangga”.  In modern Malay, some literally translate this as “coughing at the stairs” which does not make sense.  The “batuk” is actually a sort of ladle used to scoop water for wudhu, ablution, prior to performing swalah, the Muslim ritual prayer.  To let it go at the stairs, instead of putting it back, is symbolic of performing an act without regard and due diligence, to be sloppy, and careless.  In this regard, we have to consider, in this new year, how we want to conduct ourselves, and carry out our work.

Eliza Yuliana binte Zubaidy gave her icebreaker.  She told her she was the first child born in a private hospital in Indonesia on the day of her birth.  Her father was Indonesian, and her mother is Singaporean.  As such, she is an Indonesian citizen, staying in Malaysia, and commuting to Singapore to accompany her ailing mother to the doctor.  To date, she has been unsuccessful in her bid to get Singapore citizenship, to rectify an oversight since her birth.

Nurliza binte Sawi, gave her first speech in the Pathways programme.  She is a secondary school teacher with adult children.  She married young, and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  She spoke about her family, and early life.

Mohammed Hatta bin Ibrahim gave a speech in Malay.  He said, “Luka itu perlu”, “The wound is real”.  It was a heartfelt speech about understanding pain, and challenging ourselves.  The audience gets the impression that there is greater personal depth to the subject matter.  He also recited a pantun, a Malay poem, that he composed.

Syazwani Dwiputri binte Abdul Wahid gave us an insight into her leadership style.  She is an innovative person by nature.

The evaluators were Othman bin Muhammad Sadli, Malcolm Sunny Chen @ Malik Sani Abdullah Chen, Patrick Oei Kian Seng, and Aaron Khalid bin Azhari.  It should be noted that Patrick Oei Kian Seng evaluated a Malay speech, in Malay.  His facility with languages is impressive.

Best Speaker: Mohammed Hatta bin Ibrahim; and

Best Evaluator: Aaron Khalid bin Azhari; and

Best Table Topics Speaker: Mohamad Saddiqi bin Mohamad Said.

There was an additional prize for the best dressed, according to the theme.  The winner was Mohammed Hatta bin Ibrahim.