Toa Payoh Central TMC as Contest Judge, 14th January 2020

On the 14^th January 2020, I was at Toa Payoh Central Toastmasters Club, as contest judge.  This was my 144^th club visit on the 198^th day of the Toastmaster year.  This was the international and humorous speech contest for the club.

The sergeants-at-arms were Roger Sng, Tan Ping Hong, and Koh Sook Hoon.  The contest chair was Lim Chang Jing.  The Contest Toastmaster was Alpha Khu Young Far.  The chief judge was Vincent Chua Tin An.  The tally counters were Bridget Nicole Lee, Jenny Lim, and Tony Tan Sein Wee.  The timers were Belinda Lee, and Francis Goh.  The photographer was Wong Mei Shin.

In the international speech segment, Teo Chai Guan, in his speech, “1+1=4”, spoke about mentoring, and growing a happy, loving family.  He has a son and a daughter.  At the insistence of his wife, he prioritised his family on weekends, at the expense of meeting clients.  He spoke of the challenges and the sacrifice for the family, and ultimately, his wife was right, and it was well worth it.  Money cannot buy everything.

Naseera Hidayatullah, in her speech, “Less Bitter, More Glitter”, recounted how she wanted to move out of the family home, and live on her own, because she wanted to be a “strong, independent woman”.  What she discovered was loneliness.  She explained how she dealt with it personally, and what she discovered about its consequences, in her own research, and experiential learning.  That journey to becoming a “strong, independent woman” involved more than simply living on her own.

A. Rajan Vadivel, in his speech, “WOW”, spoke about the values his parents passed on to him.  He broke down towards the end as he recounted his father’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, and how it feels like they are losing him every single day.

Chua Buck Hong, in his speech, “My Parents’ Battle with Cancer”, told us that his father passed away recently from cancer, at home.  He recounted the emotional journey, and the touching last moments, with the family there.  He then elaborated on the devastation of finding out his mother had stage 2 cancer of the stomach.  On the 26^th December, she went for surgery, and had 50% of her stomach removed.  Now, he spends as much time with her, and it brought the family closer.

Ershvinder Kaur’s speech title was a mouthful: “The Dangerous Adventure Story: Mission Waterfall”.  This was her tale of flying almost 24 hours to Trinidad & Tobago, in the Caribbean, to climb a muddy hill to see Avocat waterfall.  She gave an animated account of the journey, the result of being, “young, dumb, and energetic”.

Winner: A. Rajan Vadivel;

1^st Runner-Up: Ershvinder Kaur; and

2^nd Runner-Up: Naseera Hidayatullah.

The first contestant of the humorous speech segment, Pang Wen Sze, in her speech, “A Beautiful Song”, gave a hilarious account of the various incidences of linguistic misunderstanding between her mother, who speaks Hainanese, and her husband, who speaks Hokkien.

Lee Su Lan, in her speech, “I Have Got a Dream”, regaled us with her travails in overcoming her fear of public speaking.  It involved a dream of defecating in public, near a children’s playground.  She then gave us a parody dream interpretation.

Faith Low Chye Peng, in her speech, “Finding a Soul Mate”, told us her horror stories of dating.  Hers is a cautionary tale of desperate men, and helpful idiots.

A. Rajan Vadivel, in his speech, “DBS”, talked about not being superstitious, except when it matters.  It was an attempt at misdirection comedy.

Winner: Lee Su Lan;

1^st Runner-Up: Pang Wen Sze; and

2^nd Runner-Up: Faith Low Chye Peng.