Money Mastery TMC as Language Evaluator, 22nd November 2019

On the 22^nd November 2019, I was at Money Mastery Toastmasters Club, as language evaluator.  This was my 125^th club visit on the 146^th day of the Toastmaster year.

The sergeants-at-arms were Darrell Tan and Claire Li.  The Toastmaster of the Day was Candrika Adri Tjo.  The timer was Tea Pei Qi.  The table topics master was Alfred Swe.  The photographer was Donathan Ong.  The videographer was Jiang Wen Chao.  The multimedia manager was Joel Shee.

Rebecca Tan H. Q., in her presidential address, spoke about taking advantage of our opportunities.  In the case of Toastmasters, it is about airtime, and maximising it.

Koh Keng Huat spoke about the personal growth of various club members, and name-checked them.  He then expounded on how that inspired him on his Toastmasters journey.

Ranil Narra gave a speech about patience.  He contended that this generation is far less patient.  This is due to environmental factors.  Technology has pampered us, and made us less patient.  He expounded on what can be done to help our children overcome this.

Adeline Yeo gave a speech about methods for developing healthier communication styles.  She went into some detail on the concept of mindful speaking.  In essence, the purpose of deep listening is empathy and compassion.

Catherine Chain gave a hilarious speech about taking advantage of people.  This was a prime example of misdirection in humour, and it went over well with the audience.  The real lesson is taking advantage of people with better attributes and abilities so that we can better ourselves.

The evaluators were Ray Suvrodeep, Zhang Ye, Muhammad Nurhakim bin Mohamed Yusop, Penny Anne Radcliffe, and Patrick Oei Kian Seng.

Best Speaker: Catherine Chai;

Best Evaluator: Penny Anne Radcliffe; and

Best Table Topics Speaker: Guest.

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.