522nd Chapter Meeting

Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club conducted its 522nd Chapter Meeting on 31st March, 2016. This was a regular chapter meeting and yet, for all members of the club, it was the special day of the week, the energetic Thursday. People turned out in good numbers and there was an excited buzz in the air as this one was a speech marathon and six speakers would be speaking along with a special speech segment. Without further delay, I shall move into the proceedings.

The appointment holders for the night were as follows:

Sergeant-at-Arms - Arjun Chakrabarti

Toastmaster of the Evening - John Lee

Timer - Kelvin Cheng

Ah Counter - Diederik Karssen

General Evaluator - Naveena Methani

The meeting started with SAA Toastmaster Arjun calling the meeting to order and performing an ice-breaking session by asking members to talk about the most recent book that they read. This was followed by the energetic and entertaining Toastmaster John Lee who graced the stage in the capacity of Toastmaster of the evening. The Acting President for the night, Toastmaster Kin Foong then shared the story of how a pushing a cow off the cliff helped a family lose their dependence on the cow and become successful. As usual, Kin Foong mesmerized the audience with his oratory and went on to inspire people to move out of their comfort zones. 

The meeting being a speech marathon, it was now time for the seven speeches. The first one was the special speech segment where Toastmaster Joe Wan spoke about The Successful Club Series and inspired everyone to visit other clubs. This was followed by ice-breaker speeches by Toastmasters Y. Mu Ming, Mervyn Chan and Mei Yee whereby the club got to know the new members in a deeper way. These speeches were followed by speeches by Toastmsters Murali and Subra who did their P3 Speeches from the Competent Communication Manual: Get To The Point. The final Speech of the night was performed by Toastmaster Abigail Lee who did her P4 Speech from the Competent Communication Manual: How To Say It.

The Prepared Speeches segment was followed by the induction of new members whereby Vice President Membership, Toastmaster Jaric Ng inducted the new members into the club withe the oath of Toastmasters International which was followed by their mentors presenting then with induction pins.

The last section before the break was the first advertisement of the training by Toastmasters Coen Tan and Ng Kin Foong titled "Push The Cow Off The Cliff". Within minutes, the limited twenty-seater workshop was eighty percent full showing the reputation of Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club trainers.

Break-time consisted of fantastic Fried Rice and Bee Hoon as well as  a special Thai Green Cury Chicken dish from Club Secretary Vincent's father Mr. Lawrence Chen. Mr. Lawrence is a beloved friend of the club who often mesmerizes us members with his fantastic culinary skills.

The evaluations of the night were excellent. The star evaluators, Toastmasters Zhuo Shuzhen, Jaric Ng (delivering his maiden evaluation), Andrew Chen, Tia Maria, Shaun Li and Vidhi Sarkar did fabulous jobs as evaluators. They encouraged the speakers and pointed out where they could improve further.

The final segment of the night was General Evaluation by Toastmaster Naveena Methani and in a span of eight and a half  minutes, she mentioned how the club had fared well and how the club could become ever better.

The segments of the meeting over, it was now time for results. First, the three toastmasters who had delivered their maiden speech were presented with Ice-Breaker Ribbons by Acting President Kin Foong. The winner of the Best Speaker Award was Toastmaster Abigail Lee and the winner of the Best Evaluator Award was Toastmaster Vidhi Sarkar.

The meeting was now officially concluded but that was not all. As you all know, we members of Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club never end so early. We moved on to the coffee shop for a further session of Water Chestnut, Chicken Rice, Beer and Table Topics. 

The next meeting of the club is on 7th April, 2016. Keep Watching this space for more news, views and stories of Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club.