2014 Installation Night!

It's our 21st Installation Night, since the day Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club was chartered on the 26th Jan 1993. It was a night of exuberance, excitement and enjoyment!

Notable Learning Points:

• Special address by Guest-of-Honour Tampines MP Irene Ng:
  "leadership begins with everyone. Step up!" 
• Opening Address by previous Area S4 Governor Zhuo Shuzhen:
  "every member has contributed to the success of the club. Take ownership, Grow."
  
  
• Immediate Past President Gurmit Singh: 
  
  After a year of success, reflect, reminisce and remember to show gratitude to those who made this possible. Gurmit thanked each and every one of the exco team (2013-2014). Indeed, everyone was instrumental to what Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club is today.

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Inaugural Address by President Ng Kin Foong:
  "Why did you come to the club for?"
  The upcoming President shared his vision of reconnecting with the older members of the club, for the club to fulfil members' intentions of joining the club in the very first place.
  
  




• Distinguished Keynote Speaker and Trainer Roy Lai:
  "Every moment is a learning moment"
  Life only stops when you stop learning. In his inspiring speech, Roy shares how he loves what he do; being a trainer allows him to constantly learn from the people he meet everyday. 

A great thank you to all the appointment holders who made this possible!

Our diligent attendance Takers | Crowd Control: Flora Fong and Kim Low

Our enthusiastic sergeant-at-arms: Chan Chee Wai

our toastmasters of the day, the humorous Joe Wan!

Our table topics masters: guests from Barclays Toastmasters Club,  2014 International Speech Division Champion Vikram Sivakumar and 2014 Table Topics Area S4 Champion Deb Pal!

It was all cheers and smiles the entire night.

Presenting Exco 2014 - 2015!

Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Installation Night 2014

It's a new term for Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club again! There is an amazing line-up of events carefully planned out by the incoming exco members. To just name a few, we would be having a keynote address by distinguished international speaker Roy Lai, an engaging table topics segment hosted by our guests from Barclays Toastmasters Club: table topics winnerDeb Pal and Division Champion Vikram Sivakumar!

It's going to be an exciting, enlightening and engaging Thursday Night! Do not miss out on such an opportunity. RSVP in the Google Form below to join us for a light-hearted yet informative Thursday night :)

474th Chapter Meeting or The Four Seasons, The Scariest Place and The Coup

Best Prepared Speech: Toastmaster Johnbosco Ng

Best Evaluator: Kenneth Yeo, ACS, ALB

Best Table Topic: Toastmaster Christina Ho

Word of the Evening: NUANCE

First things first: our Charismatic, Persuasive and Influential “Minister of Influence”, Coen Tan, is now officially a Distinguished Toastmaster! Congratulations to Coen!!

As acting Club President, Ng Kin Foong, CC invited us to stage a “coup of the imagination” (sounds like something from the 1970s Twilight Zone). He had fun, learned how to craft 7 speeches in about 7 weeks, assisted in Speechcraft and learned how to train. “Your real reason may not be it (your real reason)” he said, and added “At the root of it, is the desire for growth”

The first prepared Speech, by Toastmaster Johnbosco Ng (CC P5, Your Body Speaks), was about “The Scariest Place on Earth”! What is this 'scariest place', I hear you ask? It's the South Korea Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. It is 250 km long and 4 km wide. It was the site of gruesome axe murders, where Captain Bonifas who was ordered to cut down a poplar tree, was ambushed by the North Korean soldiers. Johnbosco's tour guide used one word to snap them out of the grim feeling: “Lunchtime!” Johnbosco did an amazing job describing his mouth-watering lunch (it was green spinach, but he made it sound so delicious) and why he had to wear a helmet in the tunnels. Can you guess why?*

The second prepared speech by Toastmaster Woelly William (CC P1: The Ice Breaker) started off on an amazing note: he said that it was his first Toastmasters speech and we should all give him a big hand to help him overcome his shyness! An accountant by profession, it didn't seem like he was new to public speaking and looks comfortable on stage. He talked about not letting fear 'take over our future' and likes the support and encouragement from Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club. Coincidentally, he mentioned 'rolling a boulder up a hill', which I was just reading about in Paul Allen's engrossing memoir, “Idea Man”. The legend of King Sisyphus, who had been deceitful and cheated Death twice, was that Zeus made him roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down again, over and over.

Our charismatic Toastmaster Ronnie Wang (CC P8, 'Get Comfortable with Visual Aids') began his speech entitled “Four Seasons” by repeating a question he is often asked: “Will you be here in Singapore long?” (Ronnie is from China). And his answer? “It depends on whether I miss the four seasons!” After a brief debate about how many seasons there are in Singapore (personally, I think there are only 2: GSS and the 'Saving-up phase'. Right, ladies?), Ronnie showed beautiful images of the four seasons. He also showed us an agricultural perspective: Spring is 'Planting Season', and Autumn is 'Harvest time'. Summer was a time to have fun outdoors ( I remember my first summer in the UK- so many locals sat/sunbathed in the sunlight and I was asking myself: “What's wrong with these people?” It made no sense to someone who came from a tropical country) and Winter was a time to make Ice Kachang. Seriously, winters are cold, especially when the wind blows. It doesn't snow all the time in winter, though. To sum up the lessons learned: “Life has seasons. Some winters are long, and some are short. The best part? Spring always comes!”

We also had a special segment about the Revitalized Education Program that Toastmasters International will roll out. The current program needs improving because it is confusing and there is not enough emphasis on leadership. The new program will be simpler, leadership will have more weightage and be more technology-centric (with usage of videos and mobile applications). Interestingly, it will also feature tailored learning while retaining the self-paced learning that we have now. Want to know more? Click here: http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/RevitalizedEducationProgram.aspx

Till next meeting, as Ng Kin Foong, CC said: stage a coup of your imagination!

Carl Wong HL

Vice President of Public Relations

*Answer to "Why wear a helmet in a tunnel?":

It's to avoid hitting your head on the tunnel ceiling

Distinguished Toastmaster Coen Tan

Acting President Ng Kin Foong, CC presents the coveted Ribbon

A salute is in order

Celebrating April's birthday babies

Andrew Chen, ATMB, ALS sharing a light moment with VPM Tan Mingjian, CC

Birthday wish!

Break time with Johnbosco Ng in the foreground 

Ng Cher Khim, CTM, ALS from Toastmasters Club of Singapore, and our Area S4 Governor, Zhuo Shuzhen, ALS, ACB

From left: Chia Choon Kiat, ACS, CL and founding member Michael Wee, DTM

Coen Tan, DTM with Kenneth Yeo, ACS, ALB from Nee Soon TMC

Best Prepared Speech: Toastmaster Johnbosco Ng

Best Evaluator: Kenneth Yeo, ACS, ALB from Nee Soon TMC

Best Table Topic: Toastmaster Christina Ho

473rd Meeting Recap, or The King, The Exco Member and The Military Commander

Best Prepared Speech: Christina Ho

Best Evaluator: Shaun Li, ACS, ALB

Best Table Topic: Gladys Tye, CC

Word of the Evening: ENERVATE

Club President, Gurmit Singh, CC, kicked the meeting off with a story about a man who took the place of a diety in a temple, for one day. And he had to follow only one simple rule: He mustn't say anything when he takes the place. After watching a sailor get blamed for stealing a wallet which someone else took, the man couldn't keep quiet any more, and spoke up that he saw it was someone else who stole it. When the deity returned and asked the man if anything interesting happened, the man said he just saved a sailor from being thrown in jail unnecessarily. However, the deity told the man that he had just killed the sailor; the sailor's ship was supposed to be sunk, and the sailor was to be exempt from boarding the ship, when he was supposed to be in jail. What's the moral(s) of the story? Deities have grand plans, some of which we don't yet understand. Do what deities tell you to. And stop taking the place of deities! Do the work you're paid to, and enjoy your days off!!

The first Prepared Speech (CC Project 3: Get to the Point, entitled “Greeeeen”) by Toastmaster Chan Chee Wai, was about taking care of the environment. He summed it up with 5 Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Renew, and Respect. Chee Wai mentioned some ideas for protecting our environment: Car-pooling, Energy Star Rating and donating old clothes. I really like the ecological message of his speech and the specific steps that we can take to take better care of our environment. Also his detailed description of the man who comes by to collect recyclable materials: “Kring, kring!”

The second Prepared Speech (“Be There”, CC Project 5: Your Body Speaks) by Toastmaster John Lee was about a King who sought wisdom by finding the answers to 3 questions:

a) When is the best time to be doing something?

b) Who should I be doing it with?

c) What's the most important thing I should be doing, right now?

John gave an example from his own childhood: about being in the 'flow' of playing. Turns out The King in the story found out the answers to his questions by helping his enemy.

The third Prepared Speech by Andrew Chen, ATMB, ALS, was a rallying call to serve in next term's Exco (Advanced Project 5 from the Persuasive Speaking Manual, entitled “We Need You”) Andrew started by sharing with us his vision for our club: “To be an elite Toastmasters Club”. Then he spoke about how he went (Toastmasters) club visiting with his mentor, Michael Wee, DTM, who helped him a lot with his personal growth. Andrew also mentioned Nathaniel Koh, DTM, who was club President and Division Governor in 2006.

The next Prepared Speech was by Toastmaster Christina Ho, entitled “Everyone Has a Story” (CC Project 5: Your Body Speaks). Christina told the story of someone who just had an eye operation and was seeing the world for the first time- very odd behaviour. If we really understood where they were coming from, though, it makes sense. She also told of how her Dad seemed enervated and not interested in her basketball win and amazing speech achievement. However it turned out that he had a health problem and was losing weight because of it. Christina understood, though, and when she hugged her Dad, there was a clear message of love between them.

The fifth speaker, Toastmaster Joe Wan, talked about “Leadership in Adversity” (CC Manual Project 6: Vocal Variety). Joe recounted Cao Cao's speech from the “Romance of Three Kingdoms”, right after their defeat at the battle at the Red Cliff. His 830,000 troops were defeated by an army of 60,000 men. “A military commander is like a physician; when more people die from the failed treatments, the physician's skills become better and better” and “Failure teaches us how to succeed” were some memorable quotes from Joe's speech.

Till next meeting, be awesome!

Carl Wong HL

(Vice President of Public Relations)

Best Table Topic: Gladys Tye, CC

Best Prepared Speech: Toastmaster Christina Ho

Best Evaluator: Shaun Li, ACS, ALB

International Speech and Table Topics Contest: 6th March 2014

International Speech Contest

Champion: Ng Kin Foong, CC

1st Runner-up: Shaun Li, ACS, ALB

2nd Runner-up: Coen Tan, ACS, ALB

Table Topics Contest

Champion: Coen Tan, ACS, ALB

1st Runner-up: Lee Jin Hwui, DTM

2nd Runner-up: Ng Kin Foong, CC

Opening Address by Organizing Chair: June Tan, CC

Tan Mingjian, CC, about to take his turn to speak

Kin Foong demonstrating how Fuzzy would react if tickled on the tummy

Kin: Wagging tail

Coen's Golden Smile

Shaun's trademark opening move

Shaun: "WOOHOO!!"

Chief Judge: Zaid Mohd Yasin, ACS, ALS

Up for grabs, the Immunity Idol and 3 trophies per contest

Contest Chair: Aaron Ong from DSTA TMC

Timer 2: Herman Susantio from Buddhist Fellowship TMC

Certificate of Participation: Lee Jin Hwui, DTM

Certificate of Participation: Christina Ho

Certificate of Participation: Carl Wong, CC

Certificate of Participation: Ng Kin Foong, CC

Certificate of Participation: Shaun Li, ACS, ALB

Timer 1: Nui Thantong Bang-on, CC

SAA 1: Deb Pal from Barclays TMC

Certificate of Participation: Ng Luan Eng, CC

International Speech Champions are required to salute the Club President this way

Certificate of Participation: Coen Tan,, ACS, ALB

SAA 2: Thuy Anh from Vietnam TMC

Certificate of Participation: Tan Mingjian, CC