14th Chapter Meeting on Saturday, 27th August 2011

27 August, Saturday was the first-ever election day in our national history to vote for the President of Singapore.  While most of us had to visit the respective designated polling stations in the morning to cast our votes,  we still managed to get a near 100% attendance during our chapter meeting. 

All thanks to John Sih and May Lee who reacted promptly when they realised that our defacto conference room at Anchorvale Community Centre will not be available.  May approached DTM Fernando Young, who generously offered us with the use of his meeting room at AIA Changi absolutely on a free. 

It was a great pleasure to have the company of the following friends and guests;
DTM Fernando Young, DTM Lee Jin Hwui, DTM Patricia Lum, ACS/CL John Liew, ACS Wong Kok Wah, ACB/CL Coen Tan, CC Wong Foong Yin, CC Shaun Li, CC Ted Chong and other guests who had graciously shown us their relentless support.

Jin Hwui began his highly-anticipated workshop on the Table Topics.  Having won the contest on Table Topics last year, he has a wealth of experience and knowledge to impart to us, his secrets to succeeding in speaking off the cuffs.  When Jin Hwui threw down the gauntlet, 6 members of the audience accepted his challenge;  Zulkifri, Ted Chong, May Lee, Clarissa Sih, Roger Yap and John Liew volunteered to brave the spotlight on the stage.  And the winner is....... drums rolling.... Clarissa Sih! The protege of our Club President. 

The prepared speech segment started on time right after our refreshment break.  Sathiya, Bernard, Steven and Roger delivered their individual masterpiece.  In the end, everyone was a winner. The mastery over self-doubts, stage-fright and shyness is reason enough to call each of them a champion. Listening to the speech evaluations after that, further helped to sharpen our linguistic blades. The Best Evaluator award went to DTM Patricia Lum.

Folks, celebrating members' birthday is a well-liked practice in Anchorvale Toastmasters Club.

Happy birthday to Clarissa (in blue shirt) and Mark!

Next up.  Language Evaluation by a learned gentleman. This guy is a good speaker.  This guy is a highly-cultured individual.  This guy is humble as the morning sun right before dawn.  
He is..... the one and only... Coen Tan!   It is really beyond me to try documenting his evaluation. Geez, I better not stain his meticulous work.  All I can comment is that, rarely do we get the good fortune to meet a spellbinder who holds our attention while addressing issues relevant to us.  Well, the wizard came!  (In a black suit)

Towards the end of our chapter meeting, our club president presented a special award to our beloved VPE, May Lee.  May had been, still is and always will be the backbone of our club.  Hmm... to paint a more definitive picture to those who have yet to meet her.  To the members of Anchorvale Toastmasters Club, she is like Arsene Wenger of Arsenal FC.  Full of wisdom, vision and clever maneuvers for the benefits of our team. 

May Lee receiving her Competent Communicator ribbon from Club President, John Sih.

2 new members joined us at the chapter meeting.  Let us welcome onboard our bandwagon;  Rajesh Mathew and Venkatachalam Ekambaram.  Cheers!

Few things in life are more satisfying and confidence building than to experience like-minded people intently listening to you as you deliver your speech.  If you wish to grab the opportunity to improve your speaking ability or to meet new friends, do join us at our next event on Saturday 2pm, 10th September.


Roger Yap
VPPR