Across the bridge...
In 1972, UNESCO adopted a convention to
identify and protect places of cultural or physical significance in human
history. Such places are named as World Heritage Sites, and governments are
encouraged to preserve these sites as much as possible because of their historical
value. In 2008, Malacca joined the list of about 1,000 such sites in the world,
due to its unique architectural heritage influenced by the Malay sultanate
(15th century), the Portuguese and Dutch (early 16th century) and the British
(end of 18th century).
Malacca was thus a fitting place, indeed,
for a historic joint meeting between Anchorvale and ICT-Bintang Toastmasters
Clubs, based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur respectively. Sparked by a
friendship between Anchorvale’s Roger
and ICT-Bintang’s Gabriel, the first
joint meeting was held a year ago at Anchorvale CC, where we had upwards of 50
people in attendance. This time, about 40 toastmasters and guests made their
way to the majestic meeting room at the UTC building, ready to be engaged and entertained.
The theme of the meeting was
appropriately “Shared Heritage”, which was well reflected in all the events on
the program. After the individual introductions and welcome address by
Anchorvale’s President Sathya,
Toastmaster of the Day Justin spoke
about this meeting embodies the living heritage of the Toastmasters founder, Ralph Smedley. Next up was Sathya, who, as his first time as
Humour Master, tickled our funny bones with the mishaps of his attempts to meet
girls as a young man, and how he was thwarted by his mischievous friends.
The third event was the Table Topics,
helmed by Salma. Always interesting
due to the impromptu nature of the speeches, there was a broad range of topics
mostly centered around the similarities and differences in heritage between
Singapore and Malaysia. Nine people participated:
1)
Pam told us about the two main things she
admires about Singapore -- its education system and its affluence;
2)
Patricia revealed her wish to date a girl if she
were to become a man for one day;
3)
Rachel explained the concepts of “kiasu” and
‘kiasi”, two misconceptions that people rightly have about Singaporeans;
4)
Melvyn shared with us his joy of dancing and the
importance of being happy instead of being correct;
5)
CC gave his sharp and witty observations
about the types of tourists in his hometown;
6)
Rasu described how people fight for water in
Chennai;
7)
Gabriel cheekily recounted an anecdotes of how
he caught a couple “bonding” in a car during the lantern festival;
8)
Jane mulled over the unusual Singaporean (and
Malaysian too?) obssesion with food
9)
Alvin imitated a Singaporean making fun of
Malaysia’s education and transport systems.
Then, it was time for the prepared
speeches. We had four charismatic men that day, each with a powerful speech.
First was Steffan, a new dad. He
imparted to us a lesson that he’d learnt from his father about parenting - it
is just as important to spend quality time as it is to spend enough time with
your child. Next, Rasu spoke about
the complaining nature of human beings and how it suppresses positive thoughts.
He then gave us a tip to stop complaining - put yourself in other people’s
shoes and try to see things from their perspective. Following that, Robin narrated his story “All I want
for Christmas” -- a touching account of how the impact of losing his
grandfather impressed upon him that what he wants are not material things, but
instead the intangible good health and happiness of people around him. Finally,
Hareesh brought us to Amazon
Rainforest as he regaled “The Wings of the Butterfly”, a magical folk tale
about a girl who chased a butterfly into the forest and learnt to appreciate
the larger world beyond the human one. One line that sticks with me is “The
mind sees better than the eyes”, which reminds me that sometimes it’s better to
trust my instinct than to follow others!
After these stimulating speeches that
provided much food for thought, it was time to feed the belly. A wide array of
local delights awaited us out in the corridor - from curry puffs to nasi lemak
to nonya kuehs. My mouth is still watering now, when I think of the curry
puffs! It was also a good time for club members to mingle and make new friends.
Bellies filled, we got back to our seats
for the evaluation. Melvin, our
meticulous Table Topic evaluator, was the first. He succinctly described each
speaker and gave us short tips on how to improve. Next were the evaluators for
the prepared speeches: Chee Sian, Gabriel, Roger and Ivan. Each
evaluator had their own strengths and it was a treat to hear the different ways
an evaluation could be carried out. Chee
Sian was direct and straightforward, leaving Steffan with a message: Be mindful of the audience. Gabriel focused on the structure of Rasu’s speech, pointing out that the
preamble was a tad too long, leaving little time for the conclusion. Roger showed how Robin could connect to the audience by being more succinct and
improving his stage presence. Finally, Ivan
demonstrated how to use sound/vocal effects to make Hareesh’s folk tale come alive.
Then, all that remained was to wrap up
the meeting. Grammarian Muthu, Ah
Counter Tammy, and Timer Joshua gave their reports, and General
Evaluator Zul congratulated everyone
on a job well done. Then it was time to hand out the awards for the best Table
Topic speaker, prepared speech speaker, and evaluator -- Melvyn, Steffan and Roger respectively. Congratulations to
all three!
And with that, it was time to end the
meeting with the closing address by Benny,
ICT-Bintang’s President. Special thanks were given to Chee Sian and Cherie (ICT-Bintang), who had the mammoth task of coordinating and
handling the logistics for the meeting. It was indeed an amazing effort on
their part, without which this historic meeting may never have happened. I’m
sure I speak for all those present when I say that it was a huge success and I
enjoyed myself thoroughly during the trip!
Written by: Rachel
