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

Message from our President (former)

Making Bandung

Bandung – a local drink, is a mixture of Water, Rose Syrup and Milk. Just like a Toastmasters Club – Some members are like Life-Giving water. They provide basic support like turning up early for meetings and helping out with setting up the room for a conducive meeting, buying refreshments, making sure our conference room is booked and reserved for our monthly meetings, filling in by holding appointments (at the 11th hour), during meetings when some members cannot turn up due to unforseen circumstances.

Some members are just like Rose Syrup. They add colour and flavour to our meetings. They are the Life of The Party types! They are entertaining speakers, adding humour and fun to our meetings. Some are sweet – adding their Smiles, Warmth and Friendliness! While others are like Milk! They add Nutrition to our meetings! Knowledgeable Intellectuals, Experienced, Professionals and Well Educated, they add depth and width to our understanding about a wide variety of topics! They are open and willing to share their wealth of knowledge and experience. They add Substance and Quality to our meetings!

As the President of the club, my job is like a Stirrer. As I stir, I am able to mix all these 3 elements; Integrating, Gelling and Uniting all our members, to become a Cohesive Force – A Formidable Team - Like Sweet, Nutritious, Delicious, Thirst - Quenching Bandung!

John Sih

President

Club Officers Training- Division A (16th July 2011)

It is so typical of people to expect their organization or government to provide for everything they need. But how often do we ask ourselves what could we have done for them instead.  Only with a grateful attitude, would we be able to fully appreciate the things that we have been freely given.

On the 16th July 2011, the Division and Area Governors of District 80, Division A, organized a highly effective training programme for the newly elected officers.  Every attending officer was given a set of guidebook that was meticulously put together by the dedicated volunteers. The 46-pages thick guidebook contains essential information and articles that are important to every toastmaster.  Having gone through the entire guidebook, I have tagged several pages for quick reference in the future.  Kudos to the organizing committee. And when it comes to our turn to serve, we should all give our best to ensure this good practise never ceases.

Lets' recognise and express our sincere thanks to the following Toastmasters;

1)   Michael J Rodrigues, DTM : District Governor
2)   Patrick Oei, DTM : District Governor, Education and Training 
3)   Pradeep Kumar, DTM: District Governor Marketing
4)   Yeo Chai Tun, DTM: Advisor to Div A
5)   Fernando Young, DTM: Advisor to Div A
6)   Albert Lim, DTM: Advisor to Div A
7)   M. Harikrishnan, ACS/ ALS: Div A Governor
8)   Goh Sor Hoon, ACG/ ALB: District Secretary
9)   Jessica Lee, CC/ CL: Chairperson- COT
10) Morrthiappan Bharathi, ACB/ ALS: Co-organising Chair
11) Rose Ho, ACB/ ALS: Registration & Reception Committee
12) Vasandam Raju, ACB/ CL: Co-ordination & Publication works
13) T.Porchelvi, CC: Co-ordination & Publication works
14) Dakshayani D/O Dhayalan: Design & Publication
15) May Lee, CC:  Time-keeper- COT

7 members of our EXCO team turned up for the training.  John Sih (President), May Lee (VPE), Sathya (VPM), Roger (VPPR), Jenny (Treasurer), Kian Keong (Assistant Treasurer) and Thomas (SAA).

We had a rallying get-together after the event. We really do have a special team this term.  Action speaks louder than words... let us show our fellow toastmasters and our communities, what we could accomplish in a year's time, if we set our mind to it. Whole-heartedly.


Roger Yap
VPPR

Anchorvale Toastmasters Club- 12th Chapter Meeting, 25th June 2011

It has been quite a while since we last gathered at our home turf.  As a team, we visited the Braddell Heights II Toastmasters Club on the 28th May, for a joint meeting.  The last time our members met up at the Anchorvale Boardroom was Saturday 21th May 2011.  That place had certainly lost its shines, without the bunch of linguistic warriors and oral ambassadors holding the fort.

Hey, we are back!   Trust me, we are not the same team as before.  Have you watched 'Kungfu Panda" ?  Well, we have had the 'PO' experience ~ we have been enlightened!  Ready to make some intellectual noise and to rock the Toastmasters' world.  In a month's time, we are going to announce and commission our new EXCO team. We have got 2 "ShiFu" veterans to spearhead us for the next 12 months.  It is really exciting to have John Sih and Jenny Au in our team!

Our 12th Chapter meeting was both a social bonanza and a sold-out performance.  We had the pleasure having distinguished guests, DTM Ng Cher Kim, CC Biman Roy, ACB/ CL Manoj Vasudevan and CC Kevin Tan gracing our event.

We began the meeting with the table topics segment.  A total of 8 courageous speakers took on their individual impromptu challenge.  It was so interesting to hear the quick-wits and eloquence of some good speakers.  We were especially impressed by the sporting spirit shown by our guest, Vereen. Though, it was her first time visiting a Toastmaster club, she took on the challenge and spoke about her belief on "Punctuality".

Our VPE, May Lee, started the prepared speech segment with her spell-binding project 10 topic, "I am not prepared".   Right after her mesmerising performance, Teo Kian Keong and Sathyamoorthi both displayed their oral excellence.

The evaluations on prepared speeches, Language Evaluation (by Kevin Tan) and General Evaluation (by Ng Cher Kim) kept all of us rooted to our chairs.  Time flew by.  It was time to annouce who our winners were;   Competent Communicator, May Lee, won the prepared speech ribbon.  John Sih was the best evaluator of the day, while we have a scenario of joint-winners for the table topics segment.  Distinguished Toastmaster, Ng Cher Kim and our VPM2, Steven Lee both emerged as the crowd's favourites.

We could envision our Anchorvale Toastmasters Club becoming successful.  Apart from having important qualities such as team cohesiveness, work efficacy, setting of clear goals, consistently achieving our milestones and increasing the strength & depth of our members.  We need PASSION to help us navigate through our uncharted territory.   Rome wasn't built in a day.  Likewise, we should set our sights further.  We believe!


Roger Yap
VPPR