Anchorvale Toastmasters Club - Quest for the Golden Gavel

On Friday, 02 August 2013, 4 of our members visited Marine Parade Toastmasters Club in participation of the “Pirates of the Golden Gavel” program.  Sathiya, Salma, Sreeman and myself were warmly welcomed by the nice folks there.   The program was initiated by the District Leaders, to promote the spirit of camaraderie among different clubs within the same division.  Marine Parade was the first club to get the rights of holding on to the golden gavel, while Anchorvale volunteers as the first challenger. 

The Golden Gavel!

We took on some appointment roles while being part of the group during their chapter meeting;

Roger Yap-  Language Evaluator

SathiyaMoorthi- Project Evaluator

Salma Begum-  Timer

Sreeman Mannamusiva-  Speaker for a prepared speech project

Merely a week away from our National Day, the organizer decided to adopt a patriotic theme by asking all participants to turn up in red & white.   Well, it seemed like a tall order for me, as I don’t have anything that is red in color.  I tried to put a red hanky, exposing it on the front pocket of my blazer, but it really looked awful.  Definitely a better idea not to do it, I will look as if I travelled in a time-machine and came from 1960s! Fortunately, no one really noticed as I was virtually hidden from view in the sea of reds and whites.

The fellow toastmasters from Marine Parade were such gracious hosts; we really had a great time during the meeting, enjoying their company.  N

ow that the Golden Gavel has landed on our turf, we endeavor to show similar hospitality to our guests.  Till date, we have already heard from 3 different clubs, who expressed their desire to join us on Saturday, 24^th August. (9am to 1pm).  It is certainly going to be an exhilarating experience for everyone involved.  

The team that brought back the gavel!

For anyone who is interested to be part of the action, do feel free to contact our VPE, Sathiyamoorthi at 98528340!

At the same time, feel free to come down or drop in on the action on the 24th August 2013 (9 am - 1 pm) - Anchorvale Toastmasters await your arrival!

Article contributed by: Roger Yap, CC

Anchorvale Toastmasters Club - Humorous & Evaluation Speech Club Contest

It was time for one of the highlights of the year for Anchorvale Toastmasters! The Humorous Speech and Evaluation Speech Club Contest had finally com and we had a full house to cheer on the brave contestants who took on the exciting task of making the audience laugh where we had a club record number of participants!

Humorous Contest

Up came Thomas, our first performer who got the ball rolling with his tale of life at his workplace. Next was Norman who did a hilarious impersonation of various different accents. Followed by Zulhafni who amused the crowd with his various experiences of trying to be funny, though with us, he didn’t have to try, as the champion was entertaining throughout his speech.

Whether it was Wee Chong taking us on his Toastmaster journey or Bernard relaying his dating experiences, the audience loved it all. Personally, as the last speaker for the humorous contest, I thought I would find it hard to pay attention to the earlier contestants but their delightful stories were enough to calm my jumbled nerves. Not to be outdone, Sreeman and Sathya both described sad but funny tales about being called an uncle and a grandfather respectively, though they most definitely do not look like one.

Evaluation Contest

The next segment of the evening was the Evaluation Contest, and we were treated to an inspirational story about the people who impact our lives from our gracious test speaker, Divyesh hailing from Temasek Polytechnic Toastmasters Club. Then each of our evaluators came up with their own unique approach for their evaluations and enlightened the crowd with their critiques.

As the contest progressed, the mood was very much friendly and there was no over competiveness amongst the contestants. Everyone was supportive and feeling excited about the results. When the Chief Judge, Jared from Temasek Poly walked in with the results, there was a loud cheer and we had our top 3 performers.

Humorous Contest:

1) Muhammad Zulhafni

2) Bernard Ng

3) Salma Begum

Evaluation Contest:

1) Muhammad Zulhafni

2) Norman Tan

3) Bernard Ng

Congratulations must be given to all the contestants, it was indeed a tight race.

Acknowledgements

We must reserve special thanks to the organizing committee.

Firstly, May Lee our outstanding Organizing Chairperson who went all out for this event, our incredible sergeant at arms, Sanjay, Leng Leng, Valiappan and Yvonne. The men who fed us with mouth-watering food, Suresh and Thomas. Our cool VPE, Sathya who helped with logistics. Our excellent VPM, Valiappan who treated our guests like royalty and even had a new member registered, Anila. Kudos to you and we look forward to your ice breaker speech. :D And finally, our President Roger who continues to display great leadership qualities.

We would also like to thank our visiting Toastmasters and special guests who performed their roles to great effect. It was very heartening to see some familiar faces visit our club again.

We hope you all enjoyed Anchorvale’s Humorous Speech and Evaluation Speech Contests. I certainly did and I look forward to seeing you at our next chapter meeting on the 24^th of August! 

Do check out our FB Page at (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anchorvale-CC-Toastmasters/430214003687755?fref=ts) and look at more photos from our previous meeting!

Article Contributed by: Salma Begum, Anchorvale Toastmasters

We look forward to welcoming you again at Anchorvale Toastmasters!

39th Chapter Meeting & Installation Ceremony - 13th July 2013

Welcome yet again to another homely Chapter Meeting for Anchorvale Toastmasters!

On the 13^th of July 2013, a storm was brewing down in the area tucked away from the rigours of the concrete jungle – nope, this was no ordinary storm; rather this was Anchorvale Toastmasters Club preparing itself for yet another electrifying and exciting Chapter Meeting!

Welcome all to Anchorvale TMC’s 39^th Chapter Meeting cum Installation Ceremony (Executive Committee 2013-2014)! The Anchorvale ship was ready as early as 1 pm for its guests, with food well-stocked (in the form of a delicious and sumptuous buffet spread) and all hands on deck to greet and make everyone feel at home.

Installation Ceremony

A mark of a good leadership plan is its ability to transit seamlessly from one generation to those that come after – Anchorvale TMC likewise was honoured to have Area A2 Governor, ACB/ALB Rebecca Chan with us to install the new, incoming and excited Executive Committee. Every member took the gavel with great conviction in their hands; paralleled only by the energetic gusto accompanying their acceptance of their respective role. We definitely look forward to having this new team, led by incoming President Roger Yap, CC, lead our Club to even greater heights! And in the spirit of stepping up, Roger, CC gave his first ever President’s Opening Address, indicating the conviction and dedication he has for the Club!

Here are the members of the 2013/14 Executive Committee:

President: Roger Yap, CC

VP Education: Sathiyamoorthi Chinnasamy

VP Membership 1: Valliappan Selvamani

VP Membership 2: Norman Tan

VP Public Relations 1: Muhd. Zulhafni, CC

VP Public Relations 2: Mayurkumar Gadewar

Sergeant-at-Arms: Suresh Reddy

Secretary: Sreeman, CC

Treasurer: Salma Begum

Immediate Past President: Bernard Ng

Project Speeches & Table Topics

Not to be outdone, our speakers for the day were all ready to enthral and excite the audience! Leng Leng, TM brought us a timely reminder of what technology was doing to us; Steven Yuen, CC attempted to persuade all of us to buy a car and learn the art of sales at the same time while Zulhafni, CC showed us what it means to be a GST (Good Singaporean Toastmaster!). Special congratulations however to Jin Guang, TM for completing his maiden speech!  He did extremely well without referring to any notes – keep the good work up!

Mayurkumar was up next and any of us who thought we were going to have a normal, routine Table Topics session were wonderfully surprised by the extremely unique format – speakers were made to choose who to save among people drowning or even to see a pair of oxen to the audience! Many went up to take up the unique challenge and everyone definitely entertained and were entertained for the day!

Final Thanks

We would like to thank all our appointment holders for the day, especially to visiting Toastmasters for their support as well as guests who bravely came down. We hope you had an enjoyable time and we definitely hope to see everyone again!

Ribbon Winners:

Best Prepared Speech: Zulhafni, CC

Best Table Topics: Zulhafni, CC

Best Evaluator: Bernard Ng, TM

Do come down for our Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest on the 27^th of July!

Toastmasters Area A2 International Speech and Table Topics Contest

Toastmasters Area A2 International Speech and Table Topics Contest

All bets were off! It was a highly anticipated event not to be missed, as our Champions from Area A2 and A4 Toastmasters Club gathered at One Raffles Quay to vie for the title of Best Speaker for the International Speech and Table Topics categories.

Amidst the dazzling array of captivating speakers, representing Anchorvale TMC for both Contests was our very own CC Roger Yap!

First to begin, the International Speech Contest and the audience were definitely not disappointed, as our Club champions wowed them with enrapturing speeches. Roger captured our attention with his speech entitled ‘How Could I Say Yes?”. We empathized with him as he narrated his army exploits in Charlie Company, blushed at his romantic encounter with his female platoon mate and felt for him as Roger bravely stepped up to his challenges, even if it might mean sustaining injuries along the way, Roger chose not to give up in a fight-or-flight situation.

With his impeccable comic timing and animated body language, Roger demonstrated his skill as an outstanding Toastmaster. But the other speakers were not to be overlooked as well, each with their own captivating stories ensuring continuous laughter for the audience. From the primordial legends of the Chinese New Year to the laugh-out-loud horrors of Vietnamese traffic and Iced Jellyfish, the audience was needless to say, entertained to their utmost delight.

As for Table Topics, our Champions showed us what it was like to think fast on their feet with a cryptic quote “What Brought Us Here Today, Will Not Bring Us There Tomorrow”.  Looking at how each of our Contestants tackled the topic masterfully and vicariously, one would easily forget the immense difficulty of immediately coming up with a 3min speech! As some audience continued to be confounded by the topic, our Contestants were hardly fazed and it was truly an honor to witness these outstanding Toastmasters in action.

Soon, it was time for the much awaited results and Roger emerged Champion for both categories! As the Anchorvale entourage erupted with euphoria, our cheers were deafening! (we had the largest group of supporters) It was a proud moment for Anchorvale TMC as Roger brought the Club glory as a Double Champion! After this, he will proceed on to represent us at the Division level (another exciting story not to be missed!)

The true face of a champion! 

To the audience that day, it was truly an eye-opening experience to see the best of each Club come together and battle for Toastmaster glory. After the event, I’m sure everyone felt like a winner, having the chance to learn from these amazing speakers. Most of all, it was an afternoon well spent, filled with joy and laughter in the company of fellow Toastmasters.

Well done, Roger! Continue to fly the Anchorvale Toastmasters flag high and inspire our members and Club to greater heights! 

Article contributed by: Norman Tan

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Club update - Mar 2013

Hello friends,

Hope that you had a blessed and blissful Easter long weekend. It was delightful and meaningful weekend for Anchorvale Toastmasters. 

Our rising star and esteemed speaker, Roger Yap, had won the earlier Club and Area contests with his quick wits and literary skills. To show our support for Roger, our family of toastmasters was Fengshan CC yesterday, 30 Mar, to show our support for Roger Yap at the Division A International Speech and Table Topics contests.

Both our club mentors, Distinguished Toastmasters, Jenny Au and Richard Tay, were there to cheer us along and our contingent of supporters were the largest.  Even though we did not clinch the top 3 prize at the Division A contests, we did have an interesting afternoon watching, listening and learning from the best speakers from Division A.  

I would also like to take the opportunity during the Easter weekend to congratulate the following speakers who had done well during our March Chapter Meeting.

Our winners for the 23 Mar 2013, 35th Chapter Meeting are:

Project Speaker      - Norman Tan

Project Evaluation   - Zulhafni, CC

Table Topics          - Roger Yap, CC

Our Project 1 Speakers who completed their maiden speeches:


Joseph Chong

Suresh Reddy  

Neo Wee Chong

Salma Begum

President Club President Challenge

Congratulations to Norman Tan for being the first member to receive the Club President Challenge Award. This award rewards members who recruit a new member.

See you again at our Chapter Meeting on 27th April, from 2 p.m to 5 p.m.

Best Regards

Bernard Ng

Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club contest- Saturday, 26 January 2013

It is this time of the year again.  Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club’s contest day for International Speech and Table Topics.  The previous one we had in 2012, was 12 months ago!  How it feels like as if we just had it not too long ago.  Well, good times always tend to flash by faster than we could fathom.  The important thing is;  how much have our members grown in quality, substance and overall speech mastery.  We will find out.

Haven’t you discovered the coincidence?  Our contest day or chapter meeting had always fallen on the same day as the nation’s polling and election day.  While the residents in Punggol East constituency went to the polling stations to vote for their next political hero, here in Anchorvale Toastmasters Club, we were able to witness the emergence of our speech champions.

Let us applaud the band of friends from other clubs who came this afternoon to lend us a helping hand.  Without their involvement and unreservedly selfless contribution, our event would not have been possible.  Not in order of merit, these are the people who helped out;

Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club

-       Shaun Li, ACB/ CL

Punggol Toastmasters Club

-       Mavis Lai, Alamel Moghan, Sonia

   Geylang Serai Toastmasters Club

-       Tay Kay Keng, ACB, Keegan He, Nurlisa Sawi, CC

Buddhist Fellowship Toastmasters Club

-       Herman Susantio, CC

YMCA Toastmasters Club

-       Jacqueline Pamela Gaston, CC,CL

Toa Payoh Toastmasters Club

-       Edwin Tan, CC, ALB

The chief judge-  Carolyn Street-Johns,  ACS, ALB,  and her team of distinguished toastmasters who formed the core of the panel of judges.   As for all our guests and visitors that I am unable to list out in full, be assured, we greatly appreciate your presence. 

Our pair of emcees;  TMD- Jacqueline and Contest Chair- Shuan Li

prepared the stage & pre-performance mood so well, it set a pulsating experience right from the start.  Teo Kian Keong, Roger Yap, May Lee, Sathyamoorthi Chinnasamy and Thomas Selvaraj took part in the International Speech Contest.   While the audiences had a good time, the contestants fully enjoyed themselves too.  Kian Keong turned up as the ambassador for the Blood Donation drive.  I re-enacted some experiences during my army days.    May Lee showed us a glimpse of her innermost world about her views and belief about social media.  Sathya taught us a trick or two on how to get the spouse to accept a piece of charcoal as gift and yet convinced that it will become a diamond later. (no thanks bro, there is no way it could work in my household :D ).   Thomas presented on how to be an excellent public speaker. 

During the break, we celebrated the birthday for Bernard, Jacqueline and myself who are January babies.  

Table Topics contest was scheduled right after the break.  10 contestants were determined to test their impromptu speaking skill while getting a good time enjoying the anticipatory thrills.  What a topic?  “There is zero correlation between the best talker and the best ideas.” Susan Cain.  

10 contestants gave 10 different views on the subject.   

Suresh, our new member who just signed up with us, sharing his thoughts with everybody.  We are expecting exciting achievements from this great guy. 

In a club competition like our, results matter much less than the camaraderie that we could forge along the way.  For the International Speech segment;  Thomas came out third, Sathyamoorthi was the 1st runner up and Roger emerged as the winner in a really close call.  

For the Table Topics segment;  Venkat was our 2nd runner, Noman clinched the place of 1st runner up and I, humbly received the winner's trophy.  It is the sporting spirit that is most important, and we are ever closer as a team after this round of competition. 

Our next round of contest will take us to the home ground of another club of Area A2-  Credit Suisse TMC.  Date: 2 March 2013 at 1.45 pm. Venue: One Raffles Quay, North Tower, 23rd floor, Meeting Room 23.5 (in front of reception)  Singapore 048583.  


Do contact Bernard at HP: 9154-8912 for more details about the event.   




Yours truly

Roger Yap- VPE