Friday, February 24, 2006

Review of Meeting (21 February 2006)

As evening approached Bangsar was blessed with heavy rain, as all rainy days the traffic had swelled all over town and the VPE who arrived early was busy answering calls from members who were calling to inform him of their inevitable delay and to allow him to make the necessary replacements for role-players as we in Bangsar believe in starting on time every time. Kudos to the VPE and DTM Lourdes (with the cooperation of the members present) managed to reorganize the role-players for the evening’s program before VPE Ranjit left early to attend a family emergency.

Attendees: CL AC Fong, CL Audrey, TM Bavani, ATMB Lakhmichand, TM Lechu, DTM Lourdes, ATMS Muhendaran, ATMB Rema Paul, CL Renganathan, TM Shandini Dewi Veeriah, CL Suriakumar, TM Shanmugam, CTM Subendran, TM Pratap,

Guests: ATMB Renuka Dewi Mylvaganan ( MIA Toastmasters club )


Word of the day: Immaculate


Only 3 people used it through out the meeting. Rema Paul, Lucky and myself. I would have said it at least 7 times or more, hoping that it will be also a reminder to all to use it. Usage of The word of the day is important. The more you attempt to use, it will became a habit and it will be nailed to your vocabulary bank.


All role players did a wonderful job in maintaining a well organized and purposeful meeting, although some had to take up roles at last minutes. What a wonderful sport we are …don’t you think so?

Table Topic Master, Lechu had prepared topics gleaned from his personal experiences with the Police which he eloquently translated into topics for the speakers. All of the “scenarios” were something to do with an encounter with the police. The topics were well thought of and they were very challenging, invariably forcing the volunteer speakers to think on their feet and improvise as they went along. Now we all know roughly what to do if faced with similar scenarios… as elaborated by the following speakers:

CL Audrey
TM Shanmugam
ATMB Rema
DTM Lourdes
CL Suriakumar

The table topic evaluator highlighted that the participants endeavored well with the challenging topics and preformed well.

A well deserved 10 minute break was called and meeting resumed right on time thanks to the SAA Shanmugam and Timer Shandini.


The second and serious part of the meeting was the assignment speeches and their respective evaluations.


The first assignment speaker was TM Bavani doing her maiden speech the icebreaker. Her icy disposition melted away as she warmed up to the crowed and did very well for a first attempt. She had inculcated a beautiful self drawn map of Peninsular Malaysia to assist her in narrating her exodus from Kuala Terengganu to her current domicile in Klang. It was a diabolic feat on her part by delivering an informative speech without actually revealing personal details. Looking forward to her next speech and hoping for more intimate details.


Our youngest and tallest TM Pratap presented his 8th speech from the C& L Manual. With his youthful enthusiasms he spoke out, about recycling and the ramification on nature and ecology. His underlying massage was instead of throwing away paper products that we consume everyday, why not recycle. Merely involves a slight change of habits in handling paper waste products and the benefits are priceless. I would be more conscious of how I handle paper waste products in the future. Well done my Paduan Warrior, the force is strong in you.


The next speech was by me, from the Advance manual, the Special Occasion Speach-The Roast. Our beloved President got roasted again. A very sporting President bordering on Papacy. There were several views that the speaker should be more prepared and I plan to redo the speech.

ATMB Rema Paul also did her speech from the same manual but on Speaking in Praise. The subject of her assignment was close and dear to her as she spoke about her mother and the women of substance. Her speech brought found memories of loved ones and I could see the audience relating to her speech. Very well done and during the speech the President gleaned an important fact relating to her culinary.

DTM Lourdes also did an assignment from the same manual on Receiving an Award. Again another member inculcating the President into his assignment. Presentation was good but I feel the maestro could have done better and the evaluator was not critical of his shortcomings. But his showmanship was undeniable and he gave a good performance.

Awards were given to the following:
Best Table Topic Speaker : CL Suriakumar
Best Speaker : ATMB Rema Paul
Best Evaluator : CL Audrey

Congratulations to all the winners!


General Evaluator, ATMB Lakhmichand, Bangsar TMC‘s very own Amitabh Bachchan and his team scrutinized the attendee and the whole meeting. The effervescent GE graced us with his practical evaluation and I found that his suggestion that the Exco go through the evaluations by GEs and inculcated the relevant suggestion into our future meetings. He also enunciated the need for the role players to be more serious in their performance of their duties. Thank you and a job well done by our in-house starlet GE.

At the closing of the meeting our President concluded with his two cents worth. He thanked the GE on his suggestions and reiterated that assignment speakers should be better prepared for their assignments in the future and role-players who cannot attend or would be late should give early notice, and he would also personally see to it that the GE’s suggestion on reviewing the GE’s report and applying it in club affairs will be carried out.

The meeting was well received and has lived up to standard of Bangsar Meetings.

Looking forward for our next meeting...

by : CL Suriakumar Arulampalam

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Results: TT / ISC - Feb 07th, 2006

International Speech Contest

Champion
Audry Fernando

1st Runner-up
Suriakumar Arulampalam

2nd Runner-up
Shandini Dewi


Table Topics Contest

Champion
Suriakumar Arulampalam

1st Runner-up
Muhendaran Suppiah

2nd Runner-up
Pratap Tirunaukarasu


Congratulations to the Winners!

The Champions & 1st Runners-up will represent BANGSAR TM Club
at the Area W1 Contests on 18th March 2006

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Review of Meeting (17 January 2006)

Dogggone it! Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

Another beginning and Bangsar Toastmasters are moving along! Our permanent venue for meetings is still the “House of Arts”, Jalan Abdullah, Bangsar.

On 17th January 2006, the Bangsar Toastmasters Club began its meeting with 13 members and 3 guests.

Members included ATMS S Muhendaran (President), CTM Ranjit Singh, (VP Edn), ATMB Lakhmichand (VP PR), CTM/CL Audrey (Treasurer), TM Shandini (Secretary), CTM Ivan Fong AC (Imm Past Pres), TM Bhavani, DTM Lourdes, TM Rema Paul, CTM/CL Rengan, TM Shanmugam, TM Sunitha, CTM Suriakumar

Guests were CTM/CL Ms Chong Huey Yee (General Evaluator), Mohd Byram Kuthoos and Mohd Norman Kamaruddin.

Theme: A New Beginning
Word of the day: Demure (modest, shy, reserved).

Role players are an invaluable group of people committed to keeping the meeting organized, purposeful and punctual.

SAA – TM Rema Paul
TME - TM Shandini
TTM – CTM/CL Audrey
TTE – ATMS Muhendaran
AH Counter - CTM Ranjit Singh
Grammarian – TM Bhavani
Timer - TM Shan
GE – CTM/CL Ms Chong Huey Yee

The Table Topics Master had prepared very interesting topics for the evening. All the speakers were equally good which made choosing the best speaker all the more difficult.

The topics were: Tell us something about
1. A Perfect Evening at Home
2. The Music You Like to Listen to
Speaker: DTM Lourdes
3. The Place You Would Most Like to Visit
Speaker: CTM Ivan Fong AC
4. What Kind of Work You Like Doing
Speaker: CTM Ranjit Singh
5. What You Want us to Know about You
Speaker: TM Bhavani


In the second half of the meeting 4 assignment speeches were delivered.
TM Sunitha broke the ice in her first speech about herself. All present got to know quite a bit about Sunitha, what she said and what I inferred! Quite the rebel, quite the wit akin to P G Woodehouse. However, very much the stand for the truth and justice! Sunitha was given a standing ovation for her speech! And well deserved too! Her evaluator was ATMB Lachmichand.

TM Shan is, I think, quite the radical. He has a skilful way of weaving analogies into his speeches. His speech entitled “Pride: Anger’s Best Friend” personified anger and pride that eventually do not do anyone any good. Well done Shan! His evaluator was CTM Rengan

Do you believe that “One way to prevent conversation from being boring is to say the wrong thing” (Frank Sheed)? Well, the one man who has mastered this art and won prizes with this style of speaking is none other than CTM Suriakumar. In his speech Toastmastering, Suria made it plain for all that toastmastering is a commitment. In other words: “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to something until you get there.” (Josh Billings) The next time you are in the vicinity come listen to Suria and others and be inspired. His evaluator was DTM Lourdes.

The final speech for the evening was “The Roast”, a speech from the Special Occasion Speaker Manual, delivered by CTM Ivan Fong AC. Ivan is a nice man!
His evaluator ATMS S. Muhendaran thought so too.

Awards were given to the following best speakers and evaluator,
Best table topic speaker : DTM Lourdes
Best Speaker : CTM Suriakumar
Best Evaluator : DTM Lourdes
Congratulations to all the winners!

The GE was impressed with the Bangsar Toastmasters Club. She thought the evaluations were purposeful and instructive. She also encouraged the club to maintain its high standards in speech delivery and mentioned that other clubs had a lot to learn from our Bangsar Toastmasters Club.

Overall, Bangsar TM club are a bunch of talented and inspiring members. What makes us even more special is the commitment to our Toastmasters promise we recite at every meeting. If you think we’re a demure lot, think again!

Next meeting is scheduled for 7th Feb 2006. Come join us!


by Audrey Fernando, CTM/CL