Letter from a senator-to-be

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club

Dear fellow members,

Many of you may not know what happened on 3rd FEB 2007 at USJ. Want to know more, read on.....................

Dateline - 3rd FEB 2007, Saturday, The Summit, USJ.

It was a hot afternoon and I was drawing along the KESAS Highway after dropping my wife and son off at Bukit Rimau, Shah Alam. The drive was a breeze, I'll say. Traffic was indeed good.....I spoke too soon! Massive long queue at the Subang Jaya interchange turnoff. I can't do anything but sit pretty tight, hands at the wheel, in the blaring hot sun , thinking...........thinking..........thinking. WHAT HAVE I PUT MYSELF INTO!!!!!!!!!

Flashback - 7 days earlier . Received a sms from Ms S; coaxing me to take up the challenge. I hesitated as it was an unfamiliar , uncomfortable and untried avenue. About to return a negative response but my professional ethics got better of me: "Dear Ms S. Let me check my schedule first" , I typed .

2 days later, as fate played its role, I was taking my very, very late lunch or rather early "dinelun" nearby my office. In walked Mr R, the chief of the situation. Mr R was in the vicinity getting ready for an evening event nearby. What do you know, the topics discussed moved to the centre of the situation and with no other way to go, I quietly gave a firm YES! to Ms S.

What a shock I had later in the evening, back at my office, when the details of the situation were revealed piece meal.............Oh my GOD!! I've to do research !!!. How on earth am I able to juggle with the heavy workload , leisure , work , sleep and research!. As a man of his own words, I stuck to my confirmation.

A fellow comrade-to-be responded by e-mail similiar to my thoughts and withdrawn from the situation. In teh next 2 days, a replacement was found. That makes 4 of us in the same boat. Hmmm....I thought about it and the Wonderful World of Web provided the data. Easier said than done, let me try to mirror the way senators behave in the Parliament.

HONK!!!!! that impatience driver behind jolted me.

Into The Summit and I dragged myself out of my car.....reluctantly. There's no turning back and I do not wish to let down my fellow comrades. Even though my throat was dry from a bout of cough which came a few days ago.

Calming my nerves browsing through the mall, telling myself to enjoy the moments. Not those PYT !!

At the Auditorium on level 4, a distant sobbing turning into loud cries as the pacifier tried her best nearly makes me turn my heels and run off!! How the situation can break one down!

Fortunately, I have more time to calm my nerves as the doors to the auditorium was locked. The entire situation was delayed much to my relief...alas!!.... it came eventually.

The situation , that is......THE GREAT DEBATE!!.

Yes, yours truly, a first timer at debates, will be a senator-wannabe.

Team of 4's will pit against each other 2 on 2 for a knock out first round. Thereafter the victors from each round will face each other in the finals.

My team comprising of Valli, Chong Beng and Ranjit Singh were all cool and composed. Reminding ourselves to enjoy ourselves we cleared out throats for the first round.

The topic for the first round was "Genetic engineering is the hope for the future" was given vide e-mail. However whether our team to propose or against, will only be made known moments before the debate. Challenging eh!!

As we took to the stage, our team was told to propose. Quickly our thinking caps were switched on and away we went. Ranjit spoke first followed by Chong Beng. I fired my volleys and Valli wrapped it up. Guess what. We beat the other team and we moved into the finals!!

Taking a breather, we hear the other 2 teams battle out on first round with a topic "Should capital punishment be practised in a civilised world" . The victorious team will meet us in the finals.

Just before the tea break, the topic was given. Whew!! No more excuse this time on needed time to research. We have to draw from our common senses and knowledge. The title " Adopted children should know their biological parents" .

The other team, sat and deliberated , dispensing off tea break. Our cool team, enjoyed the tea break and networking. Only took about 5 minutes to discuss in brief.

At the finals, our team was to oppose. The same order of presentation and in no time, the torture was over.

For me, it was truly an experience. Am enriched over it . Tested my limits and know that there is nothing impossible that we cannot do. Do it to the best of our ability and most of all enjoy ourselves.

Well.......the better prepared team won . You guessed it right.

A round of applause please ...................................................................

Thank you for appreciating my courage.....lets stop at that.

Congratulations to the winning team.....you know that you have been given a tough fight for the position.

Wish that you were present to witness the GREAT DEBATE. Maybe next year.

Booster for public speaking??

Ponder this..........alcoholic session prior to public speaking?? Can we equate this?.....I've heard about how alcohol "assist" in lightening oneself in order to belt out some numbers at the Karaoke set. But singing and talking is different , right?

Some would swear by this though. I guess in singing, being slightly tipsy could render a swing song effect with pitching, variety, tone......... heh!! that's the same about public speaking right!! We were told about vocal variety and all that jazz.

Similiarly in grabbing the mic, one would never stand still unless its the national anthem. Well, you have guessed it right; move around when you speak; actualise your words, they say, and boozers say, Aye!!.

My tolerance on the spirit is low; may even get high over H2O. Those who have seen me in action will testify to this. Opps!! my secret is out! Maybe my sky juice was laced............. wonder where was the source eh?

Either you advocate this or not, lets hear it from the boys and girls out there.

cheers!!
Victor

Battle of the Best

Dateline - 2nd AUG 2006 Time - 1930hours
The Battle began.
5 contestants pitted against each other to wrestle the title of "Simon Cowell" in evaluating and tearing apart the test speaker. Poor Clavin, the test speaker, everyone cornered him later to ask for the photograph of Emily Rose!!
The contestants, Dickson, Kenny, Andrew, Andy and Shereen all strive their very best. Sharp tongues wagged ; constructive critique lashed out; icing meted and the audience were in awe.

So who impressed the judges? Andrew with his composed and cheek-in-tongue evaluation. Staying close at his heels was Dickson followed by Andy. Congratulations ADA!

The battle wages on!

7 brave warriors came into the field trying their very best to make us laugh. Some were very successful and even draw blood! opps sorry, draw tears. Warriors Dickson, Kenny, Darren, Patrick, Ai Leng, Regan and Jitesh shot their missiles of endophine but the msot arrows that hit the mark, the judges hearts, came from the only rose amongst the torns, Ai Leng. Contenders Dickson followed by Jitesh were close marksman. Hurrah!!

Aftermath - the crew rolled up to clear the gore and blood stains. But thank God, no corpse .

Guys, I urge you to post your comments, especially for the champion and successors; any suggestions or areas for improvement. The champions have been presented with the tiny blades to sharpen their skills and would definately need long spears to battle at Area B2.

commentator
Victor

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club

I was wondering whether this matter was announced earlier or my memory failed.

Our Area C1 Governor, none other than CL Sharmini, has attained the Distinguished Area status as at today. Let's put our hands together to congratulate her.....

For your information, The acheive Distinguished Area, must achieve 4 out of goals 1 to 5. To attain Select Distinguished Area, must achieve all 8 out of goals 1 to 8. To attain President's Distinguished Area, must achieve all 9 of the goals 1 to 9. Go for it Sharmini!!

For your further information too, as at today, AREA C1 is the only area that attained Distinguished Area under Division C. WOW!!!

As a club, we must strive towards the same goal. Achieving our DCP, another goal achieved for our Area C1 Governor.

regards
Victor

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club - towards President Distinguished Club Award

Hi members,

Last night, we heralded a member who attained Competent Leader (CL) . He is none other that CTM Andy Ching !!! An additional title to your name, Andy and another point for the club. Great job CL Andy Ching.

What a night we had! Fantastic speakers who spoke with aplomb . Then we had a volley of internationally flavoured tickler from our new CL Andy .
Another round of exciting speakers after the happy hour . So much so that BRA membership was discovered!

Man of the match ...or rather Man/Woman of the night were...........Parasakti - getting into the shoes.........Crissy - with multi hats...........Jason Tay - logistics will not be the same without him..........Andy - double dosage........

Do not get this mambo-jumbo??? Come by next meeting...15th MAR , and am sure you will experience it first hand.

And oh ! almost forgotten..........our lady boss, President and Area C1 Governor , Sharmini could not bear to tear herself from us that she left early from another meeting to be with us for Teh Tarik!

See you guys on 15th???

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club - the contest

Last night, 15th FEB 2006, the weather nearly wash out our event; our club International and Table Topic Speech contest. Everyone was caught in the standstill at most parts. I was fortunate to be within the vicinity for another appointment. Good planning helps. Thoroughout the late evening, have been receiving numerous calls from people not able to make it.

Anyway, that did not dampen our spirit. The earliest to arrive was the chief judge follwed by another judge. I was the third to arrive. Crossed my heart , I did not bribed the judges....guess the countless invitations to offer the wonderful spread would not count as I'm playing my role as host, right??

Looking at the venue, with the tables and chairs in dis-array and nothing done yet, I single-handedly arrange the entire room and set up . I'm sure the contest chair person would certainly appreciate that.

One by one, the guests, contestants, judges, role players trickled in; nearly everyone armed with a brolly.
We were about an hour late but better late than never.

The contest began with the Internationl Speech Contest. Chair person, Sharmini went through with the rules and introduced the contestants. 3 brave souls participate. There were Parasakti, Victor and Crissy. First to start was Parasakti. Incidently she was the last contestant to arrive. With poius , she delivered her speech flawlessly and personalised her topic.

Then came Crissy who facsinated the audience the mentaly challenged encounter with her 5 year old niece. Another personalised version with praises to Toastmastery.

Final contestant, yours truly with my account on the great Napoleon Bonaparte. Going down history and killing 2 birds with one stone actually.

A refreshing break thereafter for the next group of contestants to charge up.

There were 5 contestants for the Table Topic contest. Chairperson, Andrew came in and did his part and introduced the 5 lambs to the slaughter.....Parasakti, Crissy, Victor, Andy and Jitesh. For your information, Jitesh was so passionate about the contest that he has to run up and down two floors to juggle between the contest and anothe committee meeting.

The topic was I think goes something like this " Do you think that Malaysian drivers have improved?"
Each speaker gave their version to sway the points in their favour.

When it was finally over, the constestants breathed a sigh of relief.

Here's the results :

For International Speech Contest, as there were only 3 participants, only the champion was announced. This person was ...................CRISSY LEE!!! Congratulations!!

For Table Topic Speech Contest, the 2nd runner up was Jitesh. All your enthusiasm paid off.
1st runner up was Andy! The champion......VICTOR!!!
Congratulations to all the winners.

Hence Crissy and Victor will represent the club in the next level, Area C1 contest on 25th MAR 2006 for the respective contests.

A heartfelt thanks to all who have assisted. The time keepers; sergeant-at-arms; ballot counters; judges; contest chair perons and the organising chair, Sharmini.

Come and support the champions this coming 25th MAR 2006.

by
Victor

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club

CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club

Excerpt from The Star , 26th JAN 2006 :

Sex calms nerves before public speaking - study

By Dan Williams
LONDON (Reuters) - Forget pretending you are talking to one person or concentrating on a single point in the audience -- having sex is good way to calm nerves before giving a speech or presentation.
But Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in Scotland, said it has to be full sexual intercourse to get the best results.
He studied nearly 50 men and women who recorded their sexual activities for two weeks and analysed its impact on their blood pressure levels when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech.
Brody discovered that the volunteers who had sexual intercourse were the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly than people who engaged in other types of sex.
But people who had abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure response to stress.
Even after taking into account stress due to work or other factors, the range of responses to stress were best explained by sexual behaviour.
"The effects are not attributable simply to the short-term relief afforded by orgasm but rather, endure for at least a week," Brody told New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

Ladies and gentlemen; is this the secret of some of the very eloquent speakers; how slefish of them not to share with us.

What do you think? Please submit your comments.

regards
Victor Cheong

The Dreadful Day

Excerpts from The Diary :

Dateline - 24th SEP 2005.
Place - Prime College, Summit Square, USJ

It was 1325hours. Just parked my car at the basement. My wife and I were searching high and low for the lobby to the right elevators which should bring us directly up to the 4th floor.

Alas! The first lobby , a cargo goods lift brought us to the back of an extreme vertical wall climbing enclosure.
"Surely they are not forcing you to climb,my dear" exclaimed by wife, my personal cheerleader.

The next lobby brought us to an office block where a security guard redirected us . Poor communication skills and made my wife walked an extra mile! It was so near yet so far...........sort of using your right hand to touch your left ear from the rear. Well, my fault...........forgotten about the correct location was there before; barely a few months ago. Must be getting old.

Finally at last, level 4. Barely reached the reception counter and someone told me that the reserve is preping up . Hey! its only 1340hours, man.

At the auditorium, only 6 of us (out of 8 ) has arrived....... and do you know when the other 2 came? One sneaked in at 1415hours while another only after the tea break!!

It's the D-Day.........Division C Evaluation Speech Contest! To say, I was not nervous, was calling it a bluff......putting into practise all that I've learnt to void the butterflies in my stomach....

A little fast forward to the best time of all..........the break! Chow time and hoping that there would not be any space for butterflies to roam. Mingled about and all the well wishes intimidated me further! Countless time to the washroom.

Sit back and relax, they say. And when the contest chair forgotten to introduce the test speaker properly........forgotten to state the speech title.... I got nervous!! Sitting near the stage, I voiced out for the title and the cool test speaker calmly read out his speech title. Oh boy! What a long title and I could barely finish writing when my pen decided to die on me!! Of all days and me constantly reminding my son to always bring extras to important events like examination hall. Fortunately for me, our Area C1 Governor was sitting nearby who gladly sacrificed her lucky pen.

In a jiffy, all my intense listening and observation was over. Marching into the confinement room was a long tension-filled moment. Equally tensed was the 5 minutes of thinking and writing and thinking and writing. Nostalgic recollections of sitting for exams.

Then it was the waiting and one by one, like lambs to the slaughtering chamber, we took our turn.

"Victor!", bellowed the Sergeant-At-Arms, jolting me from a close and enjoyable conversation with a lady fellow contestant.

Its my turn to walk the plank!! Tried to calm myself and comically peeped at the stage. Nay! That did not work. Taking a deep breath.....here goes......................................................

Can't remember what I've said, but sigh! what a relief .

Pretty close competition I heard. By now you should have known about the winners. Congrats to them . Though I did not make it....sob! sob! it was indeed a fantastic and exhilarating experience. I strongly recommend you to try it. Once you have been there before, it would be second nature.

Giving it another shot soon. Care to join me??

Cheers!

Another feather in our cap

Last night, our club heralded another CL; none other than CTM Tan Cee
Wan!!! our club secretary. Congratulations and thank you for assisting
the club to garner Wan point, opps!! correction, one point towards the
Distinguised Club Programme.

Let's see another CL in the making; hey!! you know who you are.....

The passing of a friend...

Last Wednesday, 28 September 2005, we received a sad news about a passing of a friend, who was also a CIMA Malaysia's SDC committee member, Dr. Unvar Rahman Abdul Muthalib. He had succumbed to the dengue fever which had plagued our city these last few weeks. He was the Assistant Professor in UIA. His contributions to CIMA Malaysia, especially through SDC, was invaluable.

It is sad that he had to go this way. We are all saddened by his demise.

No farewell words were spoken
No time to say goodbye
You were gone before we knew it
And only God knows why

Since you'll never be forgotten
We pledge to you today
A hallowed place within our hearts
Is where you always stay

(excerpt from a poem called "If tears could build a stairway" [anon.])


To his wife and children he left behind, we offer them our deepest condolences. May God grant them strength to face the days ahead.

To Dr. Unvar Rahman, we bid you our last farewell, and thank you for giving us the chance to know you and be your friends.


Al-Fatihah.

Division C contest announcement

Dear All,

The Division Contest is coming up this weekend. Details:

Date : 24 September 2005 (Saturday)

Time : 2.00 p.m. (Contestants please be there by 1.30 p.m.)

Venue : Auditorium, Prime College,
4th Floor, The Summit,
Persiaran Kewajipan USJ 1,
Subang Jaya.

Our Area C1 contestants and their back-ups are:

Humorous
Champion:- Jack Leong
1st runner-up:- Jitesh Kan Tilal

Evaluation
Champion:- Victor Cheong
1st runner-up:- G. Sivalingam

Tickets are RM 15/- each.
Let's go and give them a great show of support.

The Division has also asked that all clubs give a show of support by persuading at least 5 members to buy tickets. Should be easy right, 5 per club? So far DU has promised the participation of a few people.

Hope you and your members make it a point to witness the Division's greatest speakers in action. Please confirm the numbers attending by Thurs, 22nd September 2005 so that I can liaise with Div C for logistics purposes.

Thanks and have a great week.

Best regards,

Sharmini
Area C1
Enriching Lives

Change in EXCO line-up - new Treasurer

Dear Fellow Toastmasters,

There has been a change in the Exco line-up. We have a new Treasurer in the comely form of TM Christine Tan. She has been a devoted Committee Member for the past months and enthusiastically took up the post of Treasurer. Christine we welcome you on board and thank you for your help. I know everyone will give Christine the utmost support to make her role an enjoyable one.

Why is there a new Treasurer? Because the old one went away! No, no he did not. He's still around. Our former Treasurer, TM Wan Rashid decided to resign and the Exco has accepted with much reluctance due to his mounting workload. However, he will still support us and the club whenever needed.

Warm regards,
Sharmini

AREA C1 Contest Results

The Area C1 Contest was held last Saturday, 3rd
September 2005. It was graced by our Division
Governor DTM Patricia Tan. We had a pleasant surprise
in that many "VIPs" attended and a large crowd of
about 40 people turned up to cheer the contestants on.

All the contestants gave it their best and it must
have been tough for the judges to choose the best.
There were three for each of the contests and so only
the champions and 1st runners-up were announced. The
results.................................................


Humorous Speech Contest:

1) Champion - Jack Leong from D'Utama
2) 1st Runner Up - Jitesh Kantilal from CIMA

Evaluation Contest:

1) Champion - Victor Cheong from CIMA
2) 1st Runner Up - G. Sivalingam from D'Utama


Congratulations to all the winners! They truly
enthralled the crowd. The crowd was fantastic and the
whole atmosphere was electrifying and merry.

Thanks to our Div C Governor Pat for being there and
giving all of us encouragement. Thanks too, to all
who helped out as role players. Special thanks to our
Organising Chair and Contest Chairs - Parasakti and
Nancy who got everyone into the fun competitive mood.

Don't forget the Division C Contest is on the 24th
September 2005 at Prime College, Summit, Subang Jaya
at 2.00 p.m. I have the tickets with me. Let me know
the numbers you need. Tickets are priced at RM15/-
only each inclusive of refreshments. Remember our
champions will be competing as well. So let us be
there and root for them!

Once again thanks to everyone for the part you played
in a most enjoyable contest.

Best Regards,
Sharmini
Area C1 Governor

Evaluation and Humourous Speech Contest

How much fun we had last night! What a pity if you have sat out!

Anyway permit me to announce the results but I will spare the details.

Evaluation Contest

There were 5 contestants :
CTM Jitesh Kan Tilal
TM Sopiah Suid
CTM Tan Chee Wan
TM Crissy Lee
CTM Victor Cheong

And the winners were................All of them were winners......being brave enough to participate and enriched with the great experience.

Of course the podium finishers :
2nd runner up - TM Crissy Lee!!!!

1st runner up - TM Sopiah Suid !!!!!!

Champion - CTM Victor Cheong !!!!!

Humourous Speech Contest

There were only 3 contestants namely :
CTM Tan Chee Wan
CTM Jitesh Kan Tilal
CTM Victor Cheong

As only 3 contestants, only the Champion was announced ........
.......................he is .....................................none other than..........
..................................CTM......................................................
..............................Jitesh !!!!!!!!

Congratulations to all the winners. The Champions will championed the club at the Area C1 Contest on 3rd SEP 2005, Saturday. In event of none availability , the 1st runners up will represent the club.

The greatest champion last night was........................VPE TM Parasakti in the chair ....she braved through a rough patch in her throat and pulled through with flying colours!! Give yourself a pat on the abck, Parasakti!

regards
Victor Cheong

Club Contest - Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contest

In case, you have not heard, our club will be holding our own contest
on 3rd AUGUST 2005, Wednesday.

2 different contests, one, the Humourous Speech contest where
contestants will deliver a speech with humourous content. Here, the
contestants will strive to be Jerry Lewis (who??only the seniors will
know) or Whoppi Goldberg.......As audience, be tickled or if failure
to happen, you may tickle the contestants in return....literally. A
contestant can kill 2 birds with one stone by treating the contest
speech as part of the assigned speeches in relevant manuals but prior
arrangement to be made with another member to do the written
evaluation. (Verbal evaluation, of course over a cuppa!).

The second contest is the Evaluation contest. Hmmm....a Simon Cowel
in the making?? (BTW, I heard from the grapevine that there will be 2
vacant positions for the coming American Idol Season). Contestants
will hear a guest speaker and evaluate his/her presentation.

Interested??? Can I??? Where?? How?? Oh, okay here's the information :

Time : 7.00pm sharp (Malaysian time please)

Date : As above, oh okay, I repeat , Wednesday, 3rd AUGUST 2005

Place : CIMA Malaysia Division office, 1st floor, 123, Jalan SS6/12,
Kelana Jaya Urban Centre.

Eligiblity : Any members of CIMA Malaysia Toastmasters Club of good
standing

Good standing defined : Tall....., dark.....leggy.....OPPS!!!
Sorry; actually any members of this club who
has dues to Toastmasters International current (ie paid and not in
arrears)

Registration : Just simply submit your name to our Contest Chair, TM
Parasakti vide e-mail (may use this to reply) or give her a call at
016-3916381. May also SMS but no snail mail please.

Audience?? : Yes, you may be part of the cheerleaders troop. Please
bring the pomp pomp.

Role Player?? : Yes, cheap labour welcomed. Please contact Parasakti,
the Contest Chair for wages.

Fees : What!!! I'm being forced at gun-point..... FOC!!!!!

See you there! or rather you definately will see me there!!

regards
Victor

Sweet Shereen in the news

Are you a subsriber of NSTP? Or have you been keeping yourself upto date with the printed news?

Our very own Shereen Chong was featured in an article in yesterday, 13th JULY 2005 NSTP "Excellence in Education" pull out . To be precise, on page 15 with a huge blow up picture of sweet Serene (hei!! that is how she coined her e-mail address.......though I would not deny that ).

I will not quote the entire text here but if anybody manage to download from e-NSTP, please assist. Anyway here are the extracts :

" Doors of opportunity are opening..........easier for her to adapt to the nature of her work........financial management and strategy to succeed...............CIMA equips pepole with knowledge and competencies.........at ease in dealing with management and business issues...............higher level skills........"big picture"..............an edge over others in the job market........"

Well done, Shereen!!