Post Meeting Recap (13 May 2016) – Madhatters’ Night – Making A Difference!
Written by: Toastmaster Shawn Lee
Edited by: Competent Communicator, Chai Pei Shan
The mesmerizing and mysterious ‘Madhatters’ chapter meeting began promptly at 7.30pm on Friday the 13th, with our spectacular Sergeant-At-Arms (SAAs) Chandrika Adri Tjo and Shawn Lee bursting on stage with an enticing conversation that led the audience to wear their hats. The SAAs wittily revealed the significance behind wearing a different cap/hat and alluded it to wearing the different roles we play in society. They also invited first-time visitors to introduce themselves and briefly share about the hat (role) they like the most. Among the new guests, the ‘Gungho’ Gillian Lu has returned for a second visit to learn more.
Our Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), Chye Bei’An took over and invited Club President, Chai Pei Shan for her opening address. With delight and mystery, she confidently introduced the theme of the month “MADHATTERS’ NIGHT” emphasising on M.A.D as the core message. We are encouraged to be “MAD” because we aspire to Make-A-Difference as speakers and leaders, influencing others, and performing beyond appointment holders’ roles throughout our journeys in Toastmasters.
After being inspired with our Club President’s uplifting address, the prepared speeches further fuelled the audience’s energy by three vibrant speakers: Danny Suyanto, Catherine Lai and Tommy Chew.
Toastmaster Danny Suyanto delivered his Project 5 speech, “Uniquely Me”. He tickled the audiences when he emphasised on how his physical attribute of being tallness had made him unique. It was a humorous speech aligned with the project objectives of “Your Body Speaks”, by bringing the audience attention to his height. His animated speech and lively demonstration engaged the audience. He reveals how good it is to always have ‘people look up to him’ when conversing and also the negative aspect of ‘paying respect’ to the MRT train with a bow before he can enter.
A passionate pre-school educator, Toastmaster Catherine Lai charmed the audience with her angelic voice by beginning with an unusual “ABC song”.
She continued calmly and tried to persuade the audience with her Project 9 “Let’s Learn Phonics”. In her light-hearted and warmth tone, Catherine led the audience to sing with her and encourage us to learn on the spot. She shared that it is very easy for anyone after they pick up phonics to learn the pronunciation of new words on their own. This approach is useful for young children as it will speed up their learning curve and allow them to be independent learners.
Finally, ACB, CL Tommy Chew presented his speech from the “Humorously Speaking Advanced Manual – Project 2: Leave them with a Smile” titled “Good thing, bad thing, never know”. Tommy began with a very serious question and asking the audience how many times they have failed in getting their Driving Licence and concluded that he was the top scorer in the room with 16 failures in total before he finally received his licence. With a series of interesting and unfortunate events, he brought the audience on a journey on things that appear good initially may turn out bad and vice-versa. Tommy’s seriousness with a tinge of humor, coupled with his passion in driving left the audience with intrigue. In his closing, he shocked the audience when he revealed the reason why he sold his car.
This chapter meeting was different from the usual meetings as guest speaker, Toastmaster Hitesh Ramchandani delivered an inspirational message by sharing his life story. Using engaging, heart-warming videos and ‘misdirection’ tactics, he explained that he was born with Cerebral Palsy and how he overcame the odds and become “Better Than Normal”. Hitesh is an amazing, motivational speaker with his endurance story that touched the audience’s hearts and minds. The underlying message that he gave the audience was, “You are a Champion” a phrase that his loving parents repeated to him over and over again as he grew up, which is also believed to be the foundational belief making Hitesh the resilent person he is today. In closing, he encouraged the audience — if he can do it, we can do better. The audience spontaneously gave him a standing ovation in appreciation of the encouraging testimony that Hitesh has deposited in their hearts. (MMTMC has a club tradition to give a 10-seconds standing ovation to our members/speakers to appreciate and encourage them for the time and effort to deliver their speeches.)
The meeting continued with the splendid evaluation of the prepared speeches by Competent Communicator Christopher Kusumowidagdo, Competent Communicator and Communicator Leader, Raymond Ee and our incoming Division ‘D’ Director, Goh Wei Ling (current Area G4 Director). The evaluators presented their evaluation in a light-hearted, positive manner and offered invaluable advice to help our members improve their speeches.
The most energetic part of the meeting was the Table Topic Session helmed by Table Topics Masters (TTM) Abbas Vakharia and Mahendran Bilendra who took the stage with interesting interactions and engagement with the audience. With an unconventional way of explain Table Topics, the TTM invited the audience to throw their hats in the air, marking the start of the thrilling and ‘MAD’ table topics session! There were 11 members and visitors who took up the challenge, namely: Shawn, Michelle, Aaron Zoya, Janty (members), as well as, Shaun, Cow, Navin, Ivan, Swee Hoe (visitors) and Hendri (our photographer of the evening). For the first time, there was ‘hat-trick’ for the Best Table Topics award with equal votes for the best speaker. Indeed, this unforgettable night saw 3 winners: Aaron Khoo, Michelle Sheya Wong and Shawn Lee smiling and embracing the glorious awards together!
The meeting draws to a close with the presentation of Best Prepared Speech awarded to Danny Suyanto for this humorous “Uniquely Me” speech; Best Evaluator awarded to our Club Mentor, Raymond Ee who delivered a refreshing and masterful evaluation for Tommy’s advanced project. The evening concluded with all members and guests who lingered and chatted happily after the entire session was over.
The uplifting, intriguing yet inspirational chapter meeting has certainly made a resounding difference to members and visitors alike. After the meeting, 4 guests, Gillian Lu, Joyce Ong, Lim Swee Hoe and Andrew Wee were convinced of the value of being Toastmasters, and signed up as members to kick start their learning journeys. It was an amazing feat for all present that night!