“To transform yourself or morph to something greater, you have to work as a team, to learn to lead a team so that each individual can achieve more: TEAM (Together, Everyone Achieves More). That’s what Toastmasters is about… transforming you into leaders through effective communications. (Slogan: Where leaders are made.)”
– Club President, Chai Pei Shan
On 8 Jan 2016, personal transformation and team-building were the main focus of this chapter meeting where members and guests were encouraged to come out of their comfort zone to take on new challenges in 2016. The club had a spectacular start to our first meeting in 2016 with an attendance of over 40 members and guests. The new year usher in new hopes and aspirations for members. MMTMC welcomed 2 new additions to our family: Pamela Lau and Mahendra who joined us officially as new members.
The evening started with the members and guests partaking in the delectable treats with healthy home-cooked dinner while waiting for the programme to start.
At 7.30pm, our Sergeants-at-Arms for the evening, Christopher Kusumowidagdo and Maureen Suryani leaped on stage to energise the crowd with their harmonious and creative banter. Taking the stage as the Toastmasters of the Evening for the first time, Arva Rangwala exuded confidence ready to host the evening’s Metamorphosis.
The Language Evaluator, Mohamad Saddiq, ACG, AL, shared the Word of the Day, “Initiate”, paving the way for a transformative evening.
In the Opening Address, Club President, Chai Pei Shan kicked off the first chapter meeting of the year with a spectacular opening segment that drove home the message of transformation for 2016. Four brave warriors, new members Shuan, Qing Lin, Danny, Mahendran spontaneously took up the challenge on stage and performed a spontaneous team-bonding activity! The audience was ‘wowed’ by the impactful opening act. Through the lively and enthusiastic participation of the members on stage, she illustrated a refreshing concept of teamwork by using the root word for metamorphosis – “META”.
The opening segment shows that, in the club, members can choose to take or give resources. The chair represents the resources. Volunteers sit on them, they take up the resources. As the resources get depleted and the going gets tough (by removing the chair one by one) it is up the human team work and resilience to keep going by leaning on each other. Peishan applauded the new members for their courage and learning spirit. She illuminates the message in the energising activity that — together as a club, Toastmasters can transform you through “TEAM” by communicating Trust, Resilience, Responsibility, and Accountability.
By reorganising the 4 letters from “TEAM” to “META”, she explained another perspective of experiential learning in the club. Peishan revealed that the crux of the message is: to transform yourself or morph to something greater, you have to work as a team, to learn to lead a team so that each individual can achieve more: TEAM (Together, Everyone Achieves More). That’s what Toastmasters is about: transforming you into leaders through effective communications. (Slogan: Where leaders are made.)
The Prepared Speeches Session saw four quality speakers speaking on four different projects. The speakers were exemplifying the very best of MMTMC. New member Tan Qing Lin delivered a refreshing speech about looking at the things through the “rear view mirror” as his Ice Breakers speech. Our VPM, Catherine Lai shared heart-warming photos and stories about her transformative journey through her work and life experiences where she worked with children. Our second VPM, Mannan Pacha shared about his diving experiences. Our Club President, Peishan delivered an advanced project on “Mastering the Toast” and paid tribute to the magnificent members and mentors of MMTMCs.
Then, four seasoned toastmasters delivered their masterful evaluations of the prepared speeches with finesse and provided recommendations that crystalize the crux of the delivery and how the speakers can take the next step forward. Special thanks to our visiting Toastmasters, DTM Wekie Tay, Norman Tan, Arun Sharma for their presence and evaluation of our members’ speech.
A vibrant Table Topics session was helmed by our VPE Chye Bei’an and Janty Widjaja. Our brave speakers included an array of 3 magnificent members Christopher Kusumowidagdo, Danny Suyanto, Shaun Pang, 2 enthusiastic first time speakers, as well as, our loyal and adorable, Zoya expressing their opinions about the theme. The speakers took their first steps into the unknown, taking a leap of faith to improvise based on the topics chosen, master of their 1-2 minutes of talk-time.
Finally, LE Saddiq took the stage and shared on the beauty of the language and the fine speakers who have weaved in the Word of the Day “Initiate” appropriately to delight the audience.
During the closing ceremony, Pei Shan delivered the award to the best speaker, best project evaluator and best table topics. The “Best Project Evaluator” goes to our Visiting Toastmaster, DTM Wekie Tay from NUS Toastmasters Club and the “Best Table Topics Speaker” goes to our new member, Shaun Pang.
The Metamorphosis themed chapter meeting came to a close on a high note with guests feeling inspired and motivated for personal transformations and peak performance this year. The evening’s delights had all who were present raring to go for our next Chapter Meeting and Table Topics Workshop cum Marathon on 22 Jan 2016.
Photo gallery link:
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