Chapter Meeting: 2008-11Nov-03 "Attempt the Impossible"

Where fear is overcome, events become possible and dreams become reality. That was the message of the night to take home. Kenneth also reminded everyone to stay on track and stay focused because while chasing the impossible dream, we never know what to expect and things may well turn out our way. He shared with us his own dream of being the School Track Champion and facing an arduos task, he came back from ebing last at the 400m-mark to bring home glory in the final 50m of the 800m race, leaving his next closest rival in the wake of his dust, and being crowned School Champion. A modern day anecdote will surely be how Hamilton stole the World Championship from Felipe Massa in the closing 400m of the Brazil Grand Prix when Hamilton dashed past Timo Glock to 5th Place, securing the points needed for the World Title.

Nothing is Impossible.

See the "I aM" in the "Possible".

BeeBee returned from a long hiatus to host the night's chapter meeting while Joanne from NUS Toastmasters Club afforded us the word of the evening: "Expedite", "Expeditious", "Expeditiously".

Jenson attempted his first speech - Project 1 "The Ice Breaker" from the Competent Communicator Manual and shared mainly about how his life journey through sales brought him into the Financial Services Industry. We can see that beneath the shyness, is a young man full of sincerity and honesty in his sharing. Commendable effort on your first public speaking attempt Jenson! More from you to come we hope :) Tricia from Cheng Sang Toastmasters gave a very encouraging evaluation on Jenson's project speech.



Phylise Er showed us all how to afford a lavish compliment and commendation on someone... especially during their birthday. Chang Shiang acted as the protagonist - Uncle James - in Phylise's lyrical waxing. If only we all had such a real life Uncle... wow!!! Evaluating her was Kala from Bukit Timah Toastmasters Club. Kala won the Best Evaluator Ribbon for this delivery of her evaluation on Phylise. Congratulations Kala!



Kenneth shared with us about the LAAPA of Diffusing Verbal Criticism from the Advance Manual "Interpersonal Communication". Roping in Tricia from Cheng Sang Toastmasters as his sparring partner, he had to flesh out his ideas through an enactment of a familiar scene between husband and wife. Boy, did he get a lashing from Tricia... but all went well, and he managed to coax her into the femine damsel we all know of her. Evaluating him was Jerlynn Ang from Buona Vista Toastmasters (Area U1 Governor), and she would have made an equally formidable sparring partner as well! Hehehe...



Table topics was a continuation of diffusing verbal criticism. Participants had to debate against each other to see if they could come up with the wittiest of responses in agreement to or disagreement to the Table Topic handed to them.

It was a close battle of wits and laughter between Kenneth (IFPAS TMC) and Kala (Bukit Timah TMC) however, the Beauty from Bombay stole the show and trounced Kenneth with her witty rebuttal to bring home the Best Table Topics Speaker Ribbon.

Joanne (NUS Toastmasters Club) afforded us her observations of the use of our language during the Language Evaluation segment. And we were all very impressed at how light she kept it at, and we easily digested her pointers for improvement. She also rightly raised caution on pronouncing words beginning with "Ex" and "En" - raising the bell for us to check before we assume.

Esther (Cheng San Toastmasters Club) delivered an honest feedback of our meeting in her role as the General Evaluator of the night. It was the first time our club has had a General Evaluator in a year and we have learnt much from Esther's input.

We had a guest in our midst - Serene. And after being invited to share on her experience of the night, she enthusiastically said she will return during our Christmas Celebrations in December. See you real soon Serene!

Our next meeting will be on Monday, 1st December 2008! Christmas party :)
For more videos of the evening's events, click here.

Contributed by Kenneth Wee.

Chapter Meeting: 2008-10Oct-06 "Wholehearted"

Imagine a world where everybody gives half-a-shot at everything.
Imagine a mother after carrying a baby in her womb for 9 months, decides to give up in the midst of labour pangs.
Imagine Sir Edmund Hillary on his quest to reach the peak of Mt. Everest turns his back after reaching Camp 2.
Imagine your parents not bothering about whether you could go to school, had enough to eat, or giving you the opportunity to pick up a new skill.
Imagine if these people did not give their Whole-Hearted effort in what they did... we would not have had legends to continue for generations to come, and we would not have become who we are today.

And in the evening's urge to embrace our roles, immerse ourselves into fulfilling our purpose, and delivering the fruits from our tasks, Kenneth Wee in his openning address challenged everyone to do their best in their Toastmasters journey... not just to speak well at the meetings, but to speak well ALL THE TIME.

JJ from ACCA TMC hosted the evening's meeting as she took on the role of "Toastmaster of the Day" (TMD). She added culinary magic to the night's meeting as she introduced the President's Openning Address as the "appetizer", the prepared speech segment as the "main course", and the evaluations as the "dessert".

David Lim attempted his sophomore project in the Competent Communicator Manual (Project 2: Organise Your Speech) with the speech entitled "Freedom". It was a clever twist of the word "Freedom" into an acronym that spelled out various aspects of financial planning. David for the second time in a row, won the "Best Speaker" ribbon for the evening. Tay Guan Hau from Cheng San TMC provided the evaluations for David.



Cilia Kho delivered an emotionally charged and angsty enactment of her experience amidst the current Global Financial Crisis. Although her project required of her to entertain the crowd, she cleverly employed the pun "Edutain" : to Entertain and Educate the audience. Evaluating her Project 1 (The Entertaining Speech) from the entertaining Speaker Manual was Jean Ang.



Ng Chang Shiang unfolded a children's story and uncovered gems amidst the unravelling of a boy's adventure. We were all too happy to hear Chang Shiang present his speech project as it has been years since acquiring his CTM Award that he had done a project. Keep at it Chang Shiang! You are already a veteran at giving speeches in numerous contests. Evaluating his Project 1 (Folk Tale) from the Storytelling Manual was Daniel Kwek from Cheng San TMC.



Kenneth Wee gave a quick segment on the art of being a Successful Negotiator from the Interpersonal Communication Manual. His partner for the role-play portion of the presentation was Phylise Er and they enacted a scene where Kenneth had to convince the Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Phylise Er, to allow him to represent his company professionally as a regular column writer for a magazine. Evaluating his Project 2 (The Successful Negotiator) from the Interpersonal Communication Manual was Lim Seh Leng from Ulu Pandan TMC. Seh Leng gave a credible evaluation and garnered the "Best Evaluator" ribbon for the evening.



Table topics was a chaos of fielding the wittiest and sharpest questions. Whoever fields a statement in reply, or took too long to think of a suitable retort lost points. In the end, it was Daniel Kwek of Cheng San TMC who held his fort to bag the "Best Table Topics Speaker" ribbon.
Coen Tan gave his wholehearted sharing during the Language Evaluation segment. Spending much time complimenting the good use of English and creative metaphors, he also encouraged the club with some suggestions to improve tenses and pronunciations. He gave the advice, "to pronounce words well adds credibility to you as a speaker." His word of the day - "Ameliorate". Which means "to improve a situation".

We had a guest in our midst - Jensen. And after being invited to share on his experience of the night, he enthusiastically agreed to be a new member to the club and to give his wholehearted effort in his Ice-Breaker Speech in our November meeting! Well done Jensen!

Also, our heartiest congratulations to our President Kenneth Wee for bringing home the Champion's Trophy at the Area U1 Humorous Speech and Evaluations Contest on 23rd September 2008.

For more videos of the evening's events, click here.

Contributed by Kenneth Wee.

Chapter Meeting: 2008-09Sept-15 "Courage"

Whevenever one endeavors to attempt a First-Try, one needs COURAGE. Indeed, tonight saw many "firsts" in our meeting. It was our new member David Lim's FIRST project from the Competent Communicator Manual (The Ice Breaker). It was our member Cilia Kho's FIRST Project Evaluation on David's speech. And for the both of them, it was their FIRST time receiving the "Best Speaker" and "Best Evaluator" ribbons respectively! What a fantastic wave of encouragement for our first-timers!

David Lim shared with us about his Family and his Business Partners in his "Ice Breaker" project from the CC Manual. Openning the speech with the song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", he immediately sent female hearts fluttering with his baritone voice! He mustered up the courage to allow himself to be vulnerable in sharing intimate bits of his life, and he definitely bridged borders and made prompt friendships after that night. Cilia Kho provided the insightlful evaluations for David both to encourage him, as well as to suggest pointers for improvement.



Phylise Er took up courage also to attempt her First Advanced Manual Project - Mastering the Toast - from the Special Occassion Speeches Manual. Everyone raised their (paper)cups to rally her toast! Phylise, a commendable effort on being the "Toast Master" literally! Christopher Chan provided the invaluable evaluations on what she had done well, and on what she could have included into her presentation to bring it up a notch.



Taufiq attempted to keep the crowd laughing with his arsenal of jokes and puns from the local movie industry to the international blockbuster scene. Coming out from his usual comfort zone of Army anecdotes, it was a refreshing topic for the audience to hear Taufiq unleash wise-cracks and witty puns that peppered the evening with good entertainment. Albert Tye from Jurong Town TMC provided the evaluation for Taufiq's AP 5 (Keep Them Laughing) from the Humorously Speaking Manual.



In the Table Topics Session, Sylvester Loh used wise sayings, even twisting some of his own phrases while trying to make them sound wise! Christopher, Chang Shiang, Jean, David and Kenneth struggled to stay afloat with making sense of "old sense". They either regurgitated Confuscious, or became "Confuse-ians" to confuse the crowd. In the end, Kenneth, the Club President won the "Best Table Topics" Speaker ribbon... not without having a pinch at the menacing Table Topics Master.



For more videos from the night's meeting, click here.

Contributed by Kenneth Wee

Chapter Meeting: 2008-08August-03 "I Love To Share"

Shouldering the responsibility of organizing tonight's program was the first attempt by the freshie VPE Sharon Lim. And with the help of Gerald Ong, ACB, CL (New Millenium TMC), she had garnered a host of credible evaluators who gave invaluable suggestions to our project speakers for the night. Gerald also helped us with the Language Evaluation for the evening.

Kenneth delivered his AP4 (A Dramatic Talk) from The Entertaining Speaker Manual. He enthralled the audience with his sharing entitled "Keeping on Track" - drawing on his own experience as a struglling adviser in his early years in the Financial Services industry. He aligned his experience with another one of Life's giants - Sylvester Stallone, sharing with us the low points of the actor and how he persevered through his humble beginnings to receive his first Oscar for the blockbuster "Rocky".

Taufiq presented AP4 (Keep them Laughing) from the Humorously Speaking Manual. Reminiscing his experiences in the Army during his National Service days, he tickled the crowd with various anecdotes that peppered his life in "green" with his speech "5 feet, No inches"

Table-Topics Master Walter, ACB, ALB (Dennis Wee TMC) entertained us wildly while putting Table-Topics speakers on the spot. Speakers had to handle tough scenarios and explain themselves, appeasing personalities that rained insults from Army Officers to complaints from angsty spouses. It was one helluva session and the audience was reeling in laughter! Accomplices of the Table-Topics Master definitely held their fort and deserved Oscars for their performance in making life difficult for the victimised Table-Topics speakers. Yet, Yip Yew Seng, CL (Jurong Town TMC) stood his ground and creatively lambasted his way to winning the Best Table-Topics Speaker ribbon! Fantastic wit Yew Seng!

Here's a clip of the repartee between Fatt Weng (Bradell Heights 2 TMC) and Taufiq, CC, CL (IFPAS TMC)... enjoy!



Contributed by Kenneth Wee

Chapter Meeting: 2008-07July-28 - Club Contest

It was definitely a super-charged evening set to tickle everyone's funny bone. The contestants came prepared to showcase their wits and unleash their comic tantrums to the relish of all present - organizers, judges, supporters and club members.

We'd like to thank the following for helping out at the contest, without them, the event wouldn't have had such an exciting tempo!

Contest Organizer - Ng Ling Hoong, CTM (IFPAS TMC)
Contest Chair - Anne Chung, CC, CL (Sony Ericsson TMC)
Chief Judge & the Panel of Judges - Johnny Teo, ACB, CL (NTU Alumni)
Timers - Eldhi Yandi (Raintree TMC) & Nicholas Tan, CC (Buona Vista TMC)
Tally Counters - Jave Zhou, CC (Choa Chu Kang TMC) & Phylise Er (IFPAS TMC)
SAAs - Mustansir (ACCA TMC) & Cilia Kho, CC (IFPAS TMC)


Congratulations to our club winners! We wish them all the best at their next performance in teh Area U1 Humorous Speech & Evaluations Contest (held on 23rd September 2008, 7pm @ Adam Khoo Training Centre).


Humorous Speech Contest:
Winner - Kenneth Wee
1st Runner Up - David Lim

Evaluations Contest:
Winner - Kenneth Wee
1st Runner Up - Sylvester Loh

Contributed by Kenneth Wee

Chapter Meeting: 2008-06June-24 10th Anniversary Celebration

It was an amazing gathering of past, present and future members of IFPAS Toastmasters at our 10th Anniversary Celebrations.

We were honored to have in our midst, celebrated Past-Presidents who have contributed vastly to the growth of IFPAS TMC throughout the years. Wan Bin, Sylvester, Martin, and Taufiq gave a glimpse of the club during their tenure as the "CEO" of the club.

Jerlynn Ang, CC, CL who is the in-coming Area U1 Governor (member of Buona Vista TMC), helped thank the outgoing Club Exco for their services rendered. She then paved the ceremony for David Liem, ACB, CL who is the in-coming Division U Governor (member of Raintree TMC) to install the new Club Exco for the term 2008/2009.

Richard Sng, DTM gave an exuberant workshop titled: The Essence and Essentials of Effective Evaluation. He was careful to appeal to a wide range of evaluators in the audience - from those who aspire to be evaluators, to those already experienced in evaluation and were looking to improve their skills at giving invaluable feedback to future project speakers. It was a well-attended workshop with Toastmasters from various clubs enthusiastically yearning to learn more.

As part of the Evaluation Workshop, Test Speaker Sharon Lim attempted her Project 5 from the Competent Communicator Manual (Your Body Speaks), and delivered a theatrical speech entitled "Blessing In Disuise". She contorted her face, strutted elegantly across the stage, and even fell appallingly onto the floor in a dramatic effort to use Body Language as an aid in communication. The crowd was dazzled and dazed, enchanted and ensnared by Sharon's quick wit and natural performance while she shared with the audience how she met and fell in love (literally) when she was still in Junior College.

After the break, 3 participants from the workshop had the opportunity to attempt their evaluations on Sharon's speech, using the new tools and techniques that Richard Sng, DTM had earlier imparted. Gerald, Sam and Kenneth each gave their congratulatory notes as well as pointers for improvement to Sharon while Richard wrapped up the workshop by giving feedback to the night's evaluators. Richard also graciously gave his take on evaluating Sharon's speech as well.

Mary Soon, ATM-S, CL (outgoing President of ACE TMC) then delivered her Language Evaluation and increased the awareness of using the appropriate tenses in our sentences. It was indeed a highly informative mini-workshop on yet another aspect of the English Language.

It was surely a fun-filled night and Kevin Foo, ACB, CL gave the cherry on the icing with the game "Whose Line was it?" before calling it a night. Outgoing President Taufiq, CC, CL then presented awards of recognition to Sylvester Loh, ATM-S, CL and Jean Ang, CTM, CL for being the two longest active club members since the club's charter date in June 1998. Taufiq also presented the Club Toastmaster of the Year Award to incoming President Kenneth Wee, CC, CL for his contributions to IFPAS TMC over the past one year.

Well... now that the workshop is over, the following toastmasters will definitely be eager to excercise their newfound knowledge on Project Evaluations. They are:
Alice, Robert & Ushari - Jurong Town TMC
Anne & Cindy - Sony Ericsson TMC
Gerald Ong - New Millenium TMC
Sam - Ulu Pandan TMC
Frederick - Singapore Poly TMC

Our next meeting will host the annual Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest on Tuesday 29th July 2008. To watch the seasoned speakers slug it out, come and be immersed in the euphoria of competition fever!

Contributed by Kenneth Wee

Chapter Meeting: 2008-05May-27

We lived up to the theme of the meeting, and I thought it was a night of "Camaraderie" indeed.
Best Evaluator: Lim Seh Leng, ACS, CL (Ulu Pandan & Brilliant Adv TMC)
Best Speaker: Phylise Er, CC

Our Tuesday 27th May meeting saw quite a few guests join us that night. Si Whee, Matthew, David were guests of Kenneth, while Taufiq invited Jessie (from China!) to the meeting.

Highlights were:

Anne Chung (VPE, Sony Ericsson TMC) completed her Project 8 speech on the assignment: Getting Comfortable with Visual Aids. She gave us a pleasant surprise when she turned things around with the term "Land Banking". Her speech has allowed us to think of ways to harvest our mind's capacity in associating words, names and memory with images. And she has reminded us to continuously deposit more "matter" into our greymatter... nurturing it's "interest" and being cautious of how we make "withdrawals".

Phylise Er shared with us her up's and down's of being a Financial Adviser for the last 6 years. It wasn't a smooth ride for her as she struggled to keep her income afloat in the first 2 years after leaving her previous job in a wake of a recession in 2002. In addition to the stress of losing a stream of income, she was expecting her son then, and decided to put her spirit to the test and challenge herself with being in teh financial services industry. As she grew in experience and strength, her persistence and courage to charter into new friendships and relationships with people allowed her to overcome the odds and achieve her first Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) award in 2006, and attaining a sophomore in 2007 notwithstanding the raise requisites of the award from SGD$51,500 EFYC to SGD$78,000 EFYC in 2007. She parted us with the wisdom of having a PhD mind: Passion for the job, Hunger for success, Desire for excellence. Congratulations Phylise on attaining your Competent Communicator with this speech!

Jerlynn Ang CC, CL (Buona Vista TMC) evaluated Anne's speech and reminded us to choose appropriate background colours and text colours to ease our eyes on powerpoint slides. We noticed that she uses the style of "3 good points", "2 points for improvement" formula while delivering her evaluation. Indeed, this fashion of evaluations will definitely teach loads of pointers to budding new project evaluators in our midst.

Lim Seh Leng ACS, CL (Ulu Pandan TMC) surprised us when she shared that she was Phylise's first evaluator when she did her Project 1 almost 2 years ago! This made us aware that it might be an excellent idea to invite an individual's P1 evaluator back to evaluate his/her P10 project. Seh Leng couldn't stop testifying that the Toastmasters Program works - from the example of Phylise. That's a load of encouragement for all of us out there!!!

After refreshments, the AGM followed and the new EXCO for the term 2008-2009 was nominated and elected. Congratulations guys! We look forward to having the installation in our June 24th Meeting... when we celebrate...

IFPAS Toastmasters Club 10th Anniversary!

contributed by Kenneth Wee