Yow Kia

What did I enjoy the most?
SAA - Alice started off the chapter meeting by asking us to share the fondest memory we had in Christmas Day and what is our plan for the coming Christmas Celebration. The language evaluator – Kim See was telling us that Singapore is still the best place to see marvelous Christmas decoration compared with USA and Hong Kong (He had been in these two places for a period of time). In USA, most of them have their celebration at home, Christmas Day is a day for them to reunion. That surprised me as all the while I thought Christmas Day is quite a happening day in USA. In Hong Kong, they are more fond of having a mahjong session at home. Somehow or other, I feel like going abroad during this festive Christmas Day, but I haven’t decided where to go yet.

Who was the one left the greatest impression to me?
After the chapter meeting, I was talking to a visit Toastmaster from Entrepreneur Toastmasters Club, his name is Au Yeong. I was curious about his club whether his club only recruits Entrepreneurs as their members. The answer is no. From there, he shared with me something about Entrepreneur. He commented that Entrepreneurs are not well-treated in Singapore. What? I thought Singapore Government is very supportive in cultivating and nurturing entrepreneurship in Singapore. That is partly true. Think about it, is there any organization that takes care of entrepreneurs who have declared bankruptcy? The answer is NO. That makes perfect sense that why he was commenting that Entrepreneurs are not well-treated in Singapore.

What did I do during the chapter meeting?
I was evaluating Project 4: How to say it, presented by Ivan Ho (a director of a company). The good thing in Toastmasters Program is you may have chance to evaluate high caliber Toastmaster. After all, Toastmasters Club is a place where we can get mutual support to develop our communication and leadership skills. The title of his project is “Key to Happiness and Success”.

This was quite a good choice of topic as Happiness and Success are what most of us are looking for in our life. He began his speech by telling us the frustration in his life until he read an email from his friend with the title: “Key to Happiness and Success”. The key is to have JOY. He is a very natural speaker and he spoke with enthusiasm. For the content of his speech, I expected him to share with us some tips in achieving Happiness and Success in our life or perhaps the things that he has done that make his life happier and more success. To my disappointment, the sharing was merely statements sharing. I know that JOY is the key to Happiness and Success, but HOW to get JOY? Throughout the speech, I found one common thing that many speakers will do when they have forgotten their speech - that is to repeat the speech statements. I think he had a lot of things to share but just that he didn’t have much time to consolidate the points and bring them out to the audience.

After the meeting, we chat for a while. I felt that he is a very humble person and willing to listen to people’s advice & comment. With his rank in his company, I don’t think he needs to listen to my advice. This is one of the good attributes that I have to learn from him – Be Humble and Listen to Others.

Language use
Good use of language:
- There is a vast difference…
- Less is really more (receiving lesser presents is better than receiving more. Then, you will treasure the presents more)
- Incredible diversity
- Perfectionist mindset
- Polish your bargaining skill
- The absence of disappointment

Wrong use of language:
- Fast moving country (wrong) => Fast moving society/ lifestyle (correct)
- 60 years old over (wrong) => Over 60 years old (correct)
- I watch a carton (wrong) => I watch a carton film (correct)

Good use of humour:
- Jurong Town TMC is famous of food. If there’s nothing memorable tonight, the most memorable one would be the food.
- He is our resident timer. (This is because he has been a timer in the club for quite a number of times).

Word of the day
Masterly (adjective)
Meaning: Having or showing the knowledge or skill of a master
Synonyms: Consummate, masterful, virtuoso
(Source from: http://thefreedictionary.com)