Counting God's Blessings

 

Div. U contestants together with the Guest of Honour, Mr. Heng Chee How and leaders from District 80

 

The Toastmaster of the Day, Zafar and Organising Chair, Gerald Ong

 

Gerald with Jerlyn Ang, Area U1 Governor

 

Our mischievous and creative Divisional Governor, David Liem with our Guest-of-Honour

I had been having body aches throughout the week. Realising the side effects of panadol, I had tried to abstain from popping pills whenever I had pain and aches. I would prefer to use tiger balm ointment or massage. I had already completed the medication given by my doctor in the Polyclinic and was too lethargic to go back to see him again.

At the Division Z contest, I told my club president, Walter Lee, that perhaps I should not participate in the Division U contest and let the 2nd runner up, Wei Jian from Dover Toastmasters' Club to take part. However, since Wei Jian could not make it, and neither could Gerald Ong as he was the Contest Chair, I had no alternative. Morever, I did not want to let my Area U3 down. My good friend, Area Governor, Geok Cheng encouraged me to press on.

I did not want to miss my volunteer work at Changi Prison just because I had a contest in the afternoon. To aggravate my physical condition, I woke up at 5a.m., and despite having 4 hours of sleep, I dared not go back to sleep for fear of not being able to wake up on time to be at Tanah MRT where Elaine would pick me up on her way to the Prison's Speechcraft workshop. During my evaluation of Project 1 at the Prison, I felt I did not do a good job as my head was reeling. However, I tried to write in more details on the evaluation sheet for the speaker. During the 5 minutes break, I reminded the Officer to give us some water as my throat was very dry. My T-shirt was drenched with perspiration.

After the speechcraft, as we were walking to the main gate of the prison, I asked Ng Cher Khim if we would be penalised if we referred to notes. He told me that it was alright to refer to notes for evaluation contests. He also asked me how I had prepared myself for the contest, and I told him I did not know how to prepare, and that I had done an evaluation at the chapter meeting of the Singapore Polytechnic and ran out of time! I had written to the president , Frederick Kok and Div. Governor, Winson Lim, over the time given which is the same for all speeches. My advanced speaker had spoken for 12 minutes, almost double the time. How could I do justice to his speech? I would not shorten my evaluation just so that I could be in time to qualify for voting! Perhaps Toastmasters' International should revise the time allowed for evaluation of longer speeches of 12 to 25 minutes. Cher Khim had been very helpful in giving me tips on how to improve in my humorous speech and evaluation. His last minute pointers were very important to me, and I am grateful for his help.

I was blessed to be able to catch a ride from one of our committed volunteers, Ruby Lai, who was also on her way to the Division U contest. Ruby prefers absolute quiet when she drives, and I dared not fall asleep in the car as I had to direct the way to Whampoa Community Club. I struggled to keep my eyes open, and I prayed that the test speaker would be an interesting one or I would fall into the danger of dozing off!

I treated Ruby to a simple lunch and we were both glad to be able to get a little rest before the commencement of the contest. I sms-ed my best friend, Soh Wah and my tenants, Anul, Avinesh and Jasmin, requesting them to pray for me as I was utterly exhausted. Their replies came back, fast and furious and Soh Wah said, "May God bless you with the gift of the gab". Jasmin assured me, "I'll pray for you." Anul and Avinesh were philosophical, "Where there's a will, there's a way. Rise towards your victory, don't lose your patience. Be a fighter; keep your spirit. You'll be a winner in the real sense. Wishing you all the best!" I prayed that I would not utter rubbish during the evaluation. I would be contented if I did not make a fool of myself and that I would be at least coherent and organised in my speech. During the refreshment break, I went to the washroom to put a wet towel on my forehead as I was running a fever. My colleague, Grace Tan, took time off from her busy real estate work, and came to give a lot of support and encouragement.

I was happy to be the fourth speaker because it meant that I had a chance to listen to the other three contestants and learn from them. Horror upon horrors, the Guest-of-Honour, Mr. Heng Chee How, Minister of State for Health, had remained to watch the evaluation contest! "Oh God, please help. I'll do my best; Please do the rest!"

Strangely, I did not feel the need to take my notes on stage! Gone was the fear and nervousness. Instead peace filled my heart. The words came to me quite smoothly and I managed to elicit some laughter from the audience. I went back to my seat, relieved that I had made a coherent presentation. "All glory and thanks to you, Lord", I mumbled to myself.

Hence, you can imagine my great surprise for clinching the 2nd prize in the contest!
To me, it was indeed a miracle! God always seems to have a softer spot for the weak and inadequate. I think I am now beginning to have an idea of what is needed in a good evaluation and will try to do more project evaluation when I visit clubs in the near future.

Gan Chau

Posted by The Oriental Express at 8:45 AM 0 comments