Happiness is .....(17)

When I woke up, I saw that I had three sms in my mobile. One of them read, "Division D Champion Ng Cher Khim won!" and another read, "Your blog on pandas was quoted in the Sunday Times". It was so sweet of Geok Cheng to inform me via sms.

I phoned Amelia Ching to enquire about her sister-in-law, Geok Sim, as I was concerned about Geok Sim's health. Amelia told me she had just returned from Macau, and she told me that at the District 80 Convention Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests, all the three top prizes were won by Singapore! Hip! Hip! Hurray!

I am so happy and though it was quite cloudy I thought the weather looked so bright! Psychological lah! When we are happy, everything looks extra brighter and more colorful! I am so oooo oooooo proud of our toastmasters! Kudos to the following for their wonderful effort:-

Humorous Speech Contest

1. Ng Cher Khim
2. Eric Feng
3. Wong Kok Wah

Evaluation Contest

1. Darren Tay
2. Wekie Tay
3. Pradeep Kumar

Without a shadow of doubt, the level of English in Singapore is quite high. I hope that more people will be able to participate in toastmasters' activities, so that they will continue to improve and become more articulate. It is a crying shame that there is so little publicity about toastmasters' activities. Many of my clients and friends have not heard of the toastmasters' movement, and even some of those who do, have a vague impression that it has something to do with toasting bread with butter!

If there had been more publicity about toastmasters' activities, I would have become a member decades ago, instead of only learning of the existence of toastmasters' clubs when my manager, Aveline Tan, invited me to join the Dennis Wee Group Toastmasters' Club. This is why I was so passionate and determined to complete all forty projects as soon as I possibly could, and am now on my journey to achieving the DTM award. Toastmasters' activities have also helped me to be stringent with my own time management and committment because once I make a promise that I would accept the role as language or project evaluator, I would fulfill my role. It is so wonderful to learn from others even as I contribute the little that I know.

Many of us have been brought up by conservative parents who believe that children should be seen and not heard. Hence, some adults - even the brilliant and educated ones are often tongue-tied in the company of strangers or people they barely know.
Toastmasters' activities will help people gain more confidence when they speak in public, be it on stage, or just mingling with the crowd.

Thank God for the late Ralph C. Smedley, the founder of the toastmasters' movement in 1924. It is now 75 years and the movement is still going strong throughout the world. I would encourage my readers who have yet to join a toastmasters' club to start looking for one near your home or workplace. May you enjoy your journey of lifelong learning.