Welcome fellow members of Friendship TMC and beloved guests.
Today,
we are celebrating 1 year anniversary of Movement Control Order. I wasn’t sure
what goes into my mind then, I took up the role as Club President on 7 July
2021. I was the youngest Club member then. To be honest, I have absolutely no
idea how to lead in this period of pandemic. To make the matter worse, the
lockdown had cost me my mental health and made me doubted my own values. I
still do, even up to today.
The family members of Friendship TMC know
this: President Alan Oh has a personal blog, dedicated specifically to his
speeches and writings in his Toastmasters journey. It was not really a sexy
blog, as he is not very well versed in blog management. It is more of for him
to keep a record of his emotional journey as a Toastmaster. Call it a speech
diary, if you will.
I
still remember my first Presidential speech title: “Grow and Blossom”. Our goal
for this term was “Better than Yesterday.” It was inspired by Keny Tai, our
veteran club member. Quoting Mulan 1998, “The flower that blooms in adversity
is the most rare and beautiful of all.”
Ever
since then, I tried many genres of speeches. From stage hypnotherapy “Begin with the End in Mind”, theatrical
performance on Dracula, a historical horror speech title “The Shadow Impaler”,
melancholic reflection on “Who Am I”, self-rebuke “My Commitment versus My
Fear”. Not to forget the post resurrection speech “Goodbye, and Welcome.” Honestly,
I would not deliver these speeches in other Clubs. I feel safe here.
I
take pride in every of my speech delivery. Because I know, every time I speak,
something profound will change in me. Every time I write my speech, I become
more aware of my emotions and my thought process. Every time I deliver my
speech, I get to know myself better. Speech writing and delivery became a
self-therapy process. It was introspective and liberating. Thank you so much,
beloved members and guests, for you are such a wonderful audience and friend. For
that, I am very grateful.
The
Law of Precession continues to work. The ripple effects of blogging continued. For years, Friendship TMC have a unique,
unspoken sense of camaraderie among the members, which is hard to describe. It
is a special tacit, undocumented knowledge of this club that builds its DNA.
This blog becomes a documented, explicit knowledge of our club culture. It becomes
a building block for expression of our Club vision and values.
Our
Club motto is simple: Friends helping friends to succeed.
In
this Club, we want our Family Members attained life successes with strong
interpersonal communication and life leadership skills. They will be supported
by meaningful, extraordinary Friendship throughout their Toastmaster journey.
In
this Club, we appreciate the similarities and respect the differences among our
Family Members. With this, each one of us can, and will commit to grow and
learn about ourselves, helping other Family Members to do the same.
In
this Club, we seek first to understand, then be understood. Here we are, create
lasting, meaningful memories and taking delights in our Toastmasters journey.
In
this Club, we RISE to our values: – Respect, Integrity, Sentient and Enjoyable.
Because
of whom we are, we attracted new members, Su Ling and Sam, who shared our values
despite pandemic challenge. Our Exco team is very committed to growth and serve
this club. we not only achieved our DCP points on club officer training, and also
received the Super Seven award from District. Oh ya, District 102 the best Blog
entry award in December 2020. As a bonus and result, we are very well on our
way to President Distinguished Club Award, even though DCP is not my focus at
all.
I
am very privileged and honoured to witness our Club members' life growth. They
became so much “Better Than Yesterday”, proven by their speech and performance
in Club contest and last meeting.
Our
IPP, Claire, and Ying Hui, shared some of their deepest emotions with us in the
last meeting. William courageously attempts a humorous speech, despite he kept
labelling himself as “absolutely non-humorous” member. Kai, proven himself as an
effective Club contest organizer, despite he told me: “I have nothing proud of sharing.”
Le Anne went all out in contest, challenging status quo with her emotional
speech.
Someone
labelled Sam as “weak in presentation and communication.” If I were to meet
that person again, I will tell him off: “You try to represent our Club in Table
Topic contest.” This is not Air Asia, not everybody can fly. Not to forget
Vivian, who did not have the intent to renew her membership last year, stood up
and deliver her speech on organ donation with much poise and grace. Vivian,
great to have you in this Club. Ya Brian and Geok Ean, I look forward to your
uplevel performance tonight.
All
these cannot happen without our family members who choose to uphold our RISE
values (Respect, Integrity, Sentient, Enjoyable). Indeed, a sweet friendship refreshes
the soul. Because of this Friendship, I learn much about myself. Because of
this Friendship, I was privilege to witness the growth of our Club members.
Because of this Friendship, we experience life successes through this
meaningful and extraordinary friendship. Indeed, friends helping friends to
succeed.
By
the authority of Toastmasters International vested in me, mandate given by club
members as President, having sweet friendship refreshes our souls, I declare
our meeting officially starts.
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