SANDAKAN TOASTMASTERS CLUB

Hello Members!

2011-10-04T00:22:00.000+08:00

Hi! How is everyone been doing? Yes... We are back and we are back with a bang!

We know that you missed us... and here we are! There are many reason why it was not updated as frequent as before... let just say... social media like facebook has taken over the role for the past few months. YES! We've got our own facebook page if you haven't noticed by now. Click Here! Facebook or not facebook.... We will still be here to keep everyone posted.

Before that, let's wrap up the previous months with these beautiful pictures:

16th Installation @ The Mark's Lodge. Thereafter we went for a celebration to Secret Recipe... Yummy!

Installation @ Sabah Hotel, Ballroom, Theme Panama Night!
This is where our newly elected President Ling How Kee is Installed for the term 2011/2012

The Ever Energetics Meeting & Speech Contest!
Celebration after Celebration

If you want to get the latest... and the fastest... check out our facebook as frequent as possible. If you want the stories... you are on it now. We shall be back on track real soon. Do come back soon & expect to see some changes in us... Good Day!

Yours in Toastmasters,

Shane Ho

2011/2012 VP of Education.

Training Meeting 15th April 2011 and New Members Induction

2011-04-21T18:25:00.000+08:00

Another successful training meeting was held where CC, CL Shane Ho Took up the Challenge to be the Toastmasters of the Evening.

He did a warm up session for the members and guests by inviting them to do some stretching here and there, up and down, left and right, back and front.

IPP, CC Amy Hiew was the Word Master for that evening and she introduced the word 'prophecy'.

She forgot to bring her reading spectacles. That's why the words written were getting smaller and smaller.

Division K Governor, ACS Datin Grace Chiu was the Table Topics Master for the evening. She started off with a debate topic: Should parents be blamed for their children's crimes?

Most of the speakers were parents themselves and all the 'still single' members had a fair idea of what parenthood is like.

For the term 2010 / 2011, under CC, CL Alice Kok's reign as a President, Sandakan Toastmasters Club has successfully new members.

CC, CL Shane Ho did the new member induction on that very special night.

Reading those important lines from the book...

"By the power of God bestowed upon me, I hereby induct you as members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club. Muahahaha... *Thunder roaring, waves splashing, tables shaking, someone sneezing...*

On that night as well, three new members who just got inducted present their first ice breakers.

TM Ray Chai

TM Victor Liau

TM Jim Hiew

Bravo to each and every one of them. They had begun their Toastmaster's journey into becoming better and more confident speakers as well as leaders.

The training meeting ended with some humour stories from CC Vannessa Lim. She was out of tone on that night because she was suffering from a cough. The Humour Master role suited her condition on that night because "Laughter is the Best Medicine".

Group photos:

Club Level International Speech and Table Topic Contests

2011-03-04T18:31:00.000+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club had once again successfully organised a Club Level International Speech and Table Topic Contest.

Guests from all over Sandakan came to see and support the members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club who took the challenge in participating in the contests.

The meeting room was fully occupied. Wow!!

There were three contestants for the International Speech Contest and 5 contestants for the Table Topic Contest.

The winner for the contests are:-

International Speech Contest:

Champion: Alice Kok (Club President)

Table Topic Contest:

Champion: Laurence Dumling

1st runner up: Amy Hiew

2nd runner up: Dusun Chong

The champions and 1st runner up for both contests will represent Sandakan Toastmasters Club and compete in the Area Level at Tawau on 5th March 2011, Saturday.

This will be a very hot battle. The contestants are going to Take the Challenge and bring glory to Sandakan Toastmasters Club.

1st Training Meeting of Year 2011

2011-01-30T13:18:00.000+08:00

The first training meeting of year 2011 was successfully held on 13th January 2011 at Mark's Lodge Hotel Function Room. It was indeed a good start for the new year as there were about 6 new members attended the training meeting.

Apparently there were two "'Norman Chi"s in the room.

The club's president, CC Alice Kok was the Table Topics Mater. Her table topics consists of questions regarding how members spent their new year's eve, new year resolution, chinese new year and so on, which went well with the New Year theme meeting.

Hasdayana, a dual members of Sandakan Pidato Club and Sandakan Toastmasters Club, presented her ice breaker speech, entitled Getting to Know Me.

From her speech, we all know that she is a very active person and she happens to be the granddaughter of DTM Datuk Hassan's cousin, who also presented his CC7 speech AGAIN!!! entitled Research Your Topic.

He advised the members that the main source of a topic is from your personal experience. Besides that, other people's opinions (OPE) must be also taken into consideration.

The meeting ended with a humour session conducted by CC, CL Shane Ho sharing his first experience when he did his ice breaker speech. He assured to the new members that getting nervous and sweat palms are very normal. He also advised to the new members to get the momentum going once they have started doing their speeches and one day other people will notice there are positive changes in them.

Hopefully, the new members will DARE TO SHINE and become a better communicator, listener and leader in the future.

District 87 1st Semi-Annual Convention

2011-01-12T19:41:00.000+08:00

The first ever semi-annual convention of the new District 87 was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 26th to 28th November 2010. Five members from Sandakan Toastmasters Club participated in this unforgettable event.

The 'gang'...

The flight from Sandakan to Jakarta pratically took the whole day ... Morning flight from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur and after that, evening flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta. We arrived in Jakarta with grumbling stomachs... Division K Governor, Datin Grace Chiu treated us dinner at the hotel that we stayed in and where the event was hold. Mercure Hotel at Ancol.

The dinner costed almost ONE MILLION Rupiah. Huh... *Wiping sweats on forehead...* 20 pieces of 50, 000 Rupiah notes gone... just like that...

The next morning, after we had our breakfast at the hotel's cafe, Division K Governor attended the District Executive Council Meeting while the rest explored one of Jakarta shopping malls to see what it could offer to us. Mangga Dua shopping mall.

Trying to squeeze ourselves at the back seats of the taxi.

After that, everyone headed back to the hotel to doll up to get ready for the 'Welcome Night' Dinner at the City Hall of Jakarta. All the delegated boarded hired buses, escorted by the local traffic polices. For the first time in our lives, we kinda felt like some sort of VIPs or royalties.

Yup... Toastmasters members know how to party hard...

The very next day, educational workshops were conducted. There were four speakers. The first one was Tantowi Yahya, a local TV persona turned politician. He shared his amazing experiences in how he became succesful.

The next speaker in line was Hingdranata Nikolay, who is the first licensed trainer of Neuro-LinguisticProgramming (NLP) under teh society of NLP. He is also the the CEO and Master Trainer at NLP Indonesia and INSPIRASI Indonesia, currently one of the most well-known popular training instituitions in Indonesia. He emphasized that each and everyone of us have a 'theme' in our lives. For him, it is 'happiness'.

The third speaker was non other than Papa Gerald Green, with his educational session entitled "What They Didn't Teach You in School". One of the most important things that the some teachers tend to neglect is the importance of listening. Papa also shared his funny childhood stories during the school days.

The educational session ended with DTM Dunstan Chan, past District Governor, being the last speaker of the day. It was started off by an interesting introduction by a MC dressing up as some kind of French guy.

And here he came, dressed up as a cool Arabian fatso.

DTM Dunstan Chan entertained the audience with one of the famous stories 1001 Nights, how a lady postponed her execution by her husband, the King, by telling him stories every night without ending the stories. The King was so curious on the ending and thus postponed his wife's execution.

His daring 'Dare to Shine' vest...

He taught the audience how to use stories in doing our speeches. We may make a little bit of twist and alterations in the stories, don't really need to follow excatly like the original stories. After this educational workshop, CC Jimmy Leong was immediately inspired and presented his first ACB speech once he returned to Sandakan.

Straight after the educational worshops was the Gala Night Dinner. IPP Amy Hiew received her President's Distinguished Award.

Look how happy she is...

Not forgetting Division K Governor, Datin Grace Chiu won the first runner up for the best dressed.

Datuk Hassan from Sandakan Pidato Club also received his DTM award.

On the last day of the convention, the evaluation and humorous speech contests were conducted. Everyone enjoyed the convention so much. The money spent on the air flights and accommodations surely worth it. After the convention ended, the members spent a few days at Bandung where they spent money like nobody's business until they had no money left for breakfast at the airport. The Division K Governor once again saved the lives of the poor hungry souls of Amy, Amy's kids, Jimmy, Winnie and Vannessa...

There is a new website for the new born district 87. Check it out for more information:

http://www.district87.net/

Be Afraid... Be Very Da Afraid....

2010-11-01T21:21:00.000+08:00

WARNING:

The content of this blog is not suitable / appropriate for those who have faint hearts...

In other word, CHICKEN!!!

What you are about to read may scare the hell out of you and resulting in wetting your sexy underwears...

This is your last warning...

Once you start scrolling down the page, there is no turning back. You must finish reading the entire content of this blog or else bad luck will befall upon you...

Muahahahaha... (*EVIL LAUGHTER*)

WELCOME TO YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!!!...

On the eerie night of 28th October 2010, Sandakan Toastmasters Club had organised an outdoor Halloween Theme Training Meeting, at New City, Bandar Utama.

Dinner was served prior to the training meeting. The food served consist of juicy human brains, crispy human eyes and fresh human blood...

Not exactly...

Anne Tan couldn't resist her temptations...

President Alice Kok shall have the first cut on the pie...

On that unforgettable night, there were 13 guests and 10 members who attended the training meeting.

Potential members...

Mmm... yummy sacrifices...

"Sacrifices are needed in order to carry out a very important ritual (achieveing DCP goals)..."

When the cuckoo clock of DOOM striked 7.30 pm, the real nightmare began.

The Halloween Theme Training Meeting started.

The Toastmasters of the Evening was **********

Her name shall not be written / said or else....

You will turn into this...

However, by looking at the following photos, you will know who the hell was that person...

Making her entrance once her forbidden name was called out...

The guests were briefly explained how a Toastmasters training meeting is usually conducted. All the role players explained their roles.

Most of the guests even took part in the table topics session. That was a remarkable achievement as it takes a lot of courage to stand up and speak in front of a group of people, even if it's only a minute speech.

The guest who was chosen as the best table topic speaker...

Receving a yummy box of chocolate from the Table Topics Master of that night, ACS Datin Grace Chiu

A member of the club was also chosen as the best table topic speaker...

And that person was none other than...

The Area K2 Gorvenor, ACS Norman Chin...

He shall only gratefully receive a bag of garlics from the TME...

Garlics are very good...

1) You can cook them.

2) You can eat them after you cook them.

3) You can digest them in the stomach after you eat them.

4) You can use them to ward off blood sucking creatures such as vampires / draculas and mosquitoes.

During the 20 minutes break, everyone took the opportunity to celebrate Anne Tan's and Datuk Hassan's birthdays.

Check out the cute scary looking carrot cake.

The cake was awesomely yummy... :)

After the break, an award presentation was conducted.

CC Shane Ho, the current Vice President of Membership...

Who has a penchant of dressing up as Bugs Bunny, taking a photo of him close up, looking cute...

Has completed his leadership track and was awarded the Competent Leader award.

Receiving the District 87 "Dare to Shine" pin from the Divison K Governor...

Yup.. the Bunny likes carrot and the pin very much...

Straight after the award presentation, two speeches were delivered.

DTM Datuk Hassan presented his CC 4 speech entitled Power Talking. His speech talks about using the right and better words instead of ironic statements. He advised everyone not to use the word "but" that often as this will show that a person denies the things that are said before that.

CC Vannessa Lim delivered her ACB 2 entitled What the Hell is Halloween. Her speech touches on the origin of Halloween and the common activities done during Halloween. And one of the activities is...

APPLE BOBBING!!!

This is an activity where a person has to get apples from a basin full of water using only the mouth...

Everyone had an awesome, unforgettable and scary night. Miraculously, they survived the night...

Lucky...

Photos of members and guests:

Hopefully the guests have a better insight in what the HELL is Toastmasters International and are interested in joining the club...

If anyone of them is still a little tiny bitsy blur about the club, the TME is willing to sit very closely and explain in great detail... (Look at the photo below to get a better image...)

I WANT WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE ~~~

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Training Meeting 21st October 2010

2010-10-24T15:41:00.000+08:00

It was the first training meeting in the month of October 2010. Although there were only 10 members attended, the meeting must go on...

CC Shane Ho, who would be achieving the Competent Leader award towards the end of the meeting, was the Toastmasters of the Evening.

He warmed up the audience by telling his own experience as a test speaker during the Division K Evaluation Speech Contest in Tawau.

Moving on... the Word Master of that meeting, TM Laurence Dumling, introduced the word assiduous, which means showing constant and careful attention. All the members were being assiduous in using the word during the training meeting.

The Table Topic Master of the meeting was none other that Area K2 Governor, ACS Norman Chin. He gave out easy questions such as:-

1) What is your hobby?

2) What is the activity you enjoy most?

3) Who do you admire most and why?

4) What is your personality?

5) Tell us about your strength.

6) What is your weakness?

As easy as the questions look, members seem to have a little bit difficulty in answering those easy questions. In the end , they still managed to answer them in the time allocated. WELL DONE!!! Besides that, everyone get to know more about others because the questions concern on themselves.

However, ACS Norman Chin did throw some hard questions such as:-

1) How can your hobby turn into opportunites?

2) How does your personality make who you are today?

And some members thought they could get away with easy questions... Nice one Area K2 Governor. Some were deceived...

ACS Norman Chin made a confession on that night.....

Want to know what confession was that?...

NOT TELLING!!! Ahahahaha....

Nah... it's just that he was not like his usual self in the morning. He felt not motivated. However, after he attended the training meeting on that night, he was back to his usual self again...

HORRAY!!!...

There were three speakers during that night. The first speaker was ACS Norman Chin who was doing his ACG 1 project with his speech title Great Loss.

There he was.. sitting comfortably at the little round table...

He presented a radio news on the the tragic incident of YB EdmundChong. It was a "Great Loss" indeed. May his soul rest in peace.

The second speech was presented by DTM Datuk Hassan on Get to the Point. On his speech, he emphasized on the important elements in presenting a speech.

"What do you want people to do after you deliver your speech?" - One of the important elements.

KISS - Keep It Short & Simple - Another important element.

Yup... The speech must "kissable"... MUAKS...

The last speech of the night was presented by TM Laurence Dumling on I Cut, I Cook, I Serve. She was doing her CC 4 project.

Well, the members were being deceived once again by her title, thinking that she would talk about food stuff.

But no.....

She applied the chef's daily routines to her daily work at school, how she educates the students. Through her speech, everyone knows that she is a very dedicated teacher...

After the three inspiring speeches, the members were humoured with some funny stories by the Humour Master, CC Vannessa Lim. All the stories had moral values and the members were humorously educated.

Here is one of the funny stories...

A sales representative, an administration clerk and a manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a genie comes out. The genie says,' I'll give each of you just one wish.'

'Me first! Me first!' says the admistration clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speed boat, without a care in the world.' Puff! She's gone.

'Me next! Me next!' says the sales representative. 'I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of food and with the love of my life.' Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the genie says to the manager. The manager says,' I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

MORAL OF THE STORY: ALWAYS LET YOUR BOSS HAVE THE FIRST SAY

The members learnt a lot of moral values that night and would apply those values in their daily lives.

The next training meeting will be a little bit special because it's gonna be an outdoor Halloween theme training meeting.

BE AFRAID... BE VERY AFRAID...

Muahahaha... (*EVIL LAUGHTER*)

Club Level Evaluation & Humorous Speech Contests

2010-09-11T21:48:00.000+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club had successfully organised a Club Level Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contests on 26th August 2010 at Mark's Lodge Hotel Function Room.

The Club also took the opportunity to celebrate Division Governor, ACS Datin Grace Chiu's birthday.

IPP Amy Hiew led the birthday song.

Group photo:

Thank you for attending and supporting the contests as well as the contestants.

Chief Judge and the Timers

So... here comes the big news...

WINNERS!!!

EVALUATION CONTEST

Champion: Laurence Dumling

1st Runner Up: Wong Kah Yun

2nd Runner Up: Henry Nok

HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST

Champion: Wong Kah Yun

1st Runner Up: Henry Nok

2nd Runner Up: Shane Ho

Congratulations to the winners and the participants of the contests. The Champions and 1st Runner Ups for both contests will represent Sandakan Toastmasters Club to participate in Club Level Evaluation and Humurous Speech Contests on 18th September 2010, Saturday, 7.30 pm at Mark's Lodge Hotel Function Room.

PRESS RELEASE:

Merdeka Theme Meeting

2010-09-05T21:14:00.000+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club had a Merdeka Theme Meeting on the 12th of August 2010 in conjunction with the 57th National Day that was around the corner.

The TME of the evening, ACB Ling How Kee, decorated the meeting room with our national flags and flowers.

Instead of making the three toasts during the meeting, everybody raised to sing the national anthem, Negaraku.

ACS Datin Grace Chiu was the Table Topics Master for that night.

The impromptu questions thrown to the members and guest were...

1) What is the significance of Merdeka? Why do we celebrate it on 21st of August?

2) Do you focus the majority of your time on yourself or on services?

3)What would you not tolerate in a friendship?

4) If we are clean after we shower, why do we wash our towels?

ACS Datin Grace Chiu turned the last question, which was on 'Housemaid Employement', into a hot debate. There was a 'war' between the ladies, who supportted in employing housemaids, and the guys who against employing housemaids.

IPP Amy Hiew really needed a helper as she had four children to take care.

JR Chia thought that we had a lot of high-tech equipment such as the washing machine to help us. By relying too much on housemaids, we would not be able to discipline ourselves. JR Chia thought that we must behave ourselves by cleaning up our own mess. Apart from that, some of the housemaids stole valuable belongings.

Anne Tan snapped back at JR Chia to put away his valuable belongings in a safer place. Anne Tan said that we should enjoy a bit of our lives and to share our money to others, if we could afford to employ a housemaid.

ACB Norman Chin said that everyone is equal and thought that the housemaids in Malaysia were underpaid and treated unfairly. He also mentioned that we should not address them as housemaids but as house assistant instead.

During the break, the members celebrated three birthdays. Datin Grace Chiu, Norman Chin and Vannessa Lim were born in the month of August.

Group photos:

After the short break, it was time for speeches. The first one was CC Shane Ho. He presented his ACB 5 entitled Money Matters.

CC Shane Ho talked about inflation. 20 years ago, inflation increased his allowance when he was a student. However, during his working life, he noticed that the portion of food, when he's wating out, had decreased due to inflation.

ACS Datin Grace Chiu presented her ACG 5 entitled Speak Loud Walk Tall.

The Division K Governor talked about the Semi Annual Convention held in Sandakan on the 26th until 28th October 2008., how the members handled the situations and overcame the problems. The Semi Annual Convention had proven that Sandakan Toastmasters Club can handle any obstacles as long as the members have the determination and never give up attitudes.

The President, CC Alice Kok presented the last speech for the night.

Her speech concerns on the importance of mentoring. A mentor shares his / her knowledge and experience. This is crucial to new members. By mentoring, both parties can gain benefits. New members will have guidance, feel closer to other members and the mentors can refine their skills.

The meeting ended with the President and the VPE presenting gifts / appreciations to the...

Best Speaker of Table Topics

A can of delicious biscuits to fill JR Chia's stomach when he's hungy... :)

Speakers

It was indeed a fruitful night as members and guest were able to listen to interesting speeches.

BBQ Gathering at IPP CL Amy Hiew's Residence

2010-08-22T18:56:00.000+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club members just had a BBQ gathering at IPP CL Amy Hiew's Residence on 7th August 2010, Saturday. On that day, members had their first exco meeting, BBQ, ate a lot , listened to a speech and evaluation and put on weight.

The female Toasties helped out in the kitchen...

TM Laurence and the President enjoying cutting the prawns' heads off...

Spaghetti...

TM Averil and President Alice preparing ingredients...

TO MAKE THIS!!!... (WARNING: EXTREMELY YUMMY!!!)

Everyone was enjoying spreading creams...

Do not be fooled by their outer appearances, the end result was.... SUPER YUMMY!!!

Local fruits...

The kitchen was pretty much like a war zone for the ladies...

The male Toasties preparing to BBQ

Guess who this is?...

After the scrumptious meal, the members got to listen to a second speech by TM Laurence Dumling entitled 'Hello?'.

Her speech was concerning on how the teachers communicate with today's students. It is not the same as last time. The teachers' tactics have changed. It was an interesting speech indeed.

Her evaluator, DTM Eleanor Wong, giving evaluations and comments.

TM Laurence Dumling also received some comments from Luna.

What's going on with her hands?

Oh.. she was having some kind of treatment for her nails...

In a nut shell, Sandakan Toastmasters members who attended the gathering had put on some weight on that night for sure!!!

Sandakan Toastmasters Club's 15th Installation Banquet

2010-08-11T16:49:00.001+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club held its 15th Installation Banquet on 17th of July 2010 at Sabah Hotel Ballroom. It was a "Masquerade Night" themed dinner.

Sandakan Toastmasters Club was indeed very honoured to have District 87 Governor, DTM Mohd. Ariff Azahari, to be the Guest of Honour.

The main purpose of the event was to install Sandakan Toastmasters Club's new president, CC Alice Kok.

CC Alice Kok would be taking over the role from CC Amy Hiew.

The Masters of Ceremony for that night were the following persons...

*Were treating the bananas as microphones for a rehearsal...*

The dinner started with the call to order and invocation.

And then the marching in

Organising Chairperson, ACB Ling How Kee

*Hmm... mask need to be adjusted...*

Outgoing President, CL Amy Hiew

Incoming President, CC Alice Kok

Immediate Past Area K2 Governor. ACG Eleanor Pang

District 87 Lieutenant Governor Marketing, DTM Richard Gontusan

Area K2 Governor, ACB Norman Chin

Division K Governor, ACS Datin Grace Chiu

And last but not least, the Guest of Honour...

District 87 Governor, DTM Mohd. Ariff Azahari

Of course, the installation would not be complete without the three main toasts.

CC Jimmy Leong did the toastings.

Every Toastmasters members must rise and toast proudly... :)

And then... the announcement of the entrance of the Masters of Ceremony...

CC Amy Hiew lent her green 'BMW' for the two MCs to make the entrance 'grand'...

*CC Shane Ho tried really hard to keep his cool expression*

Organising Chairperson, ACB Ling How Kee giving his speech

Outgoing President, CL Amy Hiew giving her 'last speech'... as Sandakan Toastmasters Club's President.

After her speech, CC Amy Hiew showed her appreciation to the outgoing exco by presenting them gifts.

Look how happy CC Winnie Lee was...

CC Jimmy Leong seemed like couldn't wait to check out what was in the bag...

*Everyone was looking at each other for some reasons...*

Hmm... Seems like TM Chong was comparing that he had a bigger bag than everyone...

*My gift bag is so much prettier than yours... La la la... See, it even has strings for me to carry easily... La la la... Unlike yours.. Ah hahahha...*

The installation started straight after the Presentation of Appreciation to the Outgoing Excos and Presentation of Educational Awards...

Incoming President, CC Alice Kok being escorted to the stage by Outgoing President CC Amy Hiew's son.

All the incoming exco had to line up on the stage to be installed.

*Hmm... Can't seem to see OC Ling's eyes...*

Toastmasters members are installed by holding or touching a gavel and give vow by saying 'I will'.

TM Chong: " I AM ONE WITH THE GAVEL... OHH..."

Note: Toastmasters members won't be possessed when they are touching the gavel.

Last but not least, Incoming President, CC Alice Kok being installed.

She gave a vow.. " I Will Not... Let You Down"...

Gave everyone a shock when she mentioned the first part. It was really a good joke.

CC Jimmy Leong still hadn't recovered from the shock...

New President giving appreciation to Old President...

New Old

President Alice Kok giving appreciation to Area K2 Governor for conducting the installation.

BEHOLD... THE NEW EXCO TEAM FOR TERM 2010 / 2011

Newly elected President giving her speech... Her theme for the term 2010 / 2011 is "Take the Challege".

For her, taking up the role as the president is a challenge, but with the support and help and encouragement from everyone, she will be able to handle everything smoothly... :)

Division K Governor, ACS Datin Grace Chiu presenting her speech.

TM Laurence Dumling escorting District 87 Governor DTM Mohd. Ariff Azahari to the stage to present his speech.

*The District 87 Governor sure was happy... :)*

There were entertainments performed during the installation dinner.

Songs presented by high Sung Siew Gavel Club.

And dance performances...

They shake butts... they kick butts...

There was a game where members of Toastmasters International and Sung Siew Gavel Club participated in.

*Bang Bang Bang...*

*Discussing which team should pretend to be dead after the Bang Bang Bang...*

Bless and good luck to Sandakan Toastmasters Club 15th President, CC Alice Kok.

Pretty sure everyone enjoyed the dinner... :) It was indeed an unforgettable one.

For more photos, please visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandakan-Toastmasters-Club/111546565548455?v=wall&ref=ts.

PRESS RELEASE:

Training Meeting 22nd July 2010

2010-07-31T20:38:00.001+08:00

It was a scintillating meeting on that night as the theme for that meeting was "Masquerade Night". The masks were put into use once again after the Sandakan Toastmasters Club's 15th Installation Dinner on 17th July 2010.

The word of the night was "Scintillating". It was indeed a very suitable word to suit that "Masquerade Night" themed meeting.

All the scintillating masks worn during the meeting.

TM Laurence Dumling, a very athletic English teacher of Sung Siew Secondary School, an ex head prefect of St. Cecilia Convent Secondary School, called the meeting to order.

Division K Governor, ACS Datin Grace Chiu, was the Table Topics Master for that night.

She came out questions such as:-

1) How would you design your mask to be scintillating, if given a task?

2) District 87 Governor mentioned during the TLI training that everyone had a masterpiece? What is your masterpiece?

3) What are your objectives in joining Toastmasters?

4) Some people agree in making new year resolution. (Division K Governor turned this question in to a debate. There was a tough battle between the "Against" and "For" teams.)

There were four speakers for that night and it was in the following order:-

1) TM Wong Kah Yun - CC 4

2) CC, CL Amy Hiew - ACB 1

3) ACB, ALB Ling How Kee - ACS 7

4) ACB CL Norman Chin - ACS 9

Our Vice President of Education, ACB ALB Ling How Kee...

Woopsie... Wrong picture...

There you go...

Made laminated bookmarks for those who presented speeches as tokens of appreciation.

Woah... This would certainly encourage members to present their speeches... Sweet... :)

Everyone was so happy receiving the bookmarks... :)

The meeting ended with members having fun wearing different scintillating masks...

The scintillating ladies behind the iron mask...

Hmm... What a pose by IPP Amy Hiew...

First Meeting for Term 2010/2011

2010-07-18T20:03:00.000+08:00

The first meeting for the new term, 2010/2011 was conducted on 8th July 2010, 7.30 pm, Mark's Lodge Hotel function room.

The first one to arrive was the newly elected Vice President of Education, ACB Ling How Kee, who is also the next in line for the post of President.

Just look at him, carefully arranging all the papers... Seems like he could not wait for the first meeting of term 2010/2011 to start...

He was thoughtful enough to prepare diagrams of 'Distinguished Club Program Goals' for everyone and he got them laminated... Woah...

And the 2 guests were able to get an insight to what Toastmasters International is all about.

The three important toasts were done by ACB Norman Chin.

Advanced Communicator Bronze was also the speaker for that night. His speech's title was "Laugh and Get Healed".

The first address by the newly elected President, CC Alice Kok.

Three Past Presidents were sitting together during the meeting. I think that corner is reserved for Past Presidents.

Competent Communicator Vannessa Lim was the Toastmasters of the Evening and the Table Topics Master for that night.

The Table Topics were:

What do you like about yourself?
We all know that lying is bad. However, sometimes it is necessary to lie. What are your opinions on that?
Are you a money spender or a money saver?
Study life is better that working life. What do you think?

There was an award presentation during that meeting. ACS Dating Grace Chiu was able to obtain some award pins, compliments from DTM Ritchie.

This was the pin that was awarded to the members, for their good jobs in completing their communication and leadership manuals...

The award achievers were...

President, CC Alice Kok

Immediate Past President, CL Amy Hiew

Vice President of Education, ACB Ling How Kee

Vice President of Public Relation, CC Vannessa Lim

A short humour session was carried out that night. It was a joke on a letter written by guys to the ladies pertaining to the World Cup 2010...

Dear Wife / Sweetheart / Girlfriend / Partner / whomever it may concern,

1. Between 11 June and 11 July 2010, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the Woeld of Soccer, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, it you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).

3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don't mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone or pick up the baby that just fell on the floor... It won't happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on (excluding you body parts) and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games.

6. Please, please, please!! If you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say "get over it, it's only a game" or "don't worry, they'll win next time". If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called "words of encouragement" will only lead to a break up or divorce.

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on and only if the half time scores is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying "one" game; hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to "spend time together".

8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don't care if I have seen them or I haven't seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies or any other child related parties or gatehrings that requires my attendance because:

a) I will not go,

b) I will not go, and

c) I will not go.

10. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

11. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying "but you have already seen this... why don't you change the channel to something we can asll watch?" because the reply will be "refer to Rule #2 of this list".

12. And finally, please save your expressions such as "Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years". I am immune to these words, because before and after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, KPL, FA Cup, Euro Cup, etc.

P/S By the way if you get stuck on the road call the Police.

Thank you for your cooperation.

10 July 2010: STMC Met KKTMC

2010-07-15T10:47:00.004+08:00

The club has attended the Kota Kinabalu Toastmasters Club's 19th Installation Banquet on 10 July 2010 which was held at Sutera Harbour. There were 4 from our club attended the installation. Anyway, As they said pictures can say a thousand words, here goes:

The backdrop, and the presidential theme for this year is "Move, Express, Inspire"

That's the magazine for the Installation

and this is the menu...

Right before the event started... everyone is busy taking photos

we found our looong lost friend... Melissa!

After the show...

Shane managed to grab DTM, Dr. John Lau to take a photos with us before he went off

What a lucky guy...

The four members who attended the event

The ladies went to White Room at KK Times Square to grab a drink

Next up is Sandakan Toastmasters Club's 15th Installation Banquet on 17th July 2010 @ Grand Ballroom, Sabah Hotel

Division K Governor On Air!

2010-07-12T23:18:00.003+08:00

Division K Governor Datin Grace Chiu will be on air on Sabah VFM. Tune in and listen to her on Wednesday night 9.30pm 14th July 2010.

You may also listen online at http://radiotime.com/station/s_98304/RTM_Sabah_V_FM_911.aspx

Remember to Tune in!

Recording conducted on 10 July 2010 (10.30am) by DJ/Producer: Mr. Ivan (RTM Sabah V FM)

Press Release

2010-07-10T23:29:00.000+08:00

A photo of the recent AGM meeting was published in Daily Express, Monday, 5th July 2010, page 16, under the Community section.

Sandakan Toastmasters Appreciation Dinner

2010-07-10T20:28:00.000+08:00

An appreciation dinner was held by the members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club, for the members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club, on 3rd of July 2010 at Ocean King Seafood restaurant.

Due to economic downturns, we only had

Green Peas

Peanuts

and Evil Banana...

THE END...

NOT!!!...

Do you think Immediate Past President, CC Amy hiew would let us eat just that?...

We had delicious, fresh, awesome, scrumptious, tasty, yummy, good, delightful, appetizing food...

Just check out the photos...

Yeah... we had white rices too...

Uh... it's lobster mee...

As you can see from the photo above... yup... it's yummy alright...

Even Winnie wanted a bite from President Alice's portion...

Don't these photos of food make you drool and hungry?...

Mmm... Food... *Saliva, saliva*...

Everyone gave a toast... (That kid in red... he's toasting with a pair of chopsticks...)

We also had mango pudding for dessert...

As well as local fresh fruits...

It was Jimmy's birthday... So, we got him a very special birthday cake...

Very special indeed... "Chinese-style cake"...

Both Jimmy and the cake were very happy...

We got him a real birthday cake of course... It's mango cheese cake... Very filling...

Cake cutting...

Jimmy and his lovely wife, Winnie... aka Mr and Mrs Leong...

This is Henry and Kah Yun.. And no... that's not their child... They are yet to manufacture one...

Kah Yun was so kind to make us muffins...

Three types of muffins... Yummy yummy...

Last but not least, we had a surprise guest that night. That person was DTM Eleanor Wong!!!...

Don't they look like Siamese twins with their heads attached together?...

Their hair styles are totally the same!!!...

Sandakan Toastmasters Club's 15th Annual General Meeting

2010-06-30T21:54:00.004+08:00

On Thursday 24th June 2010, at the strike of 7.30 pm, HISTORY was made...

The 15th Annual General Meeting was held at Mark's Lodge Hotel. CC Alice Kok, had taken over the position of CC Amy Hiew. CC Alice Kok is the Newly Elected President of Sandakan Toastmasters Club for the term 2010/2011.

Our sweet new president...

A NEW REIGN HAS BEGUN!!!

New office bearers were also elected to assist the Great Sandakan Toastmasters Club President / Queen.

They are...

Vice President of Education - ACB Ling How Kee

Vice President of Membership - CC Shane Ho

Vice President of Public Relations - CC Vannessa Lim

Secretary - TM Laurence Dumling

Treasurer - CC Jimmy Leong

Sergeant at Arms - TM Alex Yong

Committee Members - CC JR Chia, CC Winnie Lee, TM Henry Nok and TM Chong Sung Yan

Bulletin Editors - CC Dusun Chong

Co-editor - TM Wong Kah Yun

Auditors - TM Margaret Liew and CC Ha Chuen Hoo

These people have sworn their loyalty to the Queen and must be there for the Queen whenever she commands. Every words of Her Royal Highness must be followed...

During the new term, CC Alice Kok will 'Take the Challenge' and rule Sandakan Toastmasters Club for a year until the graceful ruler has found her next successor.

Eveyone was getting ready to get the group photo...

Group photo...

Exco members 2010 / 2011...

However, this is not fully official until the installation ceremony on the 17th of July 2010, 7.00 pm, at Sabah Hotel Ballroom, Sandakan. The theme for that night will be Masquerade Night.

**Tickets are still on sale. So, hurry up and grab some while there are still some left...**

Meanwhile, the Newly Elected President / Queen, the Committee Members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club 15th Installation Banquet shall protect the Queen with weapons of mass destruction, at the same time, will be busy preparing for the installation ceremony. The ceremony will be an awesome and unforgettable one as DTM Mohd. Ariff will be the Guest of Honour for that very special night.

SO...

WHAT ARE YOU STILL WAITING FOR???!!!

Even CC Shane Ho thinks it is the right choice to attend the installation dinner...

Training Meeting on 13th May 2010

2010-05-15T10:49:00.001+08:00

We have an "inspiring" meeting on 13th May 2010.

Though with only 7 members + 3 guests, the meeting was indeed a quality one.

All the roles were taken and each segment of the meeting were carry out as according to Toastmasters International Guidelines without compromising.

Table topics masters Datin Grace Chiu, ACS CL gave the members some challenging questions:

1. If tomorrow is the last day of the world, what will you do?
Smart answer from Sasa: I don't want to be a sad ghost!

2. Do you prefer to leave in the comfort zone or face the challenges?
Interestingly, ACB Norman Chin is the only one choose to stay in the comfort zone!

3. Is it ok for a father to bring his daughters to enter the female's toilet?
Ling How Kee and Barnabas both answered the questions tactfully.

4. What can you do to save our mother nature?
TM Laurence gave the best answer.

From Left: Ling How Kee, Laurence, Mahani (Guest of Ling How Kee), Vannessa Lim, President Amy Hiew, Barnabas Fung, Datin Grace Chiu, Glenda (Guest from IJM Corp) and Yana (Guest from IJM Corp), and of course, the hidden Cameraman Norman Chin

The meeting started sharp at 7:30pm.

TM Laurence were so confident and all the guest thought she is a seasonal Toastmasters. She managed as the Toastmasters of the Evening with full confident and competent! Well Done!

This is our first time "General Evaluator", Vannessa Lim CC, giving her general remark about the meeting.

The best table topics speaker for the evening, TM Laurence won a prize from Table Topics master Datin Grace Chiu, ACS CL.

The question was: What can we do to save our mother nature.

The answer: Recycle, Law enforcement and Education!

Well Done!

Madam President Amy Hiew CC CL deliver her message to the members and guests.

The next training meeting falls on 27th May 2010, Mark's Lodge 7:30pm. Those who are interested to take up roles or deliver your speeches, please contact the Toastmasters of the evening Sasa Lim @ Vannessa Lim at 017-8173177

Together, we explore the possibilities!

Courage is the Word

2010-04-24T14:04:00.000+08:00

Courage that's the word of the day and we have two guests who had took up the courage by participating in the Table Topics Session. Well done girls...

mmm... ... ... Next!

Tok-Tok-Tok, The time now is 7.30pm... Let's Start!

ACS, Datin Grace Chiu is the TME... and during the warm up session she has invited everyone in the meeting to share the experience that they had with Toastmasters

Yes! You are looking at the ticket of our next Installation which scheduled on 17th July 2010 @ Sabah Hotel, Grand Ballroom. Tickets are on sale NOW, Grab it from our Exco and Let's play Masquerade! Price:- RM70 but experience wise... RM100 and above... what a bargain...

What are they presenting you asked? They are the Best Table Topics Speaker of the evening, these gifts - ~~Sup~~, Soap comes all the way from Bali, Indonesia bought to us by ACB, Norman Chin!

Our Guest... "A" Soap... for you

and... Sung Siew gavelian Teacher Advisor... TM. Ms. Laurence... here you go, another soap from ACB, Norman.

What's interesting over there?

Hi, I am CC, Alice... (actually CC, Shane is testing out his Camera)

Meeting Meeting Meeting

2010-04-10T16:01:00.002+08:00

02 Apr, meeting commenced as usual but what happen to the meeting is totally unusual...

Toastmasters of the Evening is our newly achiever of CC, Vannessa Lim

Who is she? She is Sung Siew's Gavelian Teacher Advisor, TM Laurence - Yup! You guessed it. She is now officially the member of Sandakan Toastmasters Club and her skill in evaluation is so... in details even when she stands in as the language evaluator... Bravo!

Seen any different in the usual fried noodle? Yea, you see the egg there? It was meant for table topics session winner and it ended up becoming everyone food during the break.

Everyone is happy with the food and eggs...

There was nobody celebrating birthday this month (I mean those who come to the meeting), but it is the club's usual practice to do that no matter what happen... and it was delicious... Most of you missed the mango cheese.... too bad... hahaha

How to win a speech contest

2010-03-17T15:53:00.004+08:00

I was truely honored for winning the Area Level International Speech Contest last Saturday. It was like a dream come true, mission achieved kind of feeling.

When was the last time I won a medal or trophy? It was 6 months ago in the Evaluation Contest, and 1 year ago in the Humorous Speech contest. But, prior to taking part in Toastmasters speech contest, as far as I remember, the last time that I won a competition was during my Secondary School days, a good 20 years ago.

I don’t know about women, but a man needs victory to justify their existence, at least I am like that.

When I was a fresh Toastmasters 6 years ago, I was just like any other newbie, worried that I would be called upon to answer the Table Topics question. When I took part in my first speech contest, I was kind of hope that all the good speakers such as Dusun Chong, Dr. Edmond and so are busy and doesn’t take part and I can easily get a 3^rd place by luck. Yes, that was what I though…. Get lucky….

The turning point for me was really the day I became VPE for the club. I felt like I am “obligated” to do better in both leadership and public speaking.

Coming back to the main issue, How to win in (international) speech contest:

1) Be responsible – be committed to win

Do you know that Tawau Toastmasters Club always seems to be a club with better speakers? As far as I remember, Tawau Club beats STM in a ratio of 2:1 in Area Level Speech Contest. As a responsible past leader (Oversea Buddha), I feel that I am obligated to do better in Speech Contest.

2) Attend meeting regularly

Due to “commitment” as the VPE, club president and IPP, I was “forced” to attend the training regularly. For the last 2 ½ years, I attend Toastmasters Training Meeting whenever I am around. Never skip meeting with excuses of busy or lazy.

During Training Meeting, I must say or do something. Be it a Table Topics Speakers or Invocator.

3) Attend district convention and listen to the best speakers

Perhaps, Listening to the best speakers' speeches was the single item that can make one’s speech improve the most. After listening to those great speeches by the champion speakers from the District Level has definitely increase our understanding about “what makes a good speech excellent”.

4) To prepare a good speech

A winning speech should have humor in it. The purpose of the humor is to capture the attention of the audience. A speech without laughter is seen as dry no matter how important it is.

How to get have some humor in your speech? Be a humor person. Do you know that I was not a humor person before? I actually pick up my spontaneous humorous skill from someone in Toastmasters. And believe me, humor is one of the key success factor of interpersonal skill. People like to listen to humor person, not those who always speak of serious issues in a serious manner.

b. An excellent speech has a clear structure (opening, body and conclusion), uses vocal variety, props, examples, role play to enhance the overall presentation of speech. In other words, use technique that you master in the communication series to deliver your speech.

c. The speech needs a strong underlying message which is something positive.

Do you recall my speech titled “how to rob a bank?”. The speech makes everybody laugh hilariously. But it didn’t make it to the Division Level contest because the message behind is negative.

A good speech must have a message and the message must be a good and positive one in order to win.

I sincerely hope that the reader have learned some of my tricks and take part in the Toastmasters competition in the near future.

Together, we explore the possibilities!

Norman Chin,
a.k.a. Oversea Buddha

Int. Speech & Table Topic Contests 2010

2010-03-04T00:13:00.005+08:00

25 Feb, Sandakan Toastmasters Club, has successfully hosted the club level International Speech and Table Topic Contest at The Mark's Lodge function room. There were altogether 10 participant contested in these contests and the winners from these contests will be representing the club to the Area level which will be held on the 13th March 2010 at Tawau, Sabah. The winners who will be representing the club to Division K, Area K2 are as below:

International Speech Contest

Champion: Norman Chin
1st Runner Up: Jimmy Leong
2nd Runner up: Amy Hiew

Table Topics Contest

Champion: Ling How Kee
1st Runner Up: Norman Chin

Other officers who also attended the function are District 51-Rest, Mentoring chair ACS, Datin Grace Chiu & Division K Governor, ACG Datuk Hassan. Let us send our best wishes to them and make us proud.

The officers with the winners and the organizing chairman, and that's me CC, Shane Ho

Some additional photos.....

Gong Xi Fatt Choi - Theme Meeting on 11th February 2010

2010-02-20T12:43:00.002+08:00

A Theme Meeting was held on 11th February 2010 to pre-celebrate CNY the Toastmasters Way!

Guess what's this? Ang Pow? No.... They are the table topics question for the day!

TME was CC Shane Ho.... He managed to bring out the CNY mood....

Our visiting guess is Enoch Khoo, the ex-VPE of Kota Kinabalu Toastmasters Club.

This is TM Jimmy Leong Presenting his CC-8.... Alexander the Great!

And the cutest of all is...... District 51 Mentoring Chair, ACB Datin Grace Chiu....

Happy Chinese New Year to ALL!

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 6

2010-02-18T16:49:00.003+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 5

2010-02-18T16:33:00.000+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 4

2010-02-18T15:36:00.001+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 3

2010-02-18T14:50:00.001+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 2

2010-02-18T12:12:00.001+08:00

Sandakan Toastmasters Club Bulletin Page 1

2010-02-17T15:47:00.001+08:00

First Meeting of 2010

2010-01-16T16:44:00.006+08:00

Happy New Year!!

14 January 2010 was the first ever meeting in the year 2010 and the turn up was promising for us to believe that this year will be another year just like before.

We had TM Chong Chan Yau as the TME and there were 2 guests who enjoyed the meeting and one of them has decided to sign up! Hooray! Our new member is Sylvester Tan who also won the best speaker for the table topic session.

Aside from the routine roles and sessions, we had 5 speakers on that night and our club has achieved another 2 DCP goals when CL Ling How Kee presented his second presentation for ALB and Datin Grace also presented her second presentation to complete her ACS. Bravo to both of them!

The birthday baby for January is our lovely Mdm. President Amy Hiew where we have a very delicious kiwi cheesecake to celebrate for her. Everyone loved the cake!

I'll leave you with some photos for your viewing pleasure.

The next meeting is on 28 January 2010, hope to see you then!

Times like this...

2009-12-11T15:51:00.006+08:00

There were only 12 members attended the meeting last night (10 Dec 2009) because it's holiday season and most of the members have already turned on their holiday mode. Therefore, meetings during year end or beginning of the year will normally attended by less members and guests.

However, 12 members are always better than none and we have 5 speakers last night. Our Mdm. President Amy Hiew even completed her 10th Competent Communicator manual project to help us kill some time and to earn 0.5 goal, in the impromptu way. *bravo* She also bought a very nice cheesecake from Secret Recipe to share with us, everyone loved it.

Our humor session was actually a speech by TM Vanessa because she has so many funny stories about her helper at home and all of us laughed our hearts out and asked for more. Unfortunately, she was only allowed to speak for 5-7 minutes for a CC manual speech, we told her to do a part 2, just like what TM Jimmy did for his 7th CC manual speech about the benefits of coffee (part 2). Not a bad idea to do speeches, in this case, we will run out of topic or don't know what to talk about.

Not to forget that TM Alex who grabbed this opportunity to present his CC manual speech during his long holiday break and he gained plenty of confidence talking about the skills needed to speak publicly. I think he absorbed the skills while preparing for the speech, bravo to him too! Nonetheless, our VPM CL Ling also completed his ACB 9, which means we are one step nearer to achieve another goal! We look forward to his next speech.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all that our next meeting which falls on 24 December has been canceled due to it's a Christmas Eve and almost everybody will be busy on that night. So the next meeting will be on 14 Jan 2010.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010!

Regards,
Alice Kok
VPE 2009/2010
Sandakan Toastmasters Club

Training Meeting on 10th December 2009

2009-12-11T15:39:00.005+08:00

If you did not attend the training meeting on the 10th December, you won't know what you were missing.

Table Topics Question: What will you do if you found out that you only have 6 more months to live?

You will probably expect some standard answer like: "I will treasure my remaining days and stay close to my relatives".

But not this lady, our Humour Master of the evening, Vennessa Lim:

If I only have 6 more month to live, the first thing that I will do is to look for a good, spacious and comfortable coffin.

I will take lots of photograph with my family members, so that they will always remember my face after I am died.

I will look for my enemy and ask them to forgive me. If they still don't forgive me, I will "make them to forgive me", if not, I will come back and look for them as a ghost. They then sure forgive me.

I will buy lots of junk food, and stuffs... so that my coffin is filled up.

Last but not least, I will make sure I "sleep" like this on my last day.

This "Christmas Cake" was a very delicious cake specially prepared by Madam President

...... It's call "High Fiber Cheese Cake". Don't be fool by the name High-Fiber.... It was very delicious.... highly recommended by Datuk Hassan!

"The best cake I have ever tasted in a Toastmasters meeting!" Datuk Hassan

Even our bakery specialist Averil Foo also could not resist the temptation and continue to enjoy the cake during the meeting session.... that shows how great it was.

5 Speakers presented their manual speeches during the meeting:

Alex Yong - CC 4 "The skills of public speaking"

Jimmy Leong - CC 7 "Benefit of Coffee"

Ling How Kee - ACB 9 "To join or not to join Toastmaster"

Amy Hiew - CC 10 "How to become the President of Toastmasters Club"

and last, Vennessa Lim - CC 4 "My family legendary maid"

In the photo, TM Alex Yong presenting his CC-4 project. The only command that I can give is.... He has improved a lot as compared to his previous projects. He is now very steady, confident and at ease. Congratulation to you Alex.

Due to technical problem with my hp camera, I am unable to capture more pics during the meeting. The meeting was fun-filled with lots of "silly jokes" from our humorous speech speaker.

Can't wait for the next meeting....

Upcoming Training Meeting ~ 10th December 2009

2009-12-07T09:22:00.003+08:00

Dear Fellow Member of Sandakan Toastmasters Club,

Please come to support us on the forthcoming meeting on the following date/time/venue:

Date : 10th December 2009

Time : 7:30pm Sharp

Venue : Mark's Lodge Meeting Room

The following speakers will be presenting their manual speeches:

1. Ling How Kee ~ ACB 9
2. Chong Chan Yau - CC 7
3. Alex Yong - CC 4
4. Jimmy Leong ~ CC 7
5. JR Chia ~ ACB 3

and.... ACB CL Luna will be back all the way from Aussie to attend this meeting.

Don't miss the chance to learn and explore the possibility!

Please contact Norman Chin, 013-8633907 or Amy Hiew, 012-8185418 or Alice Kok, 0168264272 to find out the details.

Let's Start Sharing!

2009-11-17T15:45:00.010+08:00

Have you ever wonder how to promote our beloved club more? To sponsor members more? To help others to speak more? To help others to get promoted in their job more? Well, since I am your VPPR for this term, I just wanted to do a quick share with you all. The information from this post is taken from the Toastmasters International's website on the 17 ideas on how and where to promote Toastmasters and they are via:-

1. Newspaper

2. Electronic Media

3. Local Government

4. Chamber of Commerce

5. Libraries

6. Corporate Publication

7. Employee Orientation

8. "Welcome to the Community" Packets

9. University & Community College

10. High Schools

11. Community Events

12. Proclamations by Politician

13. Billboards

14. Offer Speechcraft and Youth Leadership Programs

15. Create Club Business Cards

16. Use TI Bumper Stickers & Mugs

17. Wear your Toastmasters Pins

(You can read more on it from this article)

I hope everyone has a few a idea on how to stretch our wings further in the city of nature, Sandakan. Let us hold our hand and explore all the possibility together for another half of this term and beyond.

If you have any great ideas and you would like to contribute to help expand our marketability to help others to grow... you are more than welcome to share with us and let's make Sandakan Toastmasters Club, a club of everybody choice. Till then... catch up with you next meeting same time, same place! Cheers...

Sung Siew Gavel Club Installation

2009-11-11T00:00:00.004+08:00

Hi everyone!! Is me... your VPPR, after missing from action. Luckily we got our lovely VPE, Alice to do the posting for me or else you will be missing a whole lots of fun. Now, is back to work... last Friday (6 Nov 2009) our very first Gavel Club in town has finally conducted the installation at Sandakan Hotel with smiles and thumbs up the whole night. They are the Sung Siew Gavel Club!! Sung Siew Secondary School was my former school - really proud of them. The whole installation was all fun, fun, fun, and more fun. What is the fun like? Well, we got talented singers, cool dancers, and even actors too.

I think I better stop writing and start showing you all the pictures instead, like I always said ~~action~~ pictures speak louder than words (sometimes). So, here it goes:-

The backdrop

Before the show starts... us with the teacher advisers

Group Photo

Donation to Sung Siew Gavel

The Members of Sandakan Toastmasters Club.... hmm.. someone is missing... where is Averil???

That's our VPE, Alice and Gavel's Secretary Kimberly

and that's me.. and the lovely President of Sung Siew Gavel Celestina

We were able to capture some nice videos too:-

Video 1: The Trio Dancers

Video 2: The White Masked Dancers

(half way done... too bad memory run low)

What's next? Don't forget to come & support - see you on 12/11/09, same time, same place.

Mailing List

2009-11-05T13:57:00.004+08:00

Hello Members!

A brief update from Alice here.

I have added a feature in this blog called the "mailing list" where whenever there's an update in this blog, a notification will be sent to you. And how does this work? Easy, just key in your name and email address and you'll be probed to enter a code to verify your subscription (we want to make sure no prank subscription) and thereafter, you can enjoy the first hand news on the updates in this blog.

Easy? Let's do it now.

It's a little blue box at the right hand side -----> see it??

KL Genting 17th Semi Annual Convention

2009-10-30T15:02:00.023+08:00

23 - 25 October 2009 was a magical weekend for me. Never have i thought that a convention would do wonders like that to me and to my fellow members. I'm just so glad that i was one of the hundreds delegates participated in this wonderful convention, i have no regrets of joining this trip. I believe the others are feeling the same too.

Magical day 1 began with the council meeting in the afternoon where the President and VPE were invited to attend, or rather were compulsory to attend. Therefore, me and Amy were in the council meeting while the others were comfortably settling down in their rooms and loitering around First World Hotel. However, no matter how they enjoyed their own leisure time, they came to look for us during the break and to be there for the award presentation of "President Distinguished Club". This award was presented to our IPP Norman for his term actually, but nonetheless, the glory was for all of us who have worked together to achieve this.

After that, we have to rush to get ready for the long awaited "Absolutely Magical Welcoming Night" situated in the Safari Disco where everyone has to dress up as something. Almost everyone dressed to the theme on that night, let's see what we have -

As much as i wanted to stay to continue to party with the Dracula, wizards, fairies, devils and etc, i was very tired and so did Vanessa, my room mate. So off we went back to our room and visited slumber land.

Magical day 2 began with the auspicious opening ceremony with some inspirational speakers such as Tan Sri Dato' Lee Lam Thye where he shared his view about 1 Malaysia and urged " Toastmasters in Malaysia to remain committed to their core values and principles, and speak their way to promoting a culture of peace, harmony and unity among Malaysians of every ethnic background in the spirit of 1Malaysia" (The Star Online, 28 October 2009). We were also honored to have Mr. Wong Yoon Keong, a re-known trainer who lost his sight and yet he is so passionate to motivate and share with others his experience and journey to become who he is today. He has also published a book titled "Live to Win" as an inspirational tool to encourage the community to live life to the fullest. Anyone who's interested to have a read, please approach me, the book is available on loan.

Followed by that was the plenary session where we have Roger Konopasek talked about "From sail boat to jet ski" where his confabulation presentation in explaining and emphasizing the importance of being technology savvy and how disruptive technology will hit us in the near future made an impact on all off us. Another speaker for the plenary session was Dr. Sarjit Singh Sidhu who talked about how our sub conscious mind could control us for who we want to be. For this, our very own VPM Ling How Kee was invited on stage to demonstrate how he was persuaded to fall asleep in front of him. Dr. Sarjit Singh even jabbed a needle through his cheek and he has no feeling at all!

I apologize for not being able to tell you about the run offs for the contests because i was lured to go wander around First World. Period.

Magical Day 2's dinner was known as "Gala Night - Sharing the Magical Moment" and it was a night to remember for all the award recipients and our very own Datin Grace was being awarded the "Select Distinguished Area Award" for her term as the Area K2 Governor. Congratulations to her on a job well done!

That was truly an enjoyable and memorable night. Nonetheless, i must said, the whole award presentation was mind bobbling because you'd be amazed by what the award recipients have done to serve the clubs in their respective areas. This served as a constructive motivation to all of us there.

Magical day 3 began with the Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests Finals and followed by the closing ceremony. It was truly an eye opener experience for us to witness how the finalists spoke their way to the finals and they totally deserved to be on the stage on that morning, regardless of whether they have won or not. I know i have said this too many times but this is what Toastmasters is about, it helps you to be a better speaker, in every way that you speak and in every level that you are at. So if you are just speaking in your own club, you are doing good, you know. But if you have got the motivation and ambition to step on the bigger platform, by all means, go ahead! All of us in the club will be the pillars to support you.

The winners for the Humourous speech contest (from left): Karina Rajah (Div E), 2nd runner up. Ruby Ahmad (Div S), 1st runner up for HC. 4th on the left, Marianna Pascal (Div A), Champion for HC. Our District Governor DTM Richard Chong in the middle.

The winners for the Evaluation speech contest (from right): Mary Barton (Div W), 2nd runner up. Rozanah Yunos (Div K), 1st runner up and 4th on the right, Asha Suresh Chand (Div N), champion.

Without us realizing the time, came the closing ceremony. It was very obvious that the organizing chairperson Gerald Quinten has led an excellent team because what we have for the past few days were truly amazing. The organizing team and its sub teams have done a tremendous job by devoting their time and efforts in making this Magical Convention a success. The convention was ended with the famous song "We are the world" and everyone was holding hands with each other to form a huge circle which symbolized 1 family. It's truly that Toastmasters is 1 big family and regardless what skin color or hair color you have, you are a member in this big family. To me, it was a spectacular and touching moment.

After bidding goodbyes to our fellow delegates, we left with a heavy heart. Although joyful time has passed and we can never turn back time, we brought back countless invaluable memories and experience in our heart.

Therefore, we look forward to the Annual Convention in Miri next year!

Your VPE who's still suffering from post-Genting-convention syndrome,

Alice Kok

A little update

2009-10-30T13:39:00.005+08:00

Hello! It's Alice here again. Since i'm the one holding all the photos from all occasions, i shall share the photos and do a little update at the same time.

For the past month, we have attended the installation dinner of Kota Kinabalu Advanced Toastmasters Club and in conjunction with that, the Division K Humorous & Evaluation speech contests. Both functions were great and it's always good to meet up with fellow toastmasters from other clubs.

From left: Enoch (KKTMC), Rozana Yunus (champion for Div K Evaluation Speech Contest)and Sophiana (champion for Div K Humorous Speech Contest), Amy, Alice and Jasmine (KKTMC)

We also took this opportunity to meet up with the members who have transferred to KK, they were Melissa, Lily and Alex. We have a great Italian dinner at Grazie upon the recommendation from Enoch and everyone laughed their hearts out that night.

Till the next update.

Training Meeting 29 October 2009

2009-10-30T10:11:00.006+08:00

Hello Members!

It's your VPE Alice here.

It's been a while since i wrote on this blog as most of the posts were done by our VPPR Shane Ho. Since i've got all the nice photos with me,i shall be the one who update this post.

We have a great meeting last night because our Area K2 Governor Eleanor Pang, ACG was here for her official club visit and we were also very honored to have our Division K Governor Datuk Hassan, ACG and District 51 Rest Mentoring Chair Datin Grace, ALB,ACB presented in the meeting. Imagine that.....it's almost like a council meeting already!

We have CL Ling How Kee as our Toastmaster of the Evening and he has prepared a special warming up session for us to mesmerize our childhood by playing a game when the music stopped and whoever was holding the mic on his/her hand, he/she would have to sing a kiddy song. Shane, Vanessa and Amy were the "victims" and they sang, no kidding! Times are bad now, all of us need to do something before we are awarded with any prizes and the prizes for them was - pure canola oil.

We have 2 speakers last night and they were JR Chia and Datin Grace. Now, i would like to take this opportunity to urge you to start looking at your manual and plan your next speech. As Datin Grace said "you pay TI dues and club fees and you are not going to get nothing, you must make your money worthwhile". Yes, members, i know the fellowship in the club is excellent, but you have got to make progress and improve yourselves, intellectually and emotionally. We would love to see everyone gains something from the club, besides the beautiful friendship. Therefore, please call me or approach anyone of us to make your first step, begin with taking up simple role and make yourself comfortable speaking little by little in the meeting. Trust me, it helps, because we learn by doing.

As usual, we ended the meeting with a group photo of the night!

Our TME for the next meeting is JR Chia, the meeting date is 12 November 2009, same place, same time. See you there!

Area K2, Humorous & Evaluation Speech Contest

2009-09-29T22:45:00.009+08:00

Yes, the club did it again! Sandakan Toastmasters Club has successfully organized the Area K2 Humorous Speech & Evaluation Speech contests on 27 Sept 2009, with participation from Sandakan Toastmasters Club, Pidato Toastmasters Club and Tawau Toastmasters Club. The results are as follows:-

Humorous Speech:-

1. Grace Yong - Pretty Woman (Tawau Toastmasters Club)

2. Shane Ho - A Date with a Toastmaster (Sandakan Toastmasters Club)

Evaluation Speech:-

1. Norman Chin (Sandakan Toastmasters Club)

2. Grace Yong (Tawau Toastmasters Club)

The winners with the organizing committee

Yeah! Contest Chair, Area K2 Governor Eleanor Pang presenting the winner's trophy to Norman.

Members waiting for the contest to start

Organising Chairperson Luna in Action

It was a great morning and we even had members of the public who walked in to see how the participants have benefited from the Toastmasters training.

Mooncake Gathering - 26 Sept 2009

2009-09-29T22:28:00.005+08:00

It was another GREAT night for gathering... and the theme was MoonCake gathering. Well, let the pictures do the talking for this time:-

Cool... right? For those who didn't manage to turnup, look at what you have missed!

24th Sept 2009 Meeting

2009-09-25T03:17:00.009+08:00

It was a great night! Many members turned up last night and our "past-past-past" area governor ACB Luna Chua and her daughter were also there. Apart from having two speakers for the manual speeches, the participants who are representing the club to the Area level this Sunday were given stage time to "polish" their competition speeches.

Wordmaster of the day, Tm Vannessa Lim reporting on how many times her chosen word 'magical' was used.

Good crowd! ain't this meeting fun!

Smile!

Again, Smile please!

President Amy

General Evaluator Luna!

Everyone had an enjoyable night and guess who was taking the picture for us? She's the girl that has been shying away from the camera.... she is Luna's girl... another Vanessa.... Vanessa Pang

Hey guys, don't miss out this Sunday - The Area Level Humorous & Evaluation Speech Contests at The Mark's Lodge @ 10am. Don't worry about the fees,..it's free! So, do come and share the moment by supporting our representatives in this contest & let us learn from the pros from the area level and let's see who will be representing our area to the division level which will be held on the 11 Oct 2009 @ KK. Hope to see you there!

Humorous & Evaluation Speech Contest

2009-09-14T06:39:00.008+08:00

The club has successfully held the Humorous Speech & Evaluation Speech contests on the 10th September 2009 with quite a number of contestants. The contest chair for that night was none other than our very own VPE, Alice Kok, CC. The results are as below:-

Humorous Speech Contest:
1. Shane Ho - A date with a Toastmasters
2. Jimmy Leong - How to tell if a guy likes you
3. Winnie Lee - My beloved customers

Evaluation Speech Contest:
1. Norman Chin
2. Shane Ho
3. Ling How Kee

Congratulations to all the winners !! The champion and the 1st runner-up from each category will represent our club to the Area level which will be held on the 27th September 2009, 10am at the Mark's Lodge.

The winners from both categories

The judges of the day~

Good support from members and guests... it was a great turn up!

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The birthday girls of September.... Delicious chocolate moist cake!

See you in our next meeting which will be on 24 September 2009.

OMG!? Look at those....

2009-09-02T20:15:00.018+08:00

FOOOoooood!!!!! and only RM10! (for each member)

Food for the steamboat party.... beancurds, fishballs, 50 cents size Scallops and much more.

(Slurp..Slurp....sorry, I'm still salivating from the thought of those great food)

Yummy..Yummy.. huge 'springy' fish balls that are not easily found in the local markets. I wonder where our host Lili got them??? !

Oh~ now come the king of all kings! Giant oysters!!! Gosh~ you have no idea how high our cholesterol has shot up that night... have to eat more fish after this... to get those Omega 3 coming in.

Colorful Desserts!!!!

Our favourite!!!!.... Very delicious mango pudding! The texture and taste of the pudding were so much better than those served in the hotel restaurants.

Before the dinner started...

During dinner

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After dinner!

While most of the members relaxed after dinner, the host and our mentor chair washed the dishes.. and what was the organizing chairperson doing back there with Henry?

The highlight of the day: -

"come with an empty stomach, but leave with a tummy & a smile"

Everyone enjoyed the night. Thank you all for your time and especially to our host Li Li for preparing all those GREAT food! Can we have more of that?.... hahaha...

Yours VPPR 2009/10
Shane Ho, CC