Taman Indrahana Toastmasters Club

Happy Birthday to KK and Weng May!  Our past president, who is always optimistic about life. He is a coach, who is passionate in helping young people achieve their dream in career progression.  Someone who walks his talk, that's KK. A pretty lady who is relatively new in the club,but not a new toastmaster. Someone who looks quiet, but make an impression when she speaks.  Someone who has the quiet and vocal presence, that's Weng May. Stay healthy and happy! Lots of love, from Taman Indrahana     

Dear Fellow Indrahanians, Our November 23rd meeting was another qualified success. Like all Taman Indrahana meetings. Here we participated, we learned and we shared. Kay Wong started the ball rolling with her presidential address – she was telling us about Darren Le Croix and how he went from “chump to champ”. As she pointed out, if an ordinary guy like Darren could make it, so can we. She listed out seven great tips from Darren: (1) What is your intent? What do you want to share with your audience? (2) Are you in the dialogue (3) What would I give if this is to be my last presentation? (4) Never turn down stage-time! Never say, No! (5) Record yourself every time you speak – so you can look back and review (6) Be humble, and (7) Crave for feedback. Many of these pointers resonated with us because they made sense. Anyway, these were indeed invaluable lessons, and I know we took them to heart. Teresa Chan took the stage next as Toastmaster-of-the-Evening, and it was great to have her

Taman Indrahana Toastmasters decided to team up with Stamford College Toastmasters by having a Joint Meeting on November 09 at the latter’s premise in Jalan Barat, PJ. Normally, attendance at joint meetings is just so-so, especially if it is not hosted at our own venue. But it was most heartening to see seventeen Indrahanians came to give support! I was visibly touched! In fact, it was also a special gathering because it was Hong Yuan’s last meeting with us before she leaves for the UK to join her husband. And so, I came, tears welling in my eyes and before the evening was over, I had selfishly grabbed one whole box of tissues for myself, only to leave behind a crumpled and sodden mass of wringing-wet sheets that marked my teary-eyed farewell. I am sure the others felt the same except that they were made of sterner stuff and so they hid their sadness very well! In the large room at Stamford College that served as our meeting room, forty-six Toastmasters and guests came, packing them

During our FRIM outing, we made a joke. We said, Fanny must take care of her 'mummy' Kay - for all we knew, both of them like green, and Kay always take care of our young Fanny - never knew that they are both November babies!  Young and sweet, that's Fanny. She is so sweet that whenever she seek for your help, you will never say no.  Kay, the captain of the club, a dynamic President who is always concern about the growth of the members.    Fanny and Kay, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Many good returns for the year and years to come! Lots of love, from Taman Indrahana.

FRIM Outing @ 24 October 2010 (Sunday) It's actually quite rare to have rain on a Sunday morning - after all surely it's not called SUNday for nothing, right? But rain it did. Actually it would have been a perfect morning to sleep in! The weather was forlorn looking indeed. Though it wasn't pouring cats & dogs, we couldn't follow our programme. So we trotted off to breakfast on PAN MEE instead; this is supposed to be a famous destination in Kepong. Indeed just as well we were early cos the place is only a one-shop lot & the tables were filling up fast. We broke fast together with May & her family (her handsome husband Kwang & her handsome boys), Yeoh, Jade, Thian Seng, Fanny, Jee Peng, our last week's club guest Chin, & myself. Verdict: If you like Pan Mee, you'll like this place. Our timing was good, as the rain cleared after our stomachs were full. But by then May & family had to leave us. Well, the rest of us now set forth on o

Our Club members: LeAnn Tang, Dr. Choong, K.K. Ng, Thian Seng & wife and Yeoh joined several other Toastmasters from other clubs for dinner with Past President Dr. Reddy , DTM on Wednesday, 3rd Nov, 2010. Mooi Fah, a former member was also present. Sue Ding, DTM from Extol; Dr. John Lau from MIHRM & his wife and Low yat Seow, DTM & Toh Sek Cheong from D'Utama Advanced were also present.   If they had not gone to China, Foong Ming and several other past and present club members would have joined the dinner too. Dr. Reddy was back in town for a short holiday. He was our President in  2002- 2003. His wife Mary Vaz was the President in 2000- 2001. Both Dr. Reddy and Mary are now residing in Canberra, Australia .  Dr. Reddy and Mary were both very active within and beyond the club, having acted as mentors, sponsors, coaches and Area Governors, etc, hence the presence of members from other clubs. Currently, both husband and wife are busy with work and have not join

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dr Devi, Philip and Wooi Hong! Dr Devi, eloquent and elegant are the words to describe her. Her evaluation are constructive, to the points. Her table topics are full of substance that never fail with an opening, body and conclusion. Above all, she is a valuable language professor for the club! Philip, whenever he is sitting in the room, he will be called for table topics. He is imaginative, can always tell a story out of nothing and keep us entertained. Wooi Hong, a person who likes to share. Whenever you talk to him, he has just so many stories to share, about his work, his family, his friends. Friendly, helpful, sincere - that's about him!                                       With lots of LOVE from Taman Indrahana!

Dear Fellow Indrahanians, We saw today’s meeting (September 28) chalking up a good attendance, and overflowing with both members and guests. Perhaps this has something to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration. With lanterns and mooncakes showing up – the 24 of us who came lit up with celebratory pomp and joyful gaiety. To kick off the meeting proper, this time around, Kay told us a story about the rivalry between the sun and the moon. The former bathed the landscape with her rays of life and so, the sun felt a great sense of self-importance. Still, the moon could not be sidelined. When darkness descended, it was the moon that reclaimed her place in the sky to illuminate the terrain. Even wailing babies frightened of nightfall were pacified. And what’s more, the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival which falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is when the heat of the summer has given way to cool autumn weather. At no other time is she so luminous. Once the presidential

Dear Fellow Indrahanians, The Taman Indrahana Toastmasters met again on September 14, 2010 – our usual venue at the usual time. Kay opened the meeting by welcoming everybody and proceeded straight into her presidential address. As is her trademark, Kay gave us a story about a King who was looking for an heir. Needless to say, there were many who were interested in the “job” but only one candidate got it – and it was all because he demonstrated integrity. An important story that taught us the timeless value of integrity. Lim Thian Seng then took control as the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening. With his banter that overflowed generously with delightful wit, he signaled the start of the meeting proper that kept us wowed for the next two hours. Once he was done with his introductions, Alice Ong (as Humor Master) came forward to inject us with more humor that made us chortle, chuckle and cackle for a full 5 minutes! But soon after, the serious business of assignment speeches commenced, and th

Wow we have so many September babies in Taman Indrahana. Someone says, 9 stands for successful. We wish all of you success in your own definition, many happy returns for the year! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Jen, she is warm, caring and is gifted with her lovely smiles. Chrristine, she is cimagine, always come out with creative flyers for the club . Dr Choong, the golden man in the club, wise and distinguished.   Han, a people person whom you never say no when he asks for help .   Charis, intelligent, eloquent and excellence. The golden outfit reminds us of her emceeing with Patrick for 'Go Bananas'. Patrick, warm and passionate, who never stop promoting toastmasters club to his friends and students. With love, from Taman Indrahana.

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU! Congratulations to our winners for Area B2 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest                                      Victor Ong, the Champion of Evaluation Contest                             Alice Ong, the 2nd Runner Up of Humorous Speech Contest

Support our Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contestants Victor Ong, Alice Ong   & May Yong at the Area B2 contest. Date: 04th Sept 2010 (Saturday) Venue: Taylor's Uni College, Lakeside Campus Time: 1:30pm - 5:30pm   OUR CHAMPIONS, ALL THE BEST TO YOU!

Dear Indrahanians, Today’s meeting saw only 19 of us in attendance – not the usual crowd of more than 25 people, but still more than decent – and Fanny kicked off the meeting with a smile, an announcement and a gavel. Ever the animal lover, President Kay Wong narrated a story about the wolf, jackal and tiger. Basically she is telling us that it does not matter who we are but that Toastmasters provide a supportive environment that is empowering, encouraging and emboldening. Thian Seng came next and entertained us with his brand of “humor”, followed by the three assignment speeches. Victor Ong started the ball rolling with a sad story of his heartbreak (CC Speech # 6: Vocal Variety), followed by a guest speaker from Crystal Toastmasters, Laychi Low, who did an impromptu speech (Speech # 1: Speak Off the Cuff from the Advanced manual, “Specialty Speeches”, and last but not least, Lim Thian Seng who delivered his “humorous” speech (Speech # 2: Leave Them With a Smile from the Advance

Happy Birthday to              Yeoh, Olga and Teresa! Yeoh, always on action with your professional photography skills. Thank you for helping us capture the sweet memories of the club! Olga, we can't find your photo in facebook, the smiling face reminds us of you... we love your selfless dedication, always with a smile! Teresa, we miss your eloquence and elegance, and of course, your signature cakes! A gem to have for the club!          With lots of love, from Taman Indrahanians.

Dear Indrahanians & DTM Sivalingam, Last evening, Thian Seng came first, followed by Victor Ong to set up the meeting room. Soon after, the others trooped in – and very soon, we were ready to begin. Kay Wong’s presidential address is always a delight to hear because she uses stories to draw us in; stories that make us ponder and reflect. And when she’s finished with her narration, a lesson will have been imprinted in our consciousness! Our Immediate Past President and Area B2 Governor, Han Lee Hwee took control of the meeting as TME, and he too launched another short story. I tell you – we do have engaging storytellers at Taman Indrahana and they are all talented. And then we had Alice Ong in her familiar role as Humor Master. I have often found her to be an interesting humorist – there’s something about her I cannot put my finger on. Perhaps it’s that gleaming sparkle in her eyes? Or her mirthful demeanor? Or her chirpy smile? Whatever it is – I sense this welcomed warmth i

Kevin and Durai, Many well wishes to you from Indrahanians. May you be young and healthy as always! Kevin, we would like to see you more often, your smile is simply charming! Durai, on top of supplying the yummy yummy food, we love to hear more of your voice! Love your humor!  

I am a warrior I act in spite of fear I am a warrior I am willing to do whatever it takes I am a warrior I do everything at 100% I am a warrior I am willing to do what's 'hard' I am a warrior I act in spite of my mood I am a warrior I am bigger than any obstacle I am a warrior I succeed in spite of anything I am a warrior I never give up. Copyrighted by T.Harv Eker since 1994.

POWER OF 3.... - President Barack Obama speaks confidently, competently and concisely. - I go hiking every weekend to stay slim, fit and healthy. - She is an ambitious lady, she always set big, great and high goals in her life. - At the 05-second, 05-minute, o5-hour; I shouted my heart out; I heard "wah wah! wah wah!" and I relieved. - His child is quick, bright and smart when answering a question.  - She is young, sweet and gorgeous. - That man is naughty, mischievous and cunning. - A good relationship involves love, respect and patience. - Having the best attitude and aptitude will bring us to the highest altitude. - My child is easy going, carefree and relax. - She has a fair, smooth and milky white skin. - She is a happy-go-lucky person. - I will work with my body, mind and soul to achieve my goals. - I wish you joy, happiness and laughter. - He strives hard to change for himself, his family and his loved ones. - A Government of the people, by the people,

Dear Fellow Indrahanians, We had a great meeting last night, didn't we? The first meeting of the 2010-2011 term did signal a new beginning! Both the President and the VP Education were the first to arrive at the meeting venue, and Dominic Joseph was heard to remark “Incredible” – the first known usage of the word-of-the-day! Once the SAA, Fanny trumpeted the start of our Meeting, the President stepped forward to deliver a meaningful message about how our own world is interrelated and connected, and how, if we are not careful, our own ego can rupture this harmony and we ended up losing everything. She related a simple story of how the trees in a forest grew vain and ended up being chopped down by a wood-cutter because the former had chased away the wild animals that used to gather around the trees. Kay is special because she has a very good narrative style and when she spoke – she reminded me of a painter and with confident strokes of her brush and a palette of riotous colors, she

Dear Indrahanians, Unfortunately I was unable to attend our club meeting on 11 May due to my flu. I was down & out, and my mind wasn’t working very well that day – I remembered to pass the printed agenda to Prez Han but forgot to give him the award ribbons for the night. As such the winners can only get their ribbons in the next meeting. And from what I hear, those well deserved ribbons went to Jen for her excellent, well-crafted, well-rehearsed & enjoyable rendition of the true story of ‘The 3 Little Pigs” by a wolf, Thian Seng for his equally marvellous & humorous evaluation of her speech, and to a young guest, Fariz, for his impromptu speaking skills. Kudos to you all & a thousand apologies for not presenting the ribbons to you that night. Not only did I miss feeling like a little girl all over again from Jen’s story, I also missed out on meeting some old members like Olga & Jee Peng, and others whom I’ve never met – Nadia & kids, Mui Fah. And I missed ou

Dear Indrahanians, Well, well, well. Guess what? We had up to 30 attendants for this 25 May meeting! What a wonderful turn-out! Of course it was partly to do with the Crystal ladies contributing to the numbers, since this was a joint-mini meeting with Crystal Club. The Crystal ladies may have been small in numbers, but they were big on impact. Their Table Topic Master, Emily Bong, gave us a very entertaining session. Their TT participant, Christine, went on to win the Table Topic award. Their assignment speaker, Bong Yi Lin, gave us a valuable message to donate blood to save lives. And their AH Counter Ng Siew Tho & Timer Ching Teng Yoong, kept us in tow with our speech crutches & time management. A big hand to Crystal. Jen was her sweet self as TME to sweeten & lighten up the meeting with her smiles & soft-spoken voice. KK entertained us for 9 minutes with his first Advance speech from the manual ‘Humorously Speaking’. He deserves a huge round of applause for making t

Dear Indrahanians, The opening lines of our GE, Geoff Andrew, went like this: “Flatter me and I may not believe you. Criticise me and I may not like you. Encourage me and I’ll never forget you.” And that set the tone for the whole evening. First I’d like to extend huge CONGRATULATIONS to Anand who did such a fabulous job in his inaugural role as TME. He was a real cool dude. He prepared his script thoroughly – full of stories, analogies and anecdotes (how the eagle learned to fly, how the astronauts went to outer space & back, etc). He was also able to capture nuances and highlights from each speaker, and then added spicy commentaries to them (Samy Vellu & The Highwayman). Well done, Anand. May you develop higher and further on your Toastmaster journey:-) Chrristine created another milestone as Table Topic Master by conducting a mini debate between the 2 sides of the ro

Dear Indrahanians, Whenever I visit other Toastmasters clubs, I always come across this spirit of cooperation and ‘can do’ attitude. If any role player is unable to come to the meeting at last minute notice, somebody who is present will always be willing to take over the role. Our Indrahanians are always up to this spirit. And so we had Jen coming in to help us out in a role at the last minute, & she even brought a guest, considering that we haven’t been seeing her at meetings for a few months. Dom stepped in to ensure we didn’t miss out on any humour that night. And Prez Han readily conducted the Induction for Philip. So thanx to all members who stepped in to save the night, and needed no inducement (INDUCE was the word of the day). On this night we had an ice breaker speech by Philip who is definitely a confident speaker. With some finetuning here & there, he’ll have the makings of a speech contest winner. We also had Victor going for gold as he did a monologue to Spiderman –

Dear Indrahanians, We had 5 guests who visited us during this meeting on 23 Mar 10. One of them was brand new to Toastmasters (Kevin's guest), and he wanted to know what we're all about. Four of them are current Toastmasters who wanted to learn from us. Well, I hope they took a lot of learning away with them. Because we had an Ice Breaker speaker who sounded like a veteran speaker (Karen), and 2 speakers who completed their CCs with their final 10th speech (Jenny & LeAnn). Karen went on to win the 'Best Speaker' award. Congratulations to all of them:-) Unfortunately Wooi Hong had to pull out that night from his 10th speech 'cos he had cold feet...(ahem) I mean, he had a cold:-( So he missed out on our standing ovation:-( LeAnn was doing her 4th round of the CC manual, and she could consider doing it the 5th round.... Since it takes a thief to catch a thief, we had a DTM to evalutate a DTM. Fong Ming did a very candid job, with valid comments, & went to win t

Dear Indrahanians, Greetings to you. Want to know what happened on 23 Feb? It was a dark & stormy night... Lightning sparked fiercely through the sky. Thunder roared as loud as the Lion King. The rain pounded down relentlessly. And as usual our KL/PJ roads were flooded. (What’s new? And because of that, our poor GE Parames had a slight car accident!) Anyway, you’d have expected an empty room at our meeting. But you’d be wrong. Because we had our usual attendance of more than 20 over members. Plus, we had the full attendance of our 4 DTMs from our club – Fong Ming, LeAnn, Dom & Dr Devi. Now how’s that for commitment & support from our veteran members? And so of course, in tango with the weather, we had a high octane meeting. There were flashes of brilliance from many of the speakers. So there was thunderous applause all round for them. And there was a flood of valuable feedback & learning for us all to take home. I’m really sorry for you if you were one of those who m

Dear Indrahanians, It was the first time this term that our club had a joint-meeting with another club, WIM Toastmasters Club (TMC). We had quite a gathering of 'sibling' clubs together, sort of like a union of Toastmasters brothers & sisters. The first thing I'd like to say is that WIM TMC must have many quality members. They had 7 members present vs our 12. Yet all the night's rewards went to WIM - Best Table Topic Speaker, Best Speaker & Best Evaluator. Kudos to WIM TMC. You see, this is the great thing about having joint meetings - we learn how other clubs work & how other members excel. The best TT speaker spoke philosophically, yet was full of humour. The best speaker was a new member, yet conveyed a strong message in his speech with passion. The best evaluator gave very insightful & practical comments to help the speaker improve his speech. From here we can all learn what it takes to be the "best" of the best:-) Well on our side, we also

Dear Indrahanians, The word of the day on 12 Jan 2010 was 'elated' which means feeling happy. What an appropriate word to kickstart the first club meeting of the new year. All of our members and guests who came for this 'Guest Night' were indeed elated, judging by the number of times the word was used by many speakers. The Language Evaluator, Victor Ong, had his earful with so much business from the members. Well he besieged us to use the word, and his prayer was answered. By the way, one very good reason for elation that night was that Victor Ong finally became our club member after many visits to our club. Congratulations, Victor, and welcome! We look forward to your sharing & learning with us. Jade gave us another reason to be elated - she donated a cake for our new year celebration and enjoyment. It was great to welcome Jade back into our fold & she gamely took on the role of Timer after a long hiatus with her new baby. Durai provided us with muffins for des

Dear Indrahanians Happy 2010. But let me bring you back to history... Well, 22 Dec 2009 sounds like history because that was our last meeting for last year & it sounds like eons ago. This is another way of saying that I'm actually way behind time with this report of mine, to tell you what happened on the meeting night of 22 Dec. (Sorry, I blissfully flew away to China the following day for my long awaited holiday with my family:-)) I've to admit that organising that night's meeting was my most challenging to-date. I thought I had my agenda & role players down pat, ready & early. Then lo & behold, one by one the role players started to drop out - right to the last minute just before the meeting! Apparently that same night is a very important Chinese festival (winter solstice) & so many had to stay back at home for a very important celebration. Anyway, we members who were present managed to chip in to play replacement roles - that's what Toastmasters t

Dear Indrahanians, Greetings to you. Do you ever wish that you could do with a bit of relaxing after a hard day's work? Sure, you could go drinking or partying or have dinner with friends. Or you could go to a play, or a comedy show - but then you'd have to pay a hefty sum for it. Well, you could just have come to our Toastmasters meeting last Tuesday on 8 Dec & you'd have had a whole night of belly laughs & learning, that would have cost you almost nothing! Do you know, we had so many DTMs (Fong Ming, LeAnn, Dom & Dr Devi) & past Presidents (I'm sorry, I can't even keep count with all my fingers!) on that night - it was unbelieveable. In fact, there were so many high-flying members, they were quite unruly & dominating. The SAA (your truly, who had to stand in for Jenny) had to use the gavel persistently to call the room to order. That's for starters. We had 4 guests, 3 of whom were thanks to Koon Kow. One of them was even game to take part i