Gong Xi Fa Cai!

On 17th February 2015, NUS Toastmasters Club celebrated the Year of the Sheep with the special Lunar New Year themed meeting organised by Sergio, Heidi and Nian Deng.

In room 3 we have an opening address by our VPE. Nathaddeus Tan. who talked about Ubuntu, the African idea of solidarity encapsulated by the words “I am because we are”.

Moving on to the table topics segment, Arun spoke on whether he considers himself a traditional person. Next, Anmol shared the most embarrassing moment in the family gathering. Derek disclosed some of the practices and traditions his family does not follow during Chinese New Year?” and described his love-hate relationship with tradition. Darian shared with us how Chinese New Year has changed him over the years. He described how he had gradually become a more moral person over the years.

For the prepared speeches, Wayne Tan Jie Yang attempted his project 1, titled “About a wonderful person”, who turned out to be himself. Ganesh Srinivasan did a speech on the job hunting process and relevant tips. He gave some wonderful advice: “Build a career and don’t just look for a job”.Next we have Jun Han who shared with us “A fish like no other”. Yu Sheng reminds him of his favourite fish, salmon. Koh Yan Ling told us the importance of having good relationships with neighbours. She offered the helpful tip of giving food to neighbour to break the ice.

The Best Table Topics speaker was Derek Lau while the best prepared speaker was Wayne Tan.

In room 4, we have an opening address by Bally. Next, Shi Jia the table topics master of the evening posed the first question for us. Chun Hui shared some of the superstitions that he practices during Chinese New Year. For instance he explained why he does not cut his hair during this festive period. Following, Jun Hao shared some embarrassing moments during Chinese New Year while Roy talked about some traditions and practices during the Chinese New Year.

Next we have the prepared speeches. The first speaker Ai Xin, gave us a Beer 101. She talked about the two different types of beer and differences in taste. Next we have James who shared about his exciting life. The next speaker Wen Xin shared with us her experience on volunteerism. We could feel her compassionate heart and love for others. Lastly, we have Ri Chen who is doing the successful club series. He talk about the various appointment roles, their responsibilities and how do we ace these roles to make the chapter meeting a success.

In Room 2, the Toastmaster of the Evening, Ken shared about his family’s Chinese New Year traditions before Acting President Christina Lian deliberated about her family gatherings during Chinese New Year and why she felt that the Club is also a family for her. Next up, the table topics master Zhixin brought in the festive mood with her Chinese New Year themed questions which she had meticulously kept in red packets.

The first table-topics speaker was Jia Cheng who shared about how he is anticipating the holidays because he wants rest and recharge during the long weekends. Next, Jackie revealed why he does not subscribe to any superstitions related to this festive. Vignesh then shared that his most memorable experience was getting a $100 red packet and pineapple tarts from his Chinese friend and getting stuck in a traffic jam while travelling to Malaysia over Chinese New Year. Yi Feng, who won the best Table Topics, shared about how Chinese New Year has changed over the years and revealed some tips on how to tackle the typical “conversational starter” questions from our family during gathering. He also encouraged us to think about the questions from a different perspective, by seeing how our family cares about us. Lastly, Nian Deng talked about red, which is also his favorite color because it is an auspicious color.

For the prepared speech segment, Pei Ru completed her ice-breaker speech titled “What is a home?” She shared that back in her hometown where she led comfortable life, what she yearned was independence but after she came to study in NUS, she started to miss home and her family. It was indeed a very personal and sincere sharing by Pei Ru. Next, Jia Zheng convinced us to stop the bad practice of not clarifying doubts immediately. because it never hurts to ask for help or clarifications. The third speaker, Vishnu impressed the audience with “The Art of Haggling”. It was certainly a very interesting and useful topic which everyone can benefit from! Some tips she shared include talking to the managers and not to look desperate or over-enthusiastic. Lastly, Gisela, the best prepared speaker, pondered on how birth order affects our personality in her speech “The Achiever, The Adaptable and The Approachable”. Gisela explained why the eldest child tend to be good leaders while the middle child is the peacemaker in the family and why the youngest tend to be more sociable and non-conformist.

After the prepared speech segment, it was finally time for the special Chinese New Year themed segment. There was silent evaluations for the prepared speeches. The members certainly had much fun during this special segment which even included a “lao yusheng” segment!

Written by Gisela, Teck Por and Chun Hui, Edited by Koh Shi Ting and Photos by Cool Clickers