It is our second Chapter Meeting of the second semester, on our second day of our second week!

Today in Room 4 of YIH, we hold yet another session to improve our speaking, thinking and listening skills. At 7.30pm our SAA Jun Han marked the start of the session with an admin briefing and introduction to Tse Wei, our TME. The chapter meeting was declared officially open by our President, Hui Juen.

First up, we had a round of exciting Table Topics by Jaysree. The theme was on how we would spend a certain amount of money on our last day on earth. We had a total of 4 guest speakers out of 5 today. Dheepan, told us how he would spend his 80 cents while exploring Singapore. Najeeb would eventually donate his $1 to charity. Zhi Kai would prefer to spend his last day on earth with his girlfriend. Jia Zheng emphasized that we should do something new and exciting on our last day, while Ryan shared that money was not important on the last day. Instead, he would spend time with his loved ones. Then, we listened to 5 meticulously prepared speeches, first by Tom, who delivered a dazzling speech about a lesson he had learnt: You will never know what you can do until you try it. Next, Fuk Kin achieved his Milestone at P5, with an enlightening speech on rewiring our brains, and that assumptions may not be the reality. He gave us 2 stimulating questions to ponder on: What do you think you know? What do you actually know? After Fuk Kin, Minh introduced himself to us in a well-delivered P1, in which he shared that he came from Hanoi, Vietnam, his hobbies and his current life as an NUS Student. Lastly, Rama gave his award-winning P9 on Crushing the Can, in which he persuaded us to stop drinking Coca Cola and soft drinks.

In YIH Room 3, Vice President (Membership), Christian Lian, welcomed everyone by sharing her story of how a cashier interrupted her before she could finish conveying what she wanted to say. She made the story relevant by telling us how we should listen and show our support for our fellow club members doing their projects. Next, Language Evaluator, Jackie Lin, explained to us the word of the day, “enrapture”, and encouraged us to use it to make our speeches more enrapturing. Moving on to the table topics, Table Topics Masters Koh Yan Ling gave us a theme of Surprises. The first speaker, Suphasak, had the question “How far will you go in money, time, and effort, for a surprise?” Suphasak shared with us his opinion of how he would put in as much money, time, and effort, to surprise someone, if he finds the right girl to impress. Next, we have Faizal, who received the question “What is one surprising fact about yourself, if not, what is one you would like to have?” Faizal shared with us that he was a dancer, and brought us through his journey in his Indian Dance CCA, where he performed as a lead dancer, and also competed in 2 SYFs. Next, speaking about the “Best surprise you have received”, Meng Dan shared with us how she finally learnt to swim after 22 years of not being able to. With this, we concluded the Table Topics segment.

After concluding the Table Topics segment, Shihan started the prepared speech segment by speaking about her four years in Tong Ji University studying engineering, and that life lessons she learnt. Shihan also shared with us her hobbies, and gave us the reason why she wanted to join toastmasters – to conquer speaking English language and Public Speaking. She then concluded with this: “Life is the process of encountering difficulties and challenging yourself”. All the best, Shihan! Secondly, we have Suphasak, doing his Project 2. Suphasak shared with us his epic adventure in Europe – specifically the adventures he had in Amsterdam, Munich, and Amsterdam. He shared with us the sights and sceneries, the culture and the tradition of the places. Thirdly, we have Roy, who spoke about how he was kidnapped by negative emotions after not doing so well for his examinations. He then gave us some tips on freeing ourselves. The most memorable part of his speech was this: “Every dog has his day, every man has his period. When it comes, let it come. When it goes, let it go”. Fourthly, we have Meng Dan, who also shared with us her experiences in travelling, but this time, to Taiwan. She recounted beautifully the wondrous experiences of her journey, and the kindness of the Taiwanese people, as she shared with us how an old lady picked up her from the side of the road and offered to drive her to another location. And finally, we have Ken, who shared with us his personal, heartwarming and yet heart-wrenching story of his family member, friend, and pet, Lie Ann. Ken shared with us the experiences he had growing up with Lie Ann, and how she sadly passed away last year due to cancer. Ken, our hearts are with you. For his wonderful, touching story, Ken won the best speaker of the evening.