Tonight on February 5, 2009 Thursday, I attended our Bayan Baru Toastmasters Club at PSDC, Penang to witness the 2009 Club Level International Speech Contest and Table Topics Contest.
I tried to listen carefully and recorded some of the content of the speeches of the contestants to review and share with all.
You always find gems of wisdom at a speech contest.
Disclaimer: Using initials of contestants for partial anonymity. Club members will know who they are. Comments only on speech content and are my personal views. I was not a contestant nor a judge this time around.
A) INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
There were 5 contestants.
#1 KKH - "My First Lecture: Pursuit of Happiness"
Human nature to seek happiness. Dictionary's definition include comfort, content and joy. Short reference to depression and sudden death of a close friend. Air, sun, stars are free and bring happiness. Want to give his first lecture of true pursuit of true happiness to his young children as soon as they have grown up to be able to understand.
#2 OSK - "A Life Story"
Analogy of life to gazelles who are constantly being chased by lions for food as the human experience constantly being chased by loans or debts. His first loan was a car. Another loan was having to settling the hospital bill first before his wife could deliver their baby - "cash before delivery". Story about a Mr. Tan who thought Mrs. Tan's favorite was curry fish head when all along Mrs. Tan actually did not care for curry fish head but had ordered it all these years knowing it was Mr. Tan's favorite dish.
#3 UK - "There Is A Reason"
Shared the moral of two stories. First was about a pious person who insisted on praying for divine intervention during a flood and rejected rescue help from three different persons as the flood got worse to wait for God's help. When he finally drowned, he asked God why God did not intervened to help and God replied that divine help was offered thrice but was refused each time. The second story was about a serious car accident caused by choice of work over family and the lack of sleep and being saved by use of seat belt and the importance of being insured to protect one's loved ones.
#4 MC - "There Is Hope"
How to deal with the prevailing negative news and current economic turmoil with HOPE. Mentioned Barack Obama about change and hope. Acronym for HOPE - H for "Help from others", O for "Optimism", P for "Perseverence" and E for "Enthusiasm"
#5 GHH - "Copycat"
The importance of imitation of values of successful people. Gave several examples of Bayan Baru club members, using modified names, to copy and learn from. "CAT" stands for "competence", "action" and "training/Toastmasters."
B) TABLE TOPICS CONTEST
There were 9 contestants answering to the topic in question:
"If you could stop time for an hour, what would you do with that hour?"
#1 JY - Stop Malaysian bad driving habits and save lives.
#2 OBS - Courageous attempt for first timer. Keep it up.
#3 UK - Be Robin Hood. Rob from the rich to give the poor. But better not to have such power.
#4 RC - Had been so busy over Christmas and Chinese New Year, great to have an extra hour to do more and live life to the fullest.
#5 KKH - Stop wars. Be like Superman and do the right thing.
#6 MC - Use the hour to prepare more for the speech contest.
#7 GHH - Go back to the time of the delivery of his baby girl.
#8 OSK - Spend time in Penang Hill. Find inner peace which is eternal and away from wife and mother-in-law for an hour.
#9 TES - A break from constant work and spend more time with his children.
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