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
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
