2020-01-26

January 2020 Icebreaker


I was born at the start of the Second World War in a small village in Malaya across the Gulf of Thailand from Viet Nam. We lived in a bamboo hut at the edge of the jungle. The Japanese drove the British out of Malaya. I could not say if life was worse during the war years because we had always been poor both under the British or the Japanese.
No one tried to change our way of life which was the belief and worship of one God. We learned to recite the Koran without knowing what it meant. We were always told that it was alright to be poor, because in the After Life we will get our reward and eternal happiness. This philosophy gave us comfort even though we live in abject poverty. The first 6 years of my life was spent following my mother around and paying attention to what she taught the neighborhood children to read the Koran. I thus learned to recite the Koran too without knowing what it meant.

When I was 7 I was sent to the Malay School and I must admit looking back I learned a lot. I like arithmetic and geography.

After 4 years of schooling it was time to move on to an English School. There I learned even more. I liked reading books. This was in a town far away from home which I had to leave for the first time. It was the first time in my life I did not have my mother around and also it was the first time I saw electric light and heard stories on the Radio. Life was changing for me even though at a tender age of 11 I had to work to pay my living as it cost money to live in a town with electricity. After 4 years I had to move again to another school where I stayed in a hostel and did not have to work as was given a monthly grant by the government.
Eventually after a total 14 years in school I won a scholarship to study far away from home. I went to England and it was really a dream come true. I spent a total of 5 years in England.

One of my favorite pastimes was reading.
I have two all-time favourite authors:
One:  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: he wrote the Little Prince. In this story The Little Prince met the Fox and they became friends. When it was time to bid adieu the fox was very sad having to say goodbye.
"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

In French:
Voici mon secretIl est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

Then secondly; Kahlil Gibran the famous Lebanese author and poet, he gave us The Prophet a story of a man who went to live among the people of Orphalese. After spending some years among his friends it was time for him to leave for his own country to be among his own people.
On the day that he was leaving the people came to the town square to bid him adieu. The seeress named AlMitra asked him to speak to them about different wisdoms and the one about children went like this.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not
even in your dreams.

A word of wisdom to think about:
We should all be reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, status, or power, or fame – but rather how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others.

Now back to reality: I joined Toastmasters in 2006 which was 14 years ago and I earned my DTM after 6 years but I was never satisfied with what I have achieved and I still carried on my Toastmasters activities and doing speeches.
I have this dream of being a competent public speaker and being famous.

2019-03-31

Meeting of 30th March 2019

A meeting was held on Saturday Morning
30th March 09:00 a.m. at Cafe Lemon Grass WP Hotel
just next door to our usual Venue at Menara Centara:


Agenda:

Victor Ong; CC#1 Ice rekerbrker
Ismail Omar, Interpretive Reading #2 Poetry
Kelly Wong, Presentation Mastery #4

Others in attendance:

General Evaluator
 Adamzairi Unirazak 
1st Evaluator
 Ismail Omar 
2nd Evaluator
 Jeremy Teo 
3rd Evaluator
 Victor Ong 
Table Topics Master
 Jeremy Teo 
Toastmaster
 Debra Wong 



Other Guests:

Nik M Zaki
Nila Chandran
Gan Tze Han
Vernice Yang
Foo Siew Yin

The Meeting went on until 12:00 noon and every one enjoyed the session

Scribe: Edward



2019-02-24

Next Meeting is on
Tuesday 26th February 2019
Location: Menara Centara

Follow TMIKL on Facebook and Twitter

Meeting Chair: Cyril Jonas
SAA: GE: TME:Richard Toh
TTM: Cyril Jonas
TTE: Sahab Grammarian:
Timer: Ismail Omar

Project Speakers:
  1. Ismail Omar, CC#6 Flat Earth Society 
  2. Shaheen Syed, EffCoa#2 
  3. Cheryll How, DynLea#2 
Project Speech Evaluators:
  1. Debra 
  2. Jeremy 
  3. Harpreet

2019-02-12

The University of Brighton


This is a short history of how University of Brighton came into being.

I first went to Brighton in 1960 and enrolled in The Brighton Technical College (in Richmond Terrace).

At that time there was a feeder Institute the Preston Technical Institute (in Preston Road Brighton) that produced HND and the Students joined the Brighton Technical College for higher  education.

In 1962, Preston Technical Institute assumed the title Brighton Technical College, being responsible for all the non-advanced day and evening courses, while Brighton Technical College became the Brighton College of Technology, intended for more advanced studies than those offered by the technical college.

Brighton College of Technology opened on the site of school playing fields in Lewes Road in 1963. The ten-storey Cockcroft Building was followed in 1976 by the seven-storey Watts building, named after the college’s first principal. Mithras House, erected at Lewes Road in 1966, has been used since 1977.

In 1970 the School of Art and Brighton College of Technology merge to form Brighton Polytechnic.
Margaret Thatcher signs the certificate to confirm the former colleges’ new polytechnic status.


The Teacher Training College merges with Brighton Polytechnic, giving the university a further campus at Falmer.

The East Sussex College of Higher Education, including the Chelsea School, merges with Brighton Polytechnic spreading the polytechnic into Eastbourne.

In 1992 along with many other polytechnics Brighton is granted university status and becomes the University of Brighton

2018-10-23

Sekolah Melayu Labok 1947-1950

I started schooling one morning in January 1947. It appeared that they have decided I was big enough to go to school: of course i was, I was already more than 7 years but school in Labok reopened only in 1946 after the Japanese surrender and they did not have enough teachers to open more than 2 classes so I had to wait. This is from my eldest brother Shafii who wrote in this blog in January 2010: "...Semasa di sekolah melayu kami empat beradik dalam satu darjah ia itu Darjah Lima aku yang tua sekali adek-adek aku Maimunah, Mokhtar dan Ismail." How I remember this well, yes 4 of us: one sister and 3 brothers all in Std. 5 in 1950. It was the highest Class at Labok because after this we had to leave school and wander off elsewhere. I was lucky being the youngest I was young enough to join an English School to open in 1951 in Kuala Krai 22 miles away to the south in Ulu Kelantan. My other 3 siblings continued schooling in Standard 6 in Kg. Machang 5 miles away from home.

2016-12-12

58 Years After Form 5 in 1958


The Reunion that took 58 years to Happen



























Back Row (From Left)
Dato Gurbakash, Ismail Omar, Dato Wan Awang, Tan Sri Nordin Hassan, Dato Halim Salam, Aw Peck Chin

Front Row:
Tengku Robert Hamzah, Hassan Idris, Mohammad Ismail, Dato Ariff Ibrahim, Tan Sri Rahim Rahman, Ismail Ibrahim, Dato Mohd Onn

We were all at SIC Kota Bharu Form 2 to Form 5 (1955 - 1958)


2016-10-21

The Little Prince

When France fell to the Germans during World War II in 1940 a French fighter pilot fled to Africa but he crashed in the Sahara. As he set about the arduous task of repairing his machine he was surprised by a little voice "S'il vous plait, dessine-moi un mouton" - it means "please draw me a sheep". The little fellow making the request was Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince in English.

About five years later in a little village in Kelantan a 7 year-old boy George was asked by his mother to fetch some water from the well. George was angry at being always the one asked to do the chore and snapped back at his mother, "What about Edward?" referring to his brother one year younger at 6, "couldn't he do any work around here? Is he The Little Prince?"

The two boys had an older brother who was away at the Madrasah (religious school) most days. Whenever he returned home our little prince never missed the opportunity to ask him "Please draw me a horse".

Edward spent most of his days in deep thought unless he was listening to his mother teaching Quran to the village children. He paid attention to every Arabic word and phrase intoned by the children and his mother's correction. His mother was worried about him because most people who looked at Edward thought he was a stupid kid. His mother had hopes for him. She thought he was a late bloomer.

Two years later all the 3 boys along with their sister were enrolled in the village school and they were all in the same class. At the end of the year the teacher announced the exam results. Edward the youngest sibling was top of the class. Later at home he asked his mother, "why are the other kids so stupid?" His mother was happy that her Little Prince was a good student as she had hoped but she did not show it. Instead she reprimanded him for saying such things as "the other kids were stupid."

Four years later at age 11 Edward left his family home to move to Kuala Krai to attend an English school. It was both a sad and a happy occasion for Edward. He was sad to leave his mother but was happy that he had an opportunity to learn English and get a good job that would earn him at least $137.00 per month. The saddest part of Edward’s schooling during the next four years was that his father could not afford to pay his board and lodging. He was practically sold into a life of slavery where he did chores like carrying water and firewood and washing and ironing clothes for the other students. He often thought of his home life where he was never asked to do anything by his mother.

He enjoyed school life especially reading the English story books but his favourite subjects were Algebra Geometry and anything to do with Mathematics. He wanted to study science but they did not teach that in Form I so he had to wait till the next year. He thought of his Uncle who shouted at him one day “People who go to English School and study Science will be condemned to Hell”. Edward thought to himself “Maybe I am already in hell now”. Four years went by quite quickly. The School would not proceed to Form II and Edward and his friends transferred to a Kota Bharu and he left the life of slavery behind. It seemed to him everything would be alright from then on.

Years later Edward learned French and came across the story of the Little Prince. “That is me” he said. He liked what the Fox said to the Little Prince. On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.  One does not see clearly but with the heart. The important things are invisible to the eyes

The Little Prince

2016-01-04

Your Toastmasters' Experience

(With acknowledgement to Tamala Takahashi)

Here are a few suggestions to make your Toastmasters experience the best it can be when you are starting out a little less than confident when speaking up in front of a group, at work, or with strangers.

1. Pick a Toastmasters club that feels right. If you go to a Toastmasters club and you feel intimidated, or overlooked, try a different club. The program is designed very well, but every club uses the program differently. Find a club where you feel comfortable and safe from the beginning. And don't be afraid to switch clubs if your current club is no longer meeting your needs.

2. Participate in every meeting in some way. Start with ballot counter or timer - the smaller roles - first. Then work your way up to Toastmaster after 4 or 5 months. Make sure you speak at every meeting in some way.

3. Do your ice breaker as soon as you can. That is the first speech in the program. Then dedicate yourself to doing a speech every 3-4 meetings.

4. Work with your mentor. If you aren't assigned a mentor, ask to have one. If you are not totally comfortable with your mentor, ask someone who you are comfortable with to help you (even if they aren't your official mentor). Having someone who will work one-on-one with you makes a big difference.

5. After a few months, participate in the speech contests. This is a great way to try something hard in a safe place. After you've participated in a speech contest, "regular" speeches are easier.

6. Don't stop after you feel like you've made progress. Keep going through the program. Many people find after a few months, they start to get some legs and feel much better speaking up. Don't be fooled that this first success is all you need! Getting over the first "hump" of shyness is just the beginning. The real, significant, life changes happen after you've moved into the advanced manuals and leadership projects. I've learned more as District Governor than I have at any level of my experience as a Toastmaster.

7. Keep up with the leadership side of the program. Even though you may be focusing on the speaking as a way to overcome shyness, the truth is, the leadership side of the program does far more to bring about confidence than the speaking side. Building leadership skills, such as collaboration, delegation, project management, conflict management, and crafting a mission, will benefit you in all aspects of your life. Also, as an introvert, it's easier to work on, to be honest. You can "lead from behind" so to speak. The more leadership skills you practice, the more confident you'll be, and speaking will be easier, because you know "you got this". I finished my leadership projects long before my speaking projects, because as someone who was still developing her extroverted side and getting over shyness, I found the leadership projects to be much more approachable and less daunting.

8. Go to the Toastmasters Leadership Institutes and conferences. These are very low-cost opportunities to learn more about both leadership and public speaking. Go to as many as you can and learn as much as you can.

9. And lastly, as much as you can, if someone asks for help with a club contest, or a membership drive, or something else, say "yes". The more you work together with other toastmasters, you'll build your reputation. Building reputation is a huge confidence booster. Also, having a "job" gives you a higher purpose, and makes it easier to ask for things and be assertive.

Toastmasters is not a magic bullet. However, it's a very good tool for overcoming shyness that has worked for so many people.

And a quick note on shyness vs. introvertism. These are not the same thing. Toastmasters may not change your natural inclination to be an introvert. However, what it will do, is help you learn to be confident in who you are, what you believe, and your skill set. That will serve you well no matter what you do, and no matter how much you lean towards the introverted side.

2016-01-02

2nd January 2016 Getting Forgetful

I saw the people downstairs move out. Later I saw the owner of the flat doing some cleaning and I went to talk with him. He said he was moving back here with his elderly parents because Kajang is lonely for the old folks.

His father is 80 and one evening asked him when he was going home. He replied I live here, I am your son.

I hope I don't get that bad when I get to be 80 because then Malaysia would be a developed Nation so they say.

New Year 2016

So how did you celebrate the advent of 2016?

I will tell you what I did.
A friend invited me to a steamboat dinner at one of the chains of stores in town.
At the appointed time I found myself where I thought the dinner would be. Unfortunately I was at leat 10 km away due to a confusion between the locations of Wangsa Maju and Setia Wangsa. You see we don't believe much in Google Maps we'd rather trust our own homing sense.

The upshot was of course I told him it was too late and too far away so I decided to head on home and pick up a Mc Donald Burger on the way.

This mornig he rang up and insisted that since we did not celebrate the coming of the New Year we should at least have a New year lunch and that was what we did. We had lunch at the  Nasi-Lemak-Royal-Kedah and later on retired for coffee and Aple Pie at Panini Café at Desa Pandan.

Kedai labok



Market Labok

I was born quite near this place shown by the above link. For as long as I can remember the it was called Kedai Labok or Market Labok but never was it ever called Pasar as they would in the West Coast.

The West Coast is where the foreigners come from. They come and visit us and speak in funny sounding language. What we call pitih they call duit. Odd people.

2015-11-08

Meeting 24-11-2015





Theme: Curiosity kills the Cat
Venue: Bankers Club, Amoda L22
Date/Time: 24th November 2015, Tuesday 19:00- 22:00
SAA: Razwan Rashidi
President's Welcome: Rajesh, CC
TME: Cyril Jonas, DTM
Invocation: Ismail Omar, DTM

Speakers
#1 Nik Ayman #7
#2 Meor Arif #2
#3 Jony Lim #6
#4 Dalila hashim #10
$5 Rajesh Wadhwani ACM#2

2015-09-05

Next Meeting 22nd September 2015





Stars of TMIKL were Installed Friday Night 4th September


IPP: Cyril Jonas, DTM

Past Treasurer Endrea Hugh, awarded her CC for her Inspiring Speech during the Installation Dinner




Club President, Rajesh Wadhwani, CC

SAA Razwan Rashidi

Club Secretary Rhoda Omar, CC, ALB

VP-Membership Stirling Kho

VP_PR Yikang Lim, CC



2015-08-18

Next Meeting 25 August 2015





Theme: Curiosity must be kept live. Life is for living
Venue: Bankers Club, Amoda
Date/Time: 25th August 2015, Tuesday 19:00- 22:00 
SAA: Razwan Rashidi
President's Welcome: Rajesh, CC
TME: Ctril Jonas, DTM
Invocation: Ismail Omar, DTM

Project Speech:

#1 Organ Donation - Rhoda Omar, CC, ALB
#2 Advanced Speech - DTM Cyril Jonas 


2015-08-15

The 10 Oldest Toastmasters Club in District 51






The 10 Oldest Toastmasters Club in District 51


2015-07-28

27-7-2015 Birthday

Today 27th July is the Big Birthday of the youngest in the family seen in the photo below





















Standing: The tallest in long sleeves is Edward just returned after 5 years in Mat Salleh land and kneeling between mother and father is Rhoda aged 10

2015-07-19

Kuala Trengganu 1968

This was The District manager's Office of Lembaga Letrik Negara at Kuala Trengganu in 1968 when I arrived to take up my duties as the District Manager.
In 6 months the first man stepped on the Moon.

TMIKL Club Officers as from yesterday 1st July 2015:

Club Officers as from yesterday 1st July 2015:

President: Rajesh Wadhwani, CC.
Rajesh is a leader with entrepreneurship who has set sights to grow TMIKL in terms of number, quality and fun factor. His wittiness will spill over into a fun and happy meeting.

VP-Education: Ceyvian Chan, CC
Who is a better role model than Ceyvian Chan, who, through discipline and perseverance, completed her competent communicator manual in 6 months. Talk about fast and furious. And did you also know that she is a born again TM?

VP-Membership: Stirling Kho
Stirling is a fledging TM who saw the benefits of joining and he is certainly eager to share the benefits of joining with others. Man of many emotions when giving a speech.
 

VP-Public Relation: Lim Yi Kang, CC
From clueless and now with a little bit of clues. Yi Kang will present a less mysterious TMIKL and make information more easily available.
 

Secretary: Rhoda Omar, CC, ALB
Steadfast and ever reliable Rhoda Omar will always make sure that meetings run smoothly according to plan or even when there is no plan. I remember the bouts of panic attacks when Rhoda was not around to supervise a meeting.
 

Treasurer: Ismail Omar , DTM
Club's dynamo, enough said. At home, Ismail Omar has his family, outside, he has TMIKL. A car needs engine to run, a rocket needs propeller to fun and TMIKL needs DTM Ismail Omar.
 

Sergeant At Arm: Razwan Rashidi- A banker, a thinker, and a dreamer of bigger things to come. DJ-ish voice, good looks and always with informative speeches that make you go, "Eh, I didn't know that."
 

Immediate Past President: Cyril Jonas, DTM
Mentor you can count on for inspirations, friend you can count on when in need and entertainer you can count on for the feel good factors during a meeting. TMIKL's homegrown national champion in 2013 District level Table Topics contest. Humorous speech contest, evaluation contest, international speech contest, DTM Cyril is just a few steps behind.