By Christopher Teo, DTM

Dear fellow toastmasters,

What a wonderful semi-annual convention at Johor Bahru last weekend! As I run through the photographs taken during the last weekend at the Convention, I could still feel the energy and enthusiasm of the our toastmasters experiencing yet another breakthrough in their lives.

Our most sincere thanks to the Organising Committee led by ATMB Irene Lau for bringing to us the most well-organised convention to-date! Thank you toastmasters from Johor Bahru for being such a wonderful host.

Friday 17 November 2000

The convention started on Day 1 with the Mandarin Events, and here are the winners for the Mandarin Speech Contests:

Mandarin Humorous Speech Contest
1st: Voo Yu Wei K3 - Keningau Mandarin
2nd: Chew Khoon Beng M7 - BECL Mandarin
3rd: Sharon See Siaw Yean M6 - Subang Mandarin

Mandarin Evaluation Speech Contest
1st: Yak King Chuan M2 - Hong Kah East CC Mandarin
2nd: Wong Swee Yah M4 - SIM Mandarin
3rd: Chhoa Kim Hock E4 - Kuching Mandarin

Please join me to congratulate the above toastmasters who have made personal breakthrough in public speaking.

On Friday afternoon, we have the District Executive Committee meeting followed by a second round of District Officers Training. It was a great sharing and review session which will prepare our leaders for the next half-year of our term. Next was the District Council Meeting, where the following appointed District Officers were confirmed by the Council:

Area C7 Governor: Kiang Faang Pyng, ATMB
Area H2 Governor: Ricky Cheng
Area H3 Governor: Nini Chia, CTM AL
Audit Committee Members: Go Pee Wei, Go Shy Wei, Yang Yoke Lin

Thank you all for coming forth to be leaders, and to serve the District. We wish you success and a breakthrough experience for the term.

The JB2000 opening with a fury, cos' right after the symbolic flag parade we were treated with the surprising luminous dragon dance. We were just awed, no words could express our excitement at that moment! We want to DESIRE...to make this a breakthrough convention for ourselves.

The Evaluation Speech Contest was the highlight of the evening, and here's the winners:

District 51 Evaluation Speech Contest
1st: Michael Yu - Division H
2nd: Richard Gontusan - Division K
3rd: Michael Lim - Division E

Congratulations to all winners and contestants!

Saturday 18 November 2000

We began Day 2 with NOURISHMENT for breakthroughs. The Toastmasters Forum for the morning focused on Building Quality Clubs in the Multi-Media Age. This was followed by 15 concurrent educational sessions.

Right after fellowship lunch was the long-awaited Hall of Fame Ceremony, where we recognised all who have made contributions for District 51 achieving No.1 position in the world for the term 1999-2000. This was followed by the Battle of the Wits, one of the highlights of the Convention. It was a great debate sessions with dog-and-cat fights on 'platonic' relationships, just to name a few.

The Malam Rasa Sayang night was good entertainment after full day of speeches and seminars. Now we know toastmasters in Johor Bahru are diehards for karaoke with their beautiful vocals...were you mesmerised by Jeff, Omar and May? I am still wondering what 'playboy' has to do with their theme Malam Rasa Sayang? And of course a fun-filled night has to end with great music and dance for toastmasters to sweat out!

Sunday 19 November 2000

At the final day we witness the highest standard ever for our District Humorous Speech Contest. The ballroom was filled with laughter and fun as the contestants were just so good. But the winners still need to be chosen and they are:

District 51 Humorous Speech Contest
1st: James Leong - Division B
2nd: Gea Ban Peng - Division S
3rd: Wee Soon Chit - Division A

Congratulations for all winners...for sharing with us on Fatal Communication, Strategies, and I Came, I Saw and I Conquered!

And as we bid farewell during lunch, we took a little ACTION to make a new friend and to say words of appreciation to people who have made a difference to us.

Thank you, fellow toastmasters, for making District 51 the best ever we can be. Thank you for coming to the Semi-annual Convention at Johor Bahru, to let yourselves experience the breakthrough once again! Let us remember to multiply our toastmasters DNA...Desire, Nourishment, Action...to experience personal breakthroughs in toastmasters and in our lives.

We will meet again...at Hong Kong 2001, our District Annual Convention on 18 May 2001. Don't miss it this time, as our District will be having our annual convention for the first time in Hong Kong!