I first understood what Toastmasters is all about in 1999 when I attended a public speaking course conducted by People Associations for the grassroots leaders. I started to realize there was something I could do to improve my skill in this area. I heard of the term Toastmasters before but I did not pay much attention due to wrong perception. I archieved the name in my mind so that I could find a club when I had the time. The time did not come.
When I joined a new company in January 2000, I had to attend the company's orientation. In the program, Wesley Wong (our Past President) came to introduce Lucent Toastmasters Club with meetings at Chai Chee office. I was so interested. There are few problems, though. I stayed in Yishun (North). My office was in Science Park (South West). The meeting was at Chai Chee (South East). It made a perfect triangle on top of Singapore map. For the time being, I kept the tought in my mind again with the intention to find a club when I had the time. The time did not come.
2001 came and I was still struggling with my public speaking. I was sitting in front of the computer in office one day when I had some free time. I thought I would try searching for Toastmasters Singapore in Google. Interestingly, I came across the Clus Hoping List maintained by DTM Augustine Lee (Past District Governor and Past International Director). The website is still alive until now. I was amazed. Looking through the list, I short-listed few clubs nearer to my place. I thought I would start visiting them one-by-one to decide which club to join. But, I was too busy. I put the idea in my mind to do when I had more time. The time did not come.
Finally in May 2001, I told myself I had to do something. Looking through the list again, I short-listed few clubs nearby my home, Cheng San, Ang Mo Kio, Teck Ghee and Nee Soon East. I thought Nee Soon East should be ideal as it is the nearest among all. However, the nearest meeting date was at Cheng San. And, I knew I did not want to wait further. Besides, Cheng San Toastmasters Club (TMC) website was the most impressive (thanks to then webmaster Albert Chan). I called the listed VP Membership (Roy Yeo), but no answer. I then called VP Public Relations (Eugene Tan). He was very friendly and invited me to come to the next meeting on 9 May 2010.
I was so excited and anxious at the same time when the time came for me to visit Cheng San CC. I did not know what to expect and I realized I knew nobody except Eugene (through phone). I found the sign below the staircase leading to the meeting room at the second floor. The moment I opened the door I still remembered vividly Simon Low warmly welcomed me at the door. I knew he did not know me before and I believed Eugene did not inform him about my coming. But the warmth and the atmosphere of the room were so intoxicating, I really felt at home. He started introducing me to other members and then Club President Lawrence Lim.
The meeting ended at 9pm to be continued with Annual General Meeting (AGM). I was told politely that I could stay if I signed the membership on that day. I was so attracted with the club that I wanted very much to see what would happen during the AGM. Then VP Membership Roy Yeo quickly brought me to the CC office to register my membership so that I could sit in the AGM. When we returned, the meeting had started with report from President. The membership was reported at 47 with my entry that day. After that, I saw Christopher Goh (Past President) came up as the Returning Officer to lead the Executive Committe (Exco) election. Wesley Wong was elected unanimously to be the next President.
Under the mentorship of Simon Low (then VP Education), I booked my first project speech on that night for the next meeting. My first project was not easy to prepare although I was only supposed to talk about myself. I spoke about the four A's at home. Just before my turn, I really regretted my decision to join the club and agreed to deliver my first project the next meeting. This time the butterflies did not give me any chance. I could feel the earth shaking and my legs turning into jelly. I almost could not walk from my seat to the lectern only located five steps away. I was not sure why the world suddenly turned so fast that I thought I might have to cancel my speech due to medical condition. Nevertheless, I forced myself and started speaking. I could still feel the ground tremor while speaking. The 5-minute speech felt like five hours. Finally, I limped back to my seat after the speech. I thought that was the worst speech Cheng San TMC members must have heard in history. I was lucky as the evaluator was so kind and offered so many words of encouragement sincerely. I was overjoyed and decided to embark the journey seriously.
The following one year was the best time for me. I started in full gear with new project speech in every meeting. I completed Competent Toastmaster qualification (CTM) in 5 months and Advanced Toastmaster Bronze (ATM-B) qualification in another 5 months. I volunteered to be VP Education in July 2002 with Sheeja Pillai as the President. The term started with a huge drop in membership due to the 911 incident causing economy crisis afffecting our members. We lost many members due to this. Our membership base shrinked to danger level (below 20). Meeting attendance was also very low to the extend that we did not have enough people for complete meeting appointments. With resolute and able leadership of Sheeja, we insisted in starting meeting on time and continued to march on to keep the club alive.
After few months as President, Sheeja stepped down and resigned from the club due to personal reason. Economy was tough and her mother's health at that time was not too promising as well. We had to accept the loss and re-form the Exco. After an eventful Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), the members gave me the honour to be the next President and I was so lucky to have the service of Seow Hwee Ling as the VP Education for the remaining half year term.
With the full support of Cheng San CCC Chairman, Leslie Yong, BBM (then Cheng San CCMC Chairman), the club managed to raise the club membership and meeting qualities all the way to achieve President Distinguished Club status for the term 2002/2003 with nine goals. We may have achieved this distinction before, but to me it was really meaningful as we struggled and succeeded in the effort post-911. We recruited many enthusiastic members who have contributed very much to the glory of the club until today. I am always indebted to people like Nancy Lim, Cliff Teo, DTM Kevin Ong, Richard Yin, DTM Manivannan, Henry Tan (current CCMC Chairman), Patrick Tan, Roger Hoo, Suanne Hoo and many others. They supported fully and wholeheartedly the team effort to revive the club. Our membership shot up to match the level we enjoyed when I first joined the club two years back. Until today achieving President Distinguished Club has become a tradition. We obtained the status for the past seven years in the running.
Looking back, I saw that we have a healthy club rejuvenation in place. The tradition is continued by all the Presidents after that: Seow Hwee Ling, Simon Leong, Hsieh Cheng Lin, Ronald Lim, Esther Lim, Goh Shu Ling. I am looking forward to the successful completion of Daniel Kwek's Presidency. I wish all the success to Cheng San Toastmasters Club for the 20th anniversary celebration.
Sincerely,
Sugeng Sanusi (Shi Song Jun), DTM
Past President 2003
