Committee meeting on 6th June 2010

The Incoming President, TM Tan Soo Guan, held the first meeting at his house on 6th June 2010. Present there were Incoming AG, Advisors and 2010/2011 Exco members. The hosts Tan Soo Guan and VPE Kay Ku prepared food for us to make sure we had the energy to tackle what was before us. Lady Kat brought along Chee Cheong Fun and Sarawak pineapple which was fabulous. Thanks to AG for his fruit varieties.

Below are some images of what transpired. Enjoy........


BEFORE THE MEETING

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD.

THE MEETING IN SESSION

There were smiles, laughter, tense moments, heartache, suspense etc during the meeting. At the end of the night, decisions were made and everyone went home happy and satisfied.

The hosts even gave us special durian cake which was extremely delicious. I was told Kay Ku had to wait a long time at the shop in KL to buy it. It was definitely worth it. Hope it will make another entrance at the next EXCO meeting.

If you had to be there for one reason only, it has to be the durian cake. It's really worth it. Come and join us at the next committee meeting, even as an observer only. You won't regret it.

How do I know? I was there Babe. I am not in the photos cos I was the Cameraman and Cameraman do not snap themselves.

Ha ha. Adios Amigos.

Till we meet again.

27th AGM on 25th May 2010

The club's 27th AGM cum meeting was held at our usual club meeting venue i.e Sungei Ujong Club Seremban on 25th May 2010. Captured here are some images of that historical night.

Our President Kala opens the meeting. She then chaired the AGM.

The Treasurer giving her report. Our bank balance is RM4635.11.

The Club founder, acting as the Head of the Nominating Committee, reads out the nominees for the various Executive posts.

TM Kay Ku reads out the Incoming President's speech, said to have been sent from Cambodia.

The second session saw several speakers taking to the stage. TM GT Singam was the first. He was speaking to a hostile crowd. He wanted to buy over their squatter land.

Next was our environmental activist TM Valentine. This time it was water pollution.

A snap shot of the Role Players' board. The camera man got nothing else better to do. What do you expect when he is not paid for the job!!!!

The third speaker, TM Robert Tan, spoke about joining the PD Toastmasters Club. He was dressed to kill. Looks a bit like James Bond in his older years.

What do expect from the 4th speaker? It has to be about the maritime industry. He is a Ship Captain and this is what he is best at. He divided the crowd into two groups to tackle certain situations.

The first group under the able leadership of TM Amy Siew trying their best how to deal with a stowaway. Some say throw him into the sea. Feed him to the sharks.

The second group under the leadership of the incoming AG, tried their best to solve their maritime problem. Aiyaa this Captain, he is doing his speech and he gives us a big headache to solve.

TM Chandran evaluating TM GT Singam. "I was taken aback by what happened at the beginning. Everyone was shouting and so hostile."

The TOE busy counting the Best Speaker votes. She too was dressed to kill, a female version of James Bond.

TM Amy Siew evaluated TM Valentine. " U shud use more forceful words to persuade."

TM Lee Kah Tor evaluated TM Robet Tan. "I find the title a bit soft. It is ....."

Incoming AG Robert Ram evaluated TM Capt Khalid. "Tonight I learn two words: Stevedor and stowaway".

TM Kat Lee Lan giving her points. Wow! look at the hand gesture.

The best speaker award goes to ...............

The best evaluator award goes to ....................

It was an eventful meeting. Were you there? If not, do make an attempt to join us for the next meeting.

Present Like Steve Jobs

Learn some presentation tips from Steve Jobs!!

The Language Perfectionist: Lend Me a Word

By Don Hauptman

Last year, I traveled to a small town in Canada to attend a theatrical festival. About noon one day, I entered an appealing restaurant.

"Would you like to be seated on our veranda?" asked the hostess. "Did you know," I replied, "that the word veranda comes to us from Hindi, Portuguese, and Spanish?" I expected to be summarily booted out in return for my irrelevant comment, but she seemed genuinely fascinated by this fun fact.

English has been called a mongrel language. We use words from other languages all the time, often without realizing it. Linguists call these loanwords or borrowings.

Here are just a few examples:

• German: blitzkrieg (lightning war), doppelganger (lookalike), ersatz (phony substitute), plus flak, kitsch, waltz, and even hamster.

• French: avant-garde, camouflage, canard (lie or deception), debacle, frisson (shiver), garage, voyeur.

• Russian: czar, glasnost (openness), perestroika (restructuring), ukase (edict).

• Afrikaans: aardvark, commando, trek.

A variant of borrowing occurs when words from foreign tongues are not retained intact, as the above examples are, but are translated into English. These are called calques. One example is masterpiece, from the German Meisterstuck.

Appropriately enough, loanword is a calque... and calque is a loanword. The first is from the German Lehnwort, and the second from the French calquer, to trace or copy.

Toastmasters Meeting on 8th June 2010

Fellow Toast Masters and guests,

We had our AGM last meeting, last term 's officers have another month to serve all of you.
After June there will be a new line of officers who will continue to serve the club.
As for me , Vallie will take over my post, and I wish you will give our in-coming secretary the best support.

We have 'full house' for speakers,Table topic master got to be mindful of time.
After all these hard work, Rosa will take some of us to a serene mountain for gate away---Fraser's hill,
if u have not register , do it now.

Roles On 8th June, 2010:
TOE : Yeoh Lian Geok, CL
TTM : Lee Kah Tor, ACG
TTE : OPEN

Humour : Indra, CC
GE : Amy Siew, ACB
LE : R Kala, CTM
AC : Kenneth, TM
TK : Donna Kat, ACB

Speaker 1: GT Singam ACB, Adv 6-8min
Speaker 2: Valentine Sia TM #10
Speaker 3: Capt Khalid ACS , 10-12 min
Speaker 4: GT Singam ACB, Adv 6-8 min
Speaker 5: Chua Eu Chieh CC, Adv 7 ( Standby)

Evaluator 1:
Evaluator 2: Indra, CC
Evaluator 3:
Evaluator 4:

Kay Ku, CC
Secretary
Port Dickson Toast Masters Club

Its a Holi Holi Day at Fraser Hill

Dear Friends and members of PD TMC

During our last last exco meeting in Kay Ku's house, the committee has plan for an outing to Fraser Hill on 12 - 14 June 2010. It is a 3D/2N stay since the last time we had organize to Fraser Hill was 2 years ago. This June we shall revisit Fraser Hill for fellowship and frolic in the mid-day sun without sweat.

Temperature in the day is about 24 deg while in the nite is about 22 deg. The 3D/2N trip will cost each person about RM60.00 lodging and 5 meals included!.

What we shall do there,: get to know each other better, karaoke, table topics, play some cards, dance if you want to, frolic in the sun without getting any sunburn, eat and sleep. We shall all car pool.

Those who are interested please leave you name to this email and I would be circulating this same message during Toastmaster meeting on 25 May and 8 June. This is one best of the best trip than any cuti-cuti Malaysia holidays in Malaysia! Come let's go holiday.

Regards,
Rosa

The Language Perfectionist: Still More Repetitive Redundancies

By Don Hauptman

On National Public Radio recently, I heard the words "news journalists." This is a quintessential redundancy. My hunch is that the commentator's intended meaning was "print journalists," in contrast to those who work in broadcasting or online.

Here are a few more redundant expressions I encountered recently in the pages of newspapers and online:

• "Does it put a negative stigma on a company? I think the answer is definitely."

A stigma, meaning a mark of disgrace, is always negative.

• "Snopes is one of a small handful of sites in the fact-checking business."

The word handful is a metaphor for something small.

• "In it [a video game,] you can choose to control either the resistance or the machines and your mission is to completely annihilate your enemy."

The word annihilation means total destruction, so the phrase "completely annihilate" might be regarded as... overkill.

• "Plenty of other examples abound."

The words plenty and abound both imply a large number.

• "One day, acting on a sudden impulse, I bought a new shirt."

An impulse is by definition sudden.

Redundant phrases such as these (and hundreds of others) should be avoided because they add more words than are necessary, because they're often cliches, and because they make the writer look lazy or illiterate. Expunge them from your writing with "meticulous care"!