KUCHING: Toastmasters and guests were entertained and inspired by the best of the best speakers at Kuching DIvision International Speech and Table Topics Speech Contests held at the STIDC Hall here recently.
In the International Speech category where contestants inspired their audience, Rebecca Chieng from Hornbill Toastmasters Club emerged champion with her speech titled “Stained Glass”.
Using the analogy of a stained glass, Rebecca urged her audience to see people on the inside, as who they are, rather than just looking at the outside. She shared how a special student in her class helped her learnt this lesson and changed her perception towards people around her.
Seasoned Toastmasters, Dunstan Chan, also from Hornbill Toastmasters Club, came in second with his speech, “Dreams are for Living”.
Dunstan inspired his audience to have dreams and pursue them no matter what the obstacles are. “Van Gough painted more than 800 paintings in his lifetime. Only 1 was bought when he was still alive and yet he continued to paint. Today, his paintings are worth millions,” said Dunstan.
Coming in third, with her speech “Boys Don’t Cry”, Laura Kho of Kuching Toastmasters Club shared her personal struggle in search of her identity during her formative years.
She concluded her speech by saying, “Strength comes from within. Strength does not mean we don’t cry. Strength means we bounce back after each fall so that we emerge stronger.”
In the impromptu speech contest known as Table Topics, Rebecca Chieng proved she was a contestant to beat when she emerged champion again with Laura Kho and Dunstan Chan came in second and third respectively.
In this category, contestants shared their opinion and elaborated on the topic “If there is love, there is life.” In total, there were 12 contestants in total for both categories of contests.
Prizes and certificates were handed over by Kuching Division Director, Telemachus Lo. In his speech, he thanked STIDC Toastmasters Club for sponsoring the venue and refreshments and the contestants and role players for making the contest a huge success.
Rebecca Chieng will represent Kuching Division at the upcoming district contests in Kota Kinabalu on 21 May, 2017. She will compete against champions from divisions in East Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organisation that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. The organisation’s membership exceeds 332,000 in more than 15,400 clubs in 135 countries.
Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders. For information about Toastmasters clubs in Kuching, visit www.tmdistrict87.org.
