Joint Installation 2009

An amazing evening it was, the Joint Installation 2009 of 8 clubs held in Austin Hills, Johor Bahru on the 11 July 2009. CC Evelyn Nabila and CC Nash Bhullar the lively and good looking hosts of the evening graciously welcomed the crowd of toastmasters and guests and got the ball rolling. The theme of the evening was ‘Unleashing the Speaker in You’
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Then it was time for the highlight of the evening! FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! While enjoying the wide range of food, we were entertained by three cultural performances. The first performance, swift, smooth and fluid motions of Taichi. Then the delicate and beautiful Malay dance, Zapin, and ended with a fierce explosion of colours and energy with the Indian dance Barathanatyam.

Michael Chu, CC the Organising Chairman of the Joint Installation delivered his short yet solid opening speech which was followed by ATMB John Foo’s earnest toast presentation.

Then came the purpose of the whole evening, the installation ceremony. First the Sergeant at Arms of all eight clubs were installed, they came up on stage in a row, perfectly coordinated, gavel in hand, after passing on the gavel left the stage, next came the Treasurers for the term, already waiting in a neat line behind the SAA’s, as they stepped forward, the row of Secretaries took their place, this was followed by the Vice president of public Relations, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Education and last but not least, the Presidents for the term 2009-2010. The Presidents of each club, gavel in hand took their oaths full of spirit and sincerity.

As expected Champion Speaker K Loghadran, DTM , world award winner in Public Speaking was the guest speaker for the evening. He took the stage by storm. In the literal sense, he was welcomed with a thunderous applause. His speech was not only motivational and inspirational but full of humour, he thought us a new Malay proverb “kalau cuba, cacing pun boleh jadi naga” ( meaning a worm can become a dragon, if one tries hard enough). Sharing with us his experiences and the power of believing in ones self, injecting humour in saying that “to be standing where he is, he had made more mistakes than any of us”. I have to tell u, hearing that made me feel a whole lot better, lifting a whole load of me. (………mind wondering to all the embarrassing moments in my life)

Mariana Pascal, CC , District table topics champion 2008, who carried out the table topics session for the evening had us hooked with her hilarious sketch and acting skills, she charmed us all. A member from each club took part in the table topics session, walking towards the stage bravely, full of poise and confidence, not giving a hint of edginess, and into the lions den! Our very own ATMB John Foo, like every other time, made our club proud. He WON the best table topics award, talking about his lucky charm, his wife. (awwwwww…. isn’t that sweet !)


After the presenting the guest speaker with a token of appreciation and acknowledging all the appointment holders for the evening, weeks of planning and preparation was over before we could fully digest its awesomeness.

Text by Sankaree Venugopal
Photo and Video by E T Lee ( edited from original video from TM Abdul Rajak)