Club Installation Night

September 11, is one date everyone will always remember and what was happening in our club on this very day.

Our annual event, the Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club Installation Nite was held. Our club is now moving into our 10th year of existence and with every year achieving the President Distinguished Club status.

The club has produced 10 Club Presidents, all first timers as Presidents in this club. Gwendoline Gwee, CTM CL is the fourth lady president in this club. She gave an impressive speech where one will certainly remember ‘3 G from Celcom’ to her meaning of 3 Gs for our club. She ‘took the cat out of the bag’ and elaborated on her version of 3 Gs..…

Gain Give Grow

The crucial ingredients to achieve excellence and success in an individual

Our Past District51 Secretary DTM Celine took the role of the Installation Officer for the Installation Ceremony of the Club Officers for the term 2006/2007. DTM Celine, being a charter member of the club, will certainly want to ensure that the club will have another term of continuity for Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club.

We are certainly fortunate to have our dedicated Webmaster KC Leong, who had just made headlines in the recent Rat Race 2006 and became the winning team for RHB Bank . Kudos KC!!!

KC came with his camera and he certainly does not want to miss anything that was happening, right beneath his nose. Another dedicated member who did his best by promoting both clubs ie Speakers’ Dream and Spot-on Theatre via his photos and most of all…..creating Memories of Achievement for our club.

Next was the Event of Dedication……The Toastmaster of the Year Award. As usual, we took another way in nominating award winner than the norm of selection by the EXCO. Instead, the members were given an opportunity to cast their votes for the TME Award. 75% of the votes goes to DTM Siew Chien for the The Toastmaster of the Year Award. Congratulations Siew Chien!! Keep it up and be the guiding example for our new members for dedication and commitment.

For the rest of the evening, we had the opportunity to witness Simon and Cheong Boon presenting their contest humorous speeches where the audience was the evaluators.

A reminder from Toastmasters International on building quality members and club came in timely where Assistant Division Governor Education and Training DTM Tang Sum Chee shared with us on the new Competent Leadership module.

The evening was filled with dedication and commitment from members who came and support the event. New members like CTM Alfred from Gua Musang and Yew Fai who had a crucial business meeting but attended the event immediately after his meeting.

CTM Alfred brought along with him two guests with the hope of getting new members for the club. Senior and distinguished member like DTM Celine, despite her busy business schedule, ensured the club officers are officially installed. Not forgetting the support from other Past Presidents of our club who came and supported the event.

The Installation Nite was a fellowship nite with new and senior members got together to commemorate the event and most of all, Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club is now officially registered
with Registrar of Societies.

Good nite.

From the desk of VPPR

Flagrante Delicto - The Celebration

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Photos by KC

Showtime

Please click here to view 124 photos on rehearsal.

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Please click here to view 89 photos during showtime at the Actors Studio.

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It was most satisfying to hear the burst of continuous laughter of varying intensity from audience. On Wednesday 26 July, 8.30pm, it was the first of the five consecutive performances at the Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Complex. It was a reflection of months of hard work by the 19 cast members, the Director and the Producer.

To ensure the sequence of acts/scenes were smoothly executed, the cast did the final rehearsal again in compressed or fast-forward mode with the Sound and Lighting technicians (from the Actors Studio), and Stage Manager at 6.30pm – two hours before show time. The results: almost flawless performance with transition from one act/scene to another.

From audience’s feedback after the show last night, they were satisfied with the performance. Here are the extracts of their feedback:

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From an American couple:"We enjoyed the show. We can see the cast enjoyed doing their roles."
From others:"Certainly an entertaining show, we enjoyed ourselves. We will tell our friends to come."

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From KH:

My pleasure to be there to laugh out loud!! Laughter is the Best medicine.All the best to all of you. Wishing you success in your performance.
All of you are so talented… not just oral communication but acting as well.

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From Steven:

B4 the play, the lady announcer announced that the play will last for 90 minutes...my 1st reaction was "WAH! 90-long minutes! How to survive?"

The stage's lights on and off...the casts all lined-up to be introduced. "WAH! 90 minutes has passed"... this proved that the play is really entertaining - makes us laugh and happy. That's why time flies.

Well done.

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From Lilian:

Thanks for getting the tickets and just wanna say that we enjoyed the show. A very talented and enthusiastic cast, they really look like bank people. Especially 'the lady with the big eyes' who is just quite outstanding although everyone had their moments!

Not easy when there are so many in the cast, but good fun nonetheless! Well done to you and all your friends who put this together. Looking forward to the next one!


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From Jason Chin:

It's was good show with great cast! My favourite is the Big Hair Lady (I forgot her name)… She looks so natural!

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From May Ching:

It was a pleasure to attend the show and thanks for getting the tickets.

The most enjoyable aspect of the show for me was not the jokes or the committed performance of the cast. It was the simple fact that the cast had friends in members of the audience - this was obvious by the easiness of the audience in some more slight nuances or responses to some specific acts or jokes during the show. It was a show of warmth and camaraderie of the audience, and a genuine sense that they were supportive of a really good job done by the cast.


Knowing the cast were all real life normal people, and that they were all members of SD Toastmasters, I had great admiration for the guts of the various fine individuals, old and young, who put out their part time and weekends to prepare for the show. And to perform for a live audience, to act on stage, this is perhaps the greatest validation of a toastmaster's skill - that words, is in form of spoken, written, and expressed through body language. Also, it always feel good to perform for an audience you can relate to - your friends and family. Congratulations on a job well done! I'm sure the high feeling will hold for a while :-)

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Cheers to great team work of Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club.

Compiled By KC

Appearing in The EDGE Malaysia

Another appearance of the Flagrante Delicto comedy drama in the The EDGE Malaysia (Business & Investment Weekly) today for the week of July 24 - July 30, 2006.

Show time: From Wednesday 26 July to Sunday 30 July.

Please scroll down the postings for more details.

Appearing in New Straits Times

Yes, the cast of Flagrante Delicto appears in the New Straits Time today, Friday 21 July 2006. Please turn to Page 74, Life & Times.

Please scroll down the pages to see the original photo which contains only part of the 19 cast members.

Flagrante Delicto Comedy Drama

The Show

Our first major performance is “Flagrante Delicto” which means ‘the act of committing a crime’ in Latin. This is a dark comedy. The story revolves around a group of senior bank employees who planned and managed to pull off an act of crime. They made a total of RM9 million but the bank incurred no loss. It was to be a perfect crime.

The bank auditor’s investigative vibes were alerted. The auditor’s relentless search leads him through a trail of lies, seduction and intrigue. The director and script writer, Distinguished Toastmaster, K. Loghandran has added twists towards the end. Come and find out whether the saying “Crime does not pay” stills work today!

The Cast

The cast comprises of 19 actors and actresses from Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club. This is their second performance as a group after the successful "Funny Money" comedy drama.

The entire script is an original piece of work by the talented writer cum director, Distinguished Toastmaster, K. Loghandran. He is an experienced and sought after talk-show artiste who is fondly known as Loggie from the popular comedy duo Loggie & Monti.

Spot-on Theatre

Spot-on Theatre is a performing theatre community club founded in 2005. The members are mainly experienced toastmasters who have performed in theatre shows before. They will be performing a comedy drama to entertain an audience with a one-and-a-half-hour of duration. The show will be performed over 5 days and it is expected to attract a crowd of 1,300 persons. We seek your support to purchase tickets to our show.

The details are as follows:

Dates: 26 - 30 July 2006 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Time: 8.30 pm
Venue: Actors Studio, Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Complex, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2094 0400 or 03-2094 1400
Tickets: RM 33 and RM 45

Note: Only Sunday show is at 3 p.m.

The date of the comedy drama coincides with the KL Arts Festival in July 2006.

The proceeds will go to the Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club.

If you have further queries, please contact :
1) Siew Chien at 012-3113026 / Email : ongsiewchien@yahoo.com
2) Norashikin at 012-3903525 / Email : shikin.kassim@gmail.com
We would like to enlist your support in our endeavour to develop acting and speaking skills.

We look forward to your positive response in supporting local theatre.

Yours faithfully,

Ong Siew Chien

Producer Spot-on Theatre, Petaling Jaya
Tel : 012-311 3026 / 03-7960 6368
Fax : 03-7960 6369
Email : ongsiewchien@yahoo.com

The Art of Possibility

Dear Esteemed Members,

In the measurement of the world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold. Let not the opportunity pass, for it may not return.

Our customary mind-set about who we are may even undermine our ability to have a say in the way things go from here.

Therefore, over the next six days don't let our customary mind-sets get in our way. We have the obligation to be creative and a commitment to become Distinguished or better. We have the Power To Change.

For three-quarter of the Term 2005/2006, SDTMC had only achieved Select Distinguish status. We take pride that the members are able to rise up to the occasion during the last Lap and give the club the long awaited goals. We are going for 10/10-President Distinguished Club and this will be the 9th time SDTMC had consecutively maintained the President Distinguished Club status. We would like to congratulate the following members for delivering us the goals during the last 2 weeks:-

CTM Mok Soo Pon - achieved her ATMB

TM Sabapathy - achieved his CTM

TM Fong Wai Choon - achieved her CTM

The above 3 members have help to deliver us the 3 goals. We are proud of you. The final two goals will be delivered during the last meeting on the 26 June 2006. for the Term 2005/2006 and is none other than our President ATMB Hor Kam Peng who will be completing her final speech to achieve her ATMS and once again our ATMB Mok Soo Pon who will be doing her 2nd CL. So, ladies and gentlemen we would urge you to be present for the final LAP and rallies the friends on. Do bring a friend.

Attach is the Meeting Agenda on Monday, 26 June.

Date: 26 June
Venue: Kelab KPGA, Mutiara Room
Time: 7.00 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Find Your Voice and Serve the World

Yours Truly,

Gwen Gwee
Vice President – Education

Flagrante Delicto Rehearsal

Please click here to view 66 photos taken by KC during today's rehearsal, Sunday 11 June 2006.

Dear Esteemed Members of
Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club,

Can you see the excitement and enthusiasm in members’ faces when they rehearsed in this drama comedy on Sunday, 11 June? The Club is embarking on another project – acting in drama comedy.

For members of Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club who are not yet members of Spot-on Theatre and who are keen to be a part of this comedy, we do have roles for you.You can take up roles as stage manager, music man and so forth. Every role is a learning experience where you do not have to pay for a workshop but only small membership fees and be committed with a few hours of your time to learn and experience.

Spot-on Theatre is registered with the Registrar of Societies and is a non-profit organization where it was setup by members of our club. We want to hone our acting skills in Spot-on Theatre and have a platform to excel in our public speaking skills in Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club. We are the only club in Klang Valley or even in Malaysia who have this opportunity offered to our members of Speakers' Dream Toastmasters Club.

Our drama comedy entitled 'Flagrante Delicto' is our first big gig in Spot-on Theatre with 5 shows from 26-30 July 2006 at the Actors Studio Bangsar Shopping Complex, Kuala Lumpur. The time of the shows will be 8.30 pm on 26-29 July 2006 and 3pm on 30 July 2006. Tickets at RM33 and RM45.

I can assure you, it is fun working in this team. Seeing is believing from the photos taken by KC Leong.

Keep a date with Flagrante Delicto from 26-30 July 2006. Spread the news to your friends and let us laugh together…. HA HA HA.

From the Desk of Vice President Public Relation,
Ong Siew Chien, DTM.

Club Meeting – Monday 12 June

12 June 2006 was certainly an eventful night. It was the first time in 2006 where all the assignment speakers made their way to the meeting and presented their wonderful speeches.

Mohd Noor set the ball rolling with how to revive your heart or loved ones from leading into a tragedy.

Sabapathy presented his 9th speech of persuasion with instilling us to have more than one income. He took himself as the example where he has 3 jobs. He did not waste his time during retirement but made full use of his productive twilight years.

Next presenter was Soo Pon, who procrastinate for a while but finally with inspiration from the rehearsals of Flagrante Delicto, she delivered one DCP goal for our club by achieving her ATMB title tonight. She narrated her story just as when she was 10 years old. This was certainly a skill you need to have and not forgetting time to rehearse before the speech was presented to us. Bravo Soo Pon!!

M Ariff was a long lost member, nevertheless he made it tonight by sharing with us, one week workshop he had recently. He condensed it to 7 mins. One of the things where I really concur with him from his speech is Steven Covey's book is the past and 'in thing' is empowering with knowledge that will bring us to the next level of success.

Simon, M Ariff's evaluator, suggested M Ariff should hold a one day seminar for his speech presentation.

The meeting this evening brought achievements to the club from Distinguished Status to Select Distinguished Status in Toastmasters International standards. President Distinguished status is just a kilometer away. With the contribution and dedication of our members in completing their CTMs and ATMS, we will achieve 10 goals as desired by Toastmasters International, USA. This the standard of a quality club instilled by Toastmasters International, USA.

This evening, we learned how to save a heart from collapse, reflect on our childhood memories, an eye opener of reality to arm ourselves with another income and close the meeting with reinforcement of acquiring more knowledge for the betterment of our lives.

Our President, Kam Peng, was just back from a wonderful trip to India. She has a tiring day but certainly was rejuvenated after the club meeting.

26 JUNE 2006 is the last meeting of the current term. We will have a surprise for you.

Keep a date with us and make this an eventful memory for you.

Good Nite.

From the Desk of VPPR
Ong Siew Chien, DTM



Changing Your Attitude

Very often, it is not how the world is. It is how we perceived it to be. Happiness and peace of mind are simply mental state that can be invoked, maintained, developed, or abandoned. Your attitude has a tremendous influence on your life. It can shape your thoughts, your behavior, the things you say or do, your habits. Collectively, these things form your life.

The wonderful thing about attitude is that although it has the ability to transform your entire life, it does not require a lifetime of meditative solitude state to change. Anyone can change their attitude virtually at the snap of a finger. Believe it or not, just try it.

If you are torn between staying home and watching the World Cup 2006 and coming for the Toastmasters meeting on Monday, just decide resolutely to come for the meeting, you will. Try it.

See you in tomorrow’s Club meeting, Bring a friend.

Date:- 12th June 2006
Time: 7.00 p.m to 9.15 pm.
Venue: KPGA, Kiara Room
1st Floor, Bukit Kiara

Attach is the Meeting Agenda for your perusal.

Power To Change.

Yours Truly,
Gwen Gwee
VPE

From the desk of VPPR

22 May 2006 is not another ordinary club meeting but it is the 9th Annual General Meeting for Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club. Most of the Past Presidents were present to support this important event. Who else was there??

New members like Mohd Nor, King Thim and Alfred came to support the 9th Annual General Meeting. Our committee member Sabapathy wanted so much to come and support the AGM and to present his 8th speech but due to unforeseen circumstances at the last minute. Then we have our long lost member Mohd Ariff who finally made it to the AGM despite his busy schedule for meetings at the office. Celine T eh, DTM, despite her busy schedule also came to support the AGM by volunteering to take up the role as Parliamentarian. Our Treasurer took leave to attend the AGM cos it is impossible for her to attend the AGM after work. There are also other members who were quietly managing their stress level at work but gave their dedication and commitment to the club by showing support this evening.

Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club is indeed a fortunate club, well endowed with committed members and with full support by Past Presidents.

It was a smooth sailing AGM with the election of the new Executive Committee Members and they were :-

President - Gwendoline Gwee, CL
VP Education - Robert Hue, CTM
VP Membership - Chow Mun Yuen, CTM
VP Public Relations - Mohd Ariff, CTM
Secretary - Mohd Nor, TM
Treasurer - Ismail Fahmy, CTM
SAA - Choo Yew Fai, TM
Committee Members - Alfred Koh, CTM
Ong Siew Chien, DTM

Incoming President Gwendoline gave an impressive speech and acknowledged the dedication of mentors, Past Presidents plus seek the support of all members to make Speakers Dream Toastmasters Club, a stronger club for the betterment of community.

Before the AGM, we had the club meeting where our Club President Kam Peng presented the Best Speakers Series entitled “Take the terror out of the talk”. She shared with us, the breathing techniques and exercises for relaxation. The next speaker was Siew Chien, DTM who attempted assignment number 2 from the C&L manual with her title “Georgia” where she spoke of her sister’s pampered dog imported from Australia and lead a life where a small percentage of the dogs in the world were enjoying life on planet earth.

The next club meeting is on 12 June 2006, the EXCO would certainly urge all members to attend and share plus network.

From Ong Siew Chien, DTM.

Annual General Meeting - 22 May 2006

Below is the inaugural and inspiring speech presented by the in-coming President, Gwen Gwee, CTM.

Good Evening Fellow Toastmasters, I am very honoured today to be elected the President of Speakers Dream Toastmasters Club for 2006/2007. Let me share with you a bit of my Toastmasters History.

After having surveyed a few clubs, I joined IBBM TM club in Jan 2000. Unlike some of our fellow members who took Toastmastering like duck in the water the minute they signed up, it was definitely a love / hate affair for me. Love because I knew Toastmasters program offers the best value for money in self-development especially in the Communication and Leadership skills. But hate because speaking had never been my forte. I always have butterflies in my stomach every time I turn up for a meeting but I assure you after much practice the butterflies are flying in formation. That is because we have such a fantastic and supportive club environment.

I started as a Committee member, A Treasurer, a Secretary, Vice President Membership and with much encouragement/support from our DTM Ong Siew Chien I took up the post of Vice President Education.

To be or not to be – This is a question we had encountered very often in the course of our life. It had been said –To be Ordinary is easy but to be a little bit Extraordinary requires commitment and lots of insider’s job. Sometimes we cannot afford not to be, if we astay put, we atrophied. That is what Life is meant to be, creating a better you so that we can find Our Voice and Serve Our world. In the club, changes often does not occur instantly, it is through a series of invisible actions like:-

A word of encouragement
A comment that something said is interesting, meaningful, inspiring etc.
A push to next assignment / to come out of your comfort zone
A push to take up new roles.
People who rally you on.
Giving feedbacks for improvement.

With this I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the mentors / advisers for the club, DTM K.Loghandran, DTM Celine Teh, DTM Ong Siew Chien, all the Past Presidents, and also the Past VPEs. A big thank you to all of you for your contribution, advice, expertise ,encouragement and support. And to all club members, you do make a difference, without you there will be no club.

By functional default as a VPE, I am now President of the Club and I look forward to build a strong club with all your continuous support. Together as a Team we shape a better world , a better Speakers Dream Toastmasters Club and more important a better US.

With that, I hand over the control back to the President.

Dazzle With the STARS

Monday, 13 March 2006

To view 131 photos taken by KC, please click here.

We certainly had another interesting event to remember in our diary of events as down memory lane.

Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club will always venture into new ground to bring new excitement for our members. Learning to acquire confidence in public speaking is where most Toastmasters Clubs in Klang Valley offer but we as Speakers’ Dream Toastmasters Club believe in doing more for our members’ development.

This evening, we had presentation of speeches by Celine, DTM who shared with us on “SNIOP” and Simon, ATMB presented his winning speech as Area W3 Champion recently. Celine, DTM was not feeling well, but being a charter member and a dedicated member, she pursued on with her presentation.

As the programme progressed with Loggie and Montie’s comedy skit, the room was filled with big turnout; we had almost 60 members and guests attending our function this evening.

Next, came the highlight of the event – Wine Presentation by the winemakers from Austria and was brought possible to us by Wine Gourmet Singapore Pte Ltd.

It has certainly changed my perception on wine, I always thought wine was dry and taste like hard water but this evening, the wine was superb. The sweet wine was like fruit juice. Normally, white wine can be very dry but the white wine this evening was like grape juice being freshly squeezed. The winemaker commented that their sweet wine was special because the sweetness was enhanced by the favourable climatic conditions.

We were impressed by the taste of the wine as these wine were called boutique wines and not available at supermarkets. Some of us sign up immediately as members of Wine Gourmet and ordered our preferred wine. The cost of the wine was between RM67 - RM219.

It was certainly a wonderful evening, where we were reinforced by the speeches to be positive and be aware of negative people around you plus perception and choice we make in our lives. We had light hearted moments with Loggie and Montie.

The sweet wine that I had this evening has made me alert that I could complete my write up for this event tonight. Normally, at this time, I will be fast asleep. Even Celine, DTM who was not well, was feeling better after sipping the sweet wine. It certainly has some medicinal value as proclaimed by the winemaker from Austria.

From the desk of Vice President Public Relations

Ong Siew Chien, DTM.

Speech Contest - 13 Feb 2006

To view 44 photos taken by KC, please click here.

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Spot the Stars with the date the 13th of Feb 2006 and falls on the eve of Valentine’s day was certainly an event to be remembered..

We have 5 stars who crafted their speeches for the International Speech Contest. Lim Hin Chong set the ball rolling with “Happiness is what we want.” Simon Soh returned to the club after a long absence and delivered “Is what is isn’t, what isn’t is?” Meanwhile, Ng Cheong Boon gave his version on “Searching for Success.” Then came Robert Hue who gave an interesting account of “Mother-In-Law”. Koh Teck Lee close the speech contest with his speech title “Face up with reality.”

The judges certainly had a challenging task in identifying the winners of the International Speech Contest.

Who were present at this event?....Our Area W3 Governor James Arokiasamy, ATMS and Past District 51 DPRO Lucky, ATMB and Past Division W Governor Ramdas Nayar, ATMB who came to support this event by being in the judging team headed by Lucky, ATMB.

We had 30% of the audience who were non Toastmasters and participated in the Spot the Stars Contest where 1 guest managed to match the official results of the judges in the International Speech Contest. The other winner was our President Hor Kam Peng.

After the refreshments, we moved on to the Table Topics Contest, the Contest Chair Celine, DTM gave an interesting topic “Life is like a box of chocolates” which lead 7 stars to try on their creativity with their interesting versions. We had a new member who courageously went for the contest. We had another ‘long lost member’ Robert Hue who was hesitant at first in taking part and finally got supportive senior members to encourage him to take up the challenge. Who are the other stars in this contest, they were Koh Teck Lee, Ng Cheong Boon, Simon Soh, Lim Hin Chong and Hor Kam Peng.

Besides, having 3 contests on the same evening, our President Hor Kam Peng managed to source from ACER for lucky draws where 2 guests and our member Simon Soh were the lucky winners for the evening.

Who were the winners for the International Speech Contest?

Champion - Simon Soh, ATMB
1st Runner Up - Ng Cheong Boon, CL
2nd Runner Up - Lim Hin Chong, ATMS

The winners for the Table Topics Contest were…….

Champion - Hor Kam Peng, ATMB
1st Runner Up - Simon Soh, ATMB
2nd Runner Up - Lee King Thim, CTM

Congratulations!!!!

The Champions and the 1st Runners Up for both the contests will deliver their ‘show’ on 11 March 2006 in the Area W3 International Speech and Table Topics Contest. Keep a date with them on 11 March 2006. Watch for the news on the venue of the contests.

We need to graciously thank our Organising Chair Gwendoline Gwen, CTM who tirelessly reminded and constantly encourage members to take part in the speech contests. Despite her busy schedule, Celine, DTM took up the role as Contest Chair and ensure the contestants were adequately brief on the contests.

Our Chief Judge Lucky, ATMB chose credible judges in his team and carefully brief the roleplayers. Our President Hor Kam Peng, despite her busy meeting schedule managed to get the assistance of another member to deliver the prizes and souvenirs from ACER on time for the contests. Our sponsors ACER, Berjaya Hotels and Resorts, C-Excel Training, Macsam Sdn Bhd, Mines Cruise Management and Saba Safety and Health Management who made their contributions for this event.

Of course, our cameraman, KC Leong, CL who ensure everyone were covered in this event. You could be on candid camera! Be sure to look out for photos taken by him.

Thank You to All, who have made this event, a success and memorable one.

Kudos!! To All Winners for this event.

From the desk of VPPR...Siew Chen