CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Gan Teong Hock, who had achieved his Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Title!
We had conducted a short interview with Mr. Gan on his journey to DTM, and here are what we found out:
- How did you come to know about Toastmasters?
I was introduced to
D’Utama by my brother-in-law, Johnson T S Chan, who was also a member of
the Club until he migrated to Canada. That was way back in 1987, when
Toastmasters
was still a very well-kept secret in Malaysia. There were only very few
clubs around and D’Utama was one of them. Therefore, although I was
residing in Taman Muda, Ampang then, I traveled all the way to KDU to
attend D’Utama meeting. TS was introduced to
D’Utama by his friend who was a member, and he told me about
Toastmasters, Table Topics, prepared speeches, evaluations, the whole
work… And I thought it sounded a good way for me to practice and improve
my English. So, the next meeting I joined TS to the
meeting and I was impressed by what I saw. And to my surprise, one of
my secondary school senior, Peter Wong, was also a member. After the
mandatory three consecutive meetings, I joined the Club as a member - it
was towards the end of Steven Si’s Presidency
term (end of 1987 – in those days the club officers’ terms were from
January to December) and the next thing I knew, both TS and I (both
being accountants) were elected as the Club auditors for 1988 when Koh
Moh Tang was elected as the President to succeed
Steven. I then served as Treasurer under Peter Wong’s term in 1989 and
as SAA under JC Quah’s term in 1990. Then in 1991, due to my work
commitment, I opted out of the Exco and also slowed down my
participation in Toastmasters. In
1994,
after prolonged absence from D’Utama meetings, I decided to quit
Toastmasters. Little
did I realise then that I would one day return to D’Utama to continue
my unfinished journey. I came back to D’Utama in November 2002, when
Michele Ng was at the helm. And like they said, the rest is history.
- What motivated or inspired you to go on to pursue DTM status?
The learning opportunities offered by Toastmasters is the one strong motivating factor to keep me going.
As I mentioned, I joined
D’Utama with only one simple objective: To practice and improve my
English. I was from Chinese primary school and my secondary school was
Catholic High
School, which is just another Chinese school although it is a
governmental school. I conversed in Chinese and Chinese dialects most of
the time except at work where I have to use my “broken” English at
times. I like reading but I read Chinese books most of
the time except for study and working materials. With this background,
you can see how impressed I was by D’Utama members who can speak well in
good English. I was even more impressed by members who could motivate
with their speeches or make audience laugh
with their humours in their speeches. I would be happy if I could be
just half as good as them. That was my motivation then – to be able to
use good English to deliver speeches in proper English. At that time,
although I served in the Exco, I have no idea
about the leadership track in Toastmasters – my primary focus was on my
communication track. You see, I have to repeat most of my speeches,
sometimes repeat again! (Those days, the evaluators literally told you
that you had failed and asked you to repeat your
speech!) So, when I began my 8-year
sabbatical leave, I had not completed my CTM (Competent
Toastmaster) yet. I finally completed my CTM in 2003 – I think I must
have been the record holder in completing the first ten assignments over
a span of 15 years!
The quest for leadership
excellence arose for me when D’Utama members elected me as the Club
President in 2004/05. I began to understand the dual-track education
offered by Toastmasters.
Even then, I did
not set any target for my DTM award. I decided to move with the flow,
be participative, play roles, do my speeches, take up more leadership
roles, and see how far my journey will take me in Toastmasters. I am
happy that it culminated in my DTM award today, 25 years after I first
started my Toastmasters journey.
- How has Toastmasters helped you?
Toastmasters had brought
great transformation in me, in many ways. I was naturally an introverted
person. As an accountant, my jobs revolved around numbers and figures,
not words
or speeches. Since joining D’Utama, I had been transformed from being
ultra-introverted person to somewhat more balanced between extroverted
and introverted. Toastmasters have also given me the platform to give
speeches and presentations using words, not numbers.
I have also accomplished my initial objective of joining Toastmasters,
ie to improve my English. In fact, I started reading English novels (not
the simplified version that the school taught) after I became a
Toastmasters.
Most Toastmasters are
positive and inspirational, so that helps me a great deal too. Coupled
with my improved command in English, I became more confident, more
self-motivated
and strongly positive in my outlooks since becoming a Toastmaster. I
have also learned to be a more effective leader and listener. All these
transformation have a great impact in my career advancement too. In
short, Toastmasters has certainly played an important
role in shaping my life to who I am today.
- What are some of your hobbies and interests?
I like reading, playing
chess, listening to classical, sentimental, light and easy music (not
the heavy stuff). I am not much of a sports person although I enjoyed
jogging and
jungle tracking (within my limitation.) And of course, Toastmasters
meetings ranked highly in my hobbies and interests.
- Who are some leaders you admire and why?
If you’re referring to
leaders in Toastmasters fraternity, I have many. First come to mind is
our Charter President Victor Vincent Wong, for his ability to motivate
his audience
with his inspirational speeches all the time. Past Presidents Steven Si
and Koh Moh Tang are also leaders I admired greatly with their
leadership qualities. Past Presidents JC Quah and Sharon Ng have been my
mentors at different stages of my developments in
Toastmasters. And there are many other members, within D’Utama and from
other clubs, who have helped me in one way or another, inspired me with
their leadership and communication skills, and to whom I still looked
up to and seek guidance when in need. To name
just some of them: President Johnson Yike; Past Presidents Peter Wong,
Gary Lim, Wu Tse Sing (deceased), Vijayakumar, G Siva, Lee Wei Seong,
Allen Kam, Nancy Liew, Teoh Chun Ming and others; Tham Chee Wah, Low Yat
Seow, Soh Fong Wai and Henry Fu; Ivy Cherng
and Sam Leong (both Metropolitan Bilingual); Sue Ding (Shaklee); Dr
Sharon Tong and NJ Singam (both WIM); Jon Tan, Cheong Kuok Sum and Lee
Xi Wen (all TTDI); Tan Lay Theng and Kim Chow (both Friendship); Zaharah
Ibrahim (MAICSA); Geoff Andrew and Ramdas Nayar
(both MIM); and of course, the three ladies who helped me in my High
Performance Leadership project as members of my Guidance Committee,
LeAnn Tang (Taman Indrahana), Lum Woon Foong (Metropolitan) and Lim Lay
Kun (DU Advanced). The list just goes on and there
are many more leaders whom I admired but not able to name them all
here.
- What advice would you give to a new Toastmaster?
Allowed me to borrow the
words of Steve Job, “Have the courage to follow your heart. Stay hungry,
stay foolish”. With these attributes, there are many learning
opportunities and
learning points in Toastmasters for us to improve as a leader and a
communicator.
- Now that you’re achieved DTM, what’s next in line for you?
Continue to enjoy my journey in Toastmasters, learning and sharing with fellow members, for as long as I am still enjoying it.