Clubs Attended 2016 UK and Singapore and lessons learned

2015
UK
Harrovians
HOD

Singapore

January 2016
Monday Jan 18 to Sheraton Hotel SCS Spoke in topics
Tue 19

Wed 20 Bukit Panjang (around an oval table, I was given a welcome ribbon signed on back by president with name of club, and best speaker for my topic.

My topic subject was: one swallow does not make a summer.

I said:
Swallows in the old days used to predict Seasons
In the old days you could tell the seasons by the birds which flew into (seasonal) countries (like the UK) for the summer. But with Global warming the seasons are less predictable. We have longer, warmer summers. Yet in England which has cold winter, we get shorter but less predictable shifting snow intervals, no longer white Christmas but often White weeks with whiteouts in January, February or even March.

How does global warming affect birds? In England we have a bird count in January organised by the RSPB, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. That day volunteers all over the country count birds in their gardens. If you don't have a garden you can count in the nearest park. Even a windowsill if you put out bird food.

You don't count birds flying across, which are hard to identify accurately, only those which land.
You could have birds flying away and coming back. The same bird might be counted twice or ten times. So you only count the numbers you see together. I saw four magpies and two crows o ravens.

I wondered why we counted in January. The leaves fall so it's easier to see birds in the trees or on the end of the lawn, not hidden from view by overhanging branches. The idea is to compare each year with the next year, to find out whether birds are increasing or decreasing. And which birds? More robins? Or fewer?

Swallows and birds flying in for the summer are not native birds and are outside our control. One swallow does not make a summer was originally a saying about birds, although we now use it metaphorically, when I do the bird count I take it literally. You could probably do the same bird count in Singapore, but the saying would not be a swallow but another bird. Yes, I agree, one swallow does not make a summer.

What I learned:
Bilingual Cards With Proverbs
(I would like to know which bilingual cards have the sayings in both Chinese and English - are they from Toastmasters or another organisation?)

Thu 21 Bukit Batok speakers club meeting at Bukit Batok CC (Community Centre) beyond the West Mall beside Bukit Batok MRT (and bus station). (Bukit Batok, alliterative, could mean hill of Javanese coconuts ; or Batu-stone in Bahasa Malay for coughs/explosives at nearby Little Guilin lake).
In an upstairs room we sat around a large o v a l table.
At break time we had k w a y  t e o w, flat rice noodles in mystery sauce, cockles and prawns, been sprouts; char away teouw with sausage. Chinese carrot cake (neither carrots, nor cake, some kind of vegetable stew) bananas and grapes.

What I learned:

Fri 22 ..

Sat
Sun

Mon Jan 25 Tanglin Club's Tanglin Restaurant
Lunch saw Shan who told me about her business selling gluten free products.
Dinner 6 pm. See Catherine Lim. (Take book for signing.)

Bukit Gombak - hill + bunch or collection

My Topics (table topics - impromptu speeches)


My Ribbons:
B i s h a n  (I had to insert spaces because autocorrect changed the name to Bison.)
I used the word Exquisite as Language Evaluator.
I won the table topics ribbon. My topic was?

Saturday Jan 30th 2016
Club Officer Training.
(I saw Alvin, Gibson, Ivy, Samantha)