JEDDAH — In a cordial ambience, members of Toastmasters fraternity gathered here to witness the 12th Division G Annual Contest. District 79 leaders including its director were present. The event was a big success and set a standard in terms of its painstaking planning and assiduous arrangements. Muhammed Kunhi, Division G director, gave an address in which he thanked the contest committees for the exemplary efforts. He expressed his gratitude to all sponsors for their support. The District 79 Director DTM Abdullah Al Sharif was the chief guest of the event. In his motivational speech, he complimented the contest committees led by Kunhi and urged its office-bearers and members to work rigorously in the rest of the current program year to retain the prominent position held by the Division G at the District 79. "I wish a world champion in public speaking will emerge from Division G," said DTM Al Sharif. Consul General of India B.S Mubarak, in his keynote speech, read out at the event by Mohammed Haneef, extolled the efforts of Toastmasters fraternity in enhancing and developing the speaking skills of its members. "I myself was closely associated with Nesma Toastmasters Club and I immensely benefited from my association with Toastmasters," he said in his speech. The focus of the conference was the International Speech contest. Angelito Nacion of OPM Toastmasters Club captivated the audience with his speaking skills. His eloquence and delivery supplemented with props grabbed the audience attention that earned him the championship in the international speech contest. Another specialty of the contest was that the intermittent shift from English contest to Arabic and vice versa. Audience were infused by the inspirational messages delivered by Toastmasters dignitaries composed of DTM Mohammed Rashid Ali, District 79 program quality director; DTM James Edward Taruc, District 79 club growth director, DTM Joey Villanueva, Immediate Past District 79 governor and DTM Reginaldo Maga Jr, Past Division G governor. The speech contest commenced with Humorous Speech category. Speaker after speaker enthralled the audience. Abdul Majeed Azouz of Al Ebda Toastmasters club bagged the first place in the humorous speech segment in both Arabic and English. His marriage story peppered with jokes generated laughter and continuous clapping from the audience. In Arabic speech contest, Azouz again won first place in the Table Topics and second place in the Speech Evaluation sessions. Marciano Par Jr of Kamfi Toastmasters Club got second place while Sherwin Auman of OPM Toastmasters Club was adjudged as the third place winner in the Humorous Speech contest. Ramy Abdel Wahab of Al Ebda Club won the first prize in both Evaluation Speech as well as in the International Speech categories held in Arabic. Sami Grami shared second prize in both Arabic Humorous and Table Topics speech sessions. In Table Topics speech contest, where contestants delivered two-minute extempore speeches, Sara Ansari of Voice Toastmasters Club won the first place. Sherwin Auman and TM Rizwan Shaikh got second and third prize respectively. The Evaluation Speech contest was begun by a test speech, which was evaluated by concerned contestants by providing constructive feedback on the speech. Rizwan Shaikh of Abdul Latif Jameel TM Club adjudged the first place winner. Sara Ansari of Voice Club got second place and Fahad Al Nafea of Al Ebda Club secured the third place in speech evaluation segment. The test speaker for evaluation speech category was Kateryna Iefymchuk from the Division C whose speech was laced with love of parents that beckoned audience to the heydays in their childhood. Faya Atya from Division P of Abha Region delivered a test speech in Arabic. In the International Speech category, Sherwin Auman of Kamfi Club and Khaled Baharetha of OMG Advanced TM Club won second and third places respectively. Former District 79 humorous champion Mosleh Al Emrani was the anchor whose sporadic jokes filled with spontaneous stories astonished the audience and the guests alike. Division I Director DTM Abdul Basit Qari, Mohammed Jufferi, Area Directors Yazeed Al Haider, Saji Kuriakose, Khulsar Khan; Ken Kusonoki, Ahmed Mushthaq, Mohammed Fayoumi, were the contest masters. The only first place winners in all four categories will represent Division G in the District 79 annual conference, scheduled for April 21-23 in Dammam at Sheraton Hotel. A total of 29 speakers from 12 clubs participated in the contest. The contestants were winners in their respective areas namely Area 7, 24 and 33 that falls under the jurisdiction of Division G. Youth Leader Hana Victor from International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ) delivered her heartwarming speech during the Youth Speech Showcase. The event was attended by a large number of current and past offiicials and other dignitaries including DTMs Abdullah Filimban, Saifudeen KM, Maria Teresa Villanueva, Art De Leon, Dr. Lakshman Sockalingam, Rhic Briones, Glen Cibag, TM Abdul Sami and media persons including KTA Muneer of OICC, Jaleel Kannamangalam of Asianet and Mayin Kutty of Malayalam News. The chief Sergeant at Arms Basheer Ambalavan opened the meeting and read the District mission. The Contest Chair and Area 7 Director TM Ramces Dungog welcomed the gathering and declared the meeting officially open whereas the Asst. Contest Chair Jehad Hattab delivered a closing remarks.
