Kuala Lumpur
After arriving in Kuala Lumpur Toastmasters didn’t enter my mind. I had too much on my plate in a new role, in a new city and in a new culture. After having a month or so to find my feet I made enquiries about where a club could be found. From somewhere I was told about ACCA Toastmasters meeting in Wisma Lee Rubber building. I gave them a call and attended. This was different. The average age was lower and the pre-meeting chatter was louder than that at MSC. Being the only non-Malaysian present, I was greeted effusively then slowly and softly interrogated. The meeting was jovial and gregarious, a lot of nervous laughter and ad lib remarks. A good start. However, the Club was down town and I needed something closer to my accommodation.
I soon found my new Toastmasters home. It’s more accurate to say I was dragged to, rather than found, what became my Club for four years. Somewhere I met a lady called Rema who was President of KLTMI Club (no. 1997) at the time. Here was an irresistible advocate, leader of the Club, someone in perpetual motion. The question was not ‘are you joining?’ but ‘when?’. Rema still remains a family friend. When I first joined, the Club meetings were held in the Holiday Inn hotel. All members apart from me and an Irish lady were Malaysian. In my early months I probably learned more about Malaysia from my TM companions than I did from any other source. Like all TMs they told stories of family, life and their work. A remarkable collection. It’s also worth mentioning that I joined a local cricket team whose home ground was the Rubber Research Institute at Subang. They, all Malaysians, were happy to welcome me in the belief that I had spent the previous 30 summers of life slamming a cricket ball across boundary ropes. They enjoyed my humour more than my cricket.
Kuala Lumpur had and still has many TM Clubs and with Malaysians being outgoing there were plenty of chances to meet members from other Clubs. Planning wasn’t an often-used process when it came to anything and our events were more exciting as they were laced with the unknown.
The dress code was usually quite formal. Suits and ties for the men and equally smart clothes for the ladies with a wonderful splash of colour provided by ladies who wore the traditional ‘baju’ outfits. The suits that men wore nearly always had one feature the jacket and trousers were slightly different colour shades. The reason was a mystery.
With having Singapore as such a close land neighbour there were many occasions when Toastmasters from ‘over the causeway’ called in to our club in the capital. From these visits I was invited to visit, and deliver an after-dinner speech at, the Lion city TM Club in Singapore. A very slick, enthusiastic and welcoming group. Sampling these Toastmasters Clubs in other big cities was to feed my interest in years to come. Eventually my days in Kuala Lumpur came to a close and we had the painful task of relocating back to the UK and, for me, back to MSC.
–Ian Rees
Maidenhead Speakers Club 