Fifteen years ago, I was asked by my school teacher to give a 1-minute speech for the English class. Those days, it felt terrifying to be called upon in-front of the class to deliver such speech. The topic was about myself – more or less like the ice-breakers we deliver here at the Toastmasters. Being in a school and the ‘studious environment’, I worked with my mother to put together a short speech about myself just to accommodate in for the 1 minute that was allotted to me. I was called upon by the English teacher to deliver the speech in front of the class. As soon as I came on stage to recite my speech, my mind started to freeze. I felt like things were just blanking out for no fault of my own. As I started to speak about myself – in that fit of nervousness, I forgot what I had to say next. I was perplexed and confused on how to handle the situation. At that moment, when I had forgotten the rest of my speech, I stood there saying….Um…Eh very loudly not knowing what to say next. And...
A new day has arrived in the horizon! As I take a stroll on the village roads - I am taken aback by an enigmatic surprise. Well, it turns out that I now have - new neighbours. As I recall the days strolling the village roads alone in the village - reminiscing the stillness, peacefulness and cacophany of birds that could be heard in the backyard, I feel a great sense of nostalgia. I had to trade-off some of the beautiful bounties of nature that were exclusive to this vaddo to pave the way for the new-comers. I feel partly happy whilst sad as I miss some of the unique parrots with long tail beaks that I would spot at day time on a huge tree. This tree, was not just any tree - it was a cotton tree. It stood in between my house and other houses in the vicinity and provided shelter to other creatures. During the summer months, pink coloured flowers would spring out from its branches and colour the village pathway with its beautiful petals. It was a trove of the neighbourhoods ...