8th Youth Communication Camp organised by Kuching Toastmasters Club to be held from Sept 14 to 16

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Facilitators and campers pictured in a group photo during the 7th Toastmasters Youth Communication Camp 2018.

KUCHING: The Kuching Toastmasters Club will once again be hosting the Youth Communication Camp (YCC), from Sept 14 to 16 at Kem Putra Sentosa, Sematan.

The 8th YCC is under the purview of the President of Kuching Toastmasters Club, Wee Pei Chai, and its Organising Chairman Sahil Singh Dev.

The Principal Facilitator of the Camp is Mike Lim, a former President of the Club and author of the renowned book on public speaking “Public Speaking: Uncle Mike’s Recipe”.

To help run the Camp this year, there are more than 60 volunteers involved as facilitators, who are mostly members of Toastmasters Clubs from Kuching, Kuala Lumpur and overseas including Canada, Nigeria, India and U.K.

The facilitators are involved in the development of the Camp months in advance as they are in charge of various tasks including having to do the administrative works, registration of students and facilitators, procurement duties, training / education sessions, bus arrangements and more.

For 2019, the Organising Committee of the Camp has been able to register 244 campers, which makes the 8th YCC the biggest to date.

The previous record was in 2013, the 2nd edition of YCC, when 222 participants attended the Camp and was held in Santubong. The 244 registered campers for this year come from various Districts in Sarawak including Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Bau, Padawan, Lundu and, for the very first time, Mukah.

There are 40 schools involved and all the registered campers range between Form 4 to 6 classes.

With its motto, ‘Get a life and live the dream’, YCC has touched the lives of more than 1,500 campers since its inception in 2012, while always remaining true to its three main thrusts: Public Speaking, Team Work and Leadership Development and Talents Showcasing.

To date, YCC remains the only Camp in East Malaysia focusing primarily on public speaking which is also much aligned to the spirit of Toastmasters International. Campers are trained on how to construct a speech while highlighting the importance of substance and logical development.

Particular emphasis is placed on substance, as campers are constantly reminded that ‘if one has no substance, then they have no right to be up on stage!’.

Students are also trained on how to deliver a speech, using eye contact, body language and voice projection.

The main feature on the third day of the Camp is a speech competition, better known as ‘Lend Me Your Ears’, which features 12 finalists. The two categories of the competition are Prepared Speech and Impromptu Speech Competitions, and the winner of the competition bags the YB Karim Hamzah Challenge Shield.

The shield is named after the Camp’s Patron, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah. He has also supported the Organising Committee both morally and financially for each year.

While focusing on Public Speaking, our Camp also adopts a ‘fun learning’ approach and trains campers on honing their leadership skills. The campers are taken through various training drills, which includes team bonding exercises, obstacle courses, flying fox, abseiling and the like.

At the Camp, the campers also get the opportunity to showcase their talents. They participate in what is known as the ‘Oscar Night’, which takes place at the end of the second day of the Camp.

Despite having only a few hours to produce an item and practice as groups, the facilitators are always left astounded with the performances they get to spectate. The campers are able to produce creative performances ranging from musical shows, drama and dance performances and much more. To round up the Oscar Night, all the campers gather with candles and sing to inspirational and motivational songs such as ‘You raise me up’ and build on the team camaraderie.

The approximate cost to host a camper for the 3-day 2-night Camp is RM400 which includes the cost of accommodation, meals, T-shirts, insurance and transportation amongst others. The fee for each camper, however, is heavily subsidized as they only pay RM90 – the rest is borne by Abdul Karim as the Club’s Patron and corporate sponsors Yayasan Petronas, Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, Quality Concrete Berhad, Sarawak Energy Berhad, Sacofa Sdn Bhd and Yayasan Sarawak.

This is an intended strategy by the Organising Committee, as they aim to accommodate students from all backgrounds.