Abbott Sales Kickoff cum X-Factor Talent Search 2012

Event: Abbott Laboratories Sales Kickoff cum X-Factor Talent Search 2012

Date: January 2012

Venue: Rasa Sentosa Resort

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDxUJwvE9QU

This is one of my all-time favourite hotels in Singapore! The swimming pool, the sea breeze, the outdoor dinner and the excellent view from the hotel – all these make it a great staycation getaway!

One of the key highlight of the 2-day Sales Kickoff is our very own Abbott X-factor Talent Search! All 5 participating teams spent hours choreographing and practising their performance, all ready for a showdown and walk away with the grand prize worth more than $2000!

Here's the line-up of all 5 teams:

1. The A Team
2. Fab 5
3. Sassy Six
4. Esprit de Corps
5. Prestique

Apart from judging criteria such as Entertainment and Creativity, all 5 teams had to showcase the company's values – Pioneering, Achieving, Caring and Enduring - through their performance. There were song and dance, skit, musicals, and Abbott's very own midget show! From their performances, dance routines, costumes, props and music arrangement, we could see all 5 teams contributed significant hours after work to put everything together, over and above their work and sales commitments! IMPRESSIVE!

Apart from the talent search performances, we had lots of good fun in the games segments. It was very heartwarming as an emcee to see everyone contributing in and giving suggestions and encouragement. Excellent teamwork and great spirit was displayed by every member of the company.

Another highlight of the event was the awards and prize presentation. The company recognized the hardwork and contribution by the awardees and presented awards and prizes to these deserving individuals.

"And this year 2012 X-Factor Talent Search champion goes to ... ... Prestique!"

Requests were made for the champion and first runner-up to perform once more and the crowd went wild! Well guess what happened after the 2 performances? We had our very own impromptu Indian Dance Superstar!

Finally to round up the event, we had a special guest whom were specially invited and all the staff participated in making a gift for this special guest! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A big thank you to everyone at Abbott! All the best for 2012 and looking forward to being part of your future events!

Char Yong (Dabu) Association 2012 Countdown Party

Event: Char Yong (Dabu) Association 2012 Countdown Party 新加坡茶阳(大埔)会馆迎新年晚会

Date: 31 December 2011

Time: 7.30pm - 1.00am

Venue: Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hWn0KxNx90

Style! Emcee:

Happy New Year Everyone!! 祝大家新年快乐，青春美丽，笑口常开！


In my opinion, this is certainly the best countdown party to be at this year. Why? For 2 good reasons:

• My dialect group is Hakka and the home town where my grandparents were from Dapu County
• The crowd was awesome, from 8 - 80 years old, they laughed together, played games on stage, and best of all? They were going around the ballroom with my countdown choo-choo train too!

The theme for the evening was "Movies Night". The decor was beautifully done up, with posters decorating the foyer, kacang putih (white sugar coated peanuts) seller and a olden days ticket booth. Best of all, the organizers replicated the old movie stubs. For those who were born 1980s and before, the old movie stubs were nothing more than a flimsy piece of paper and the seat numbers were scribbled using colored pencil. Ushers would use a torch and usher you to your seat. (If you recall, sitting at the last few rows, you could hear the projector and the reel rolling sound coming out of the projection room above!)

The event started with a spoof version of pre-event movie trailers. It was hilarious as many were dubbed in Hakka language. The audience had a good laughed (even I was chuckling away)! It was nostalgic, especially for many of the folks among the audience. The president of the association delivered the opening and dinner commenced. Oh gosh, we were all famished!

Moments later, Captain Jack Sparrow (which was the character I took on), jumped onto the stage and kick started our fun and entertainment with simple light-hearted ice-breakers to get everyone warmed up. It was so fun when everyone, of all ages, put their heads together, to solve the Hakka Challenge!!

As an entertainer, I would always use games to encourage participation, regardless of race, language, age, nationality, or corporate hierarchy. To me, games and entertainment bring people together and spice up our daily lives.

As the evening went on, we had more fun and entertainment. We had a lovely showcase of wonderful singers, from mandarin pop songs to hakka hits. And we even had our very own Hakka Rapper! The final game that we played before the countdown was to select couples (dressed to the theme) on stage and re-enact the movie scenes. It was simply hilarious!!

With fun and laughter, good company, food and drinks, time flew so quickly that it was time to start our countdown. Everyone was distributed party hats, poppers, confetti guns and various party props to get ready for 2012.

10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1


Happy New Year!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The human choo choo train has started. C'mon, join in the train right now!


A BIG thank you to my audience. 谢谢大家！ 

Data Storage Institute (DSI) Annual Dinner 2011

Event: Data Storage Institute (DSI) Annual Dinner 2011

Date: December 2011

Venue: Chevrons Jurong Ballroom

The theme - Movies Night - was simply awesome. Guests came dressed up in costumes from all different movies such as Matrix, Men in Black, Shanghai Tan, Pirates (Swashbuckler, Jack Sparrow, etc) and Tinklebell in Peter Pan. But the show was stolen by this guy that came as Counter Strike. You won't believe it, but its true. He was absolutely fully geared, with helmet, goggles, gas mask, gloves, sleeveless jacket that looked like bullet proof kevlar jacket and his shotgun rifle. He came down the halfway, mimicking the moves of the characters in Counter Strike. It was both hilarious and absolutely life-like!!

There was another guest that came in the costume by the lead actor Johnny Depp in Pirates of The Caribbean. He even had his beard styled just like Jack Sparrow!! There were so many other movie characters. Yet surprisingly I didn't see Bruce Lee in his yellow overall, or Superman with his underwear worn outside. Hmmm, maybe the guests also move with the times.

We had great entertainment throughout the night. The show curtains were opened by percussion group Wicked Aura (http://www.wickedaura.com/) and they blown the audience away with their catchy drum beats and energetic rhythms. And then after the first ice-breaker game we had Alex the Magician (http://www.alexthemagician.com/index.php). It was great to see Alex doing what he is best at - illusion and magic. He never fails to entertain both adults and children in his shows!

The interesting part about emceeing is that no matter what's the outcome or after-effect of the performance segment, it's important to quickly take the level of energy in the audience and bring it to the next level. That's what I call - Riding The Momentum. Straight to the stage with a joke or punchline so as to condense the energy and focus back to the emcee before moving on to the next line item on the programme.

I continued with my games and as always try to interject my games with more jokes, punchline and turning what I observed into something of a good laugh. I love what I do. :)

After the grand lucky draw, with our winners smiling sweetly with their prizes, the event wrapped up with a final fire dance. It's fun and exciting to always watch the fire dance performance, as I know they risk getting burn by the scorching heat and flame to bring on a good show for everyone. 

Here are two photos that I took for the event. Didn't have time to take more. If you have taken some photos for the night, please send it to style.emcee.sg@gmail.com. Appreciate lotsa and I promise to post on my blog!

Event  Poster

I love the backdrop - My favourite Mission Impossible 4 Tom Cruise

Thanks everyone. I totally enjoyed myself tonight. Please add me on Facebook at (http://facebook.com/style.emcee.richard) or like my page "Style! Emcee Richard Siaw".

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year~!

Richard

Aker Solutions 20th Anniversary Dinner and Dance 2011

Event: Aker Solutions 20th Anniversary Dinner and Dance 2011

Date: December 2011

Venue: Swissotel Atrium Ballroom

Hei og velkommen til Aker Solutions 20th Anniversary! 

(Norwegian: Hello and Welcome to Aker Solutions 20th Anniversary!)

Tonight is the first time seeing a number of Norwegians friends in my event. And oh my, they are really really tall and good looking. The guys certainly looked suave and the ladies made me turned my head 180 degrees as they walked into the ballroom!! (Asians certainly look like shorty beside them! Muahahaha... *Laughing at myself*)

We started the evening slow and relax, with some light-hearted jokes and humour. In my opinion, with a good mix of crowd is always a great thing for the emcee. Why? Isn't it easier to entertain guests from similar background/ culture/ language, etc?

To me, it doesn't matter. The more myriad the mix, the better it is. Well, you see, sometimes even I am fascinated by my own self-created "think on your feet" styled of humour. Especially, when you thought this was funny and no one crackled, but somewhere you hear some others laughing away. You will be amazed at what turns the laughter switch on for different people. And I think that is real fun!

The first game got everyone up on their feet and participated. Here's a little photo:

Aker, Are you ready!!??!!

As the event went on, the level of energy, noise, cheers, cat-calls, grew louder and bigger. These guys are MASSIVEly energetic! And it was followed by a nice show of illusion magic. The illusionist was Stefan Ebinger, from Germany (http://www.stefanebinger.com/en/index.php). He's acts and moves are clean and sharp. (Even the DJ and myself sitting beside the console enjoyed ourselves!)

The highlight of the evening, has to be the guests themselves. The guests were totally ready to party and rock and roll on the stage. Coupled with my humour and jokes of poking fun, as well as my crazy wacky dance moves, it was a SPECTACULAR moment of entertainment for everyone. Here's some of the highlights:

Once you ready, you need to run up to the stage!!... 

Shall we groove, baby? 

Michael Jackson-styled jam break and tip toe!

"I had the time of my life.... and I never felt this way before." - Time of my life

Thanks everyone for making the show wonderful and perfect!

See you all soon. :)

Love,

Style! Emcee Richard

Diethelm Keller Aviation Annual Dinner 2011

Event: Diethelm Keller Aviation Annual Dinner 2011

Date: December 2011

Venue: Concorde Hotel

"The rain cannot dampen our spirit! We shall and we will have a good time tonight!"

I love it when the crowd has a good mix of Chinese Nationals and Indian Nationals. They love to have fun and are always so spontaneous. Sometimes it makes me wonder - What is the difference in their environment where they grew up in versus ours in Singapore? Is it the pursuit of academic excellence or the iPhones and iPads? But wait! Before anyone starts to think that Singaporeans are not fun-loving people, you may have to think twice. See our Mr Brown Show, The Noose and many of the excellent comedians like Kumar, Phua Chu Kang, Dim Sum Dollies (and myself, maybe?), they are great examples of the fun-loving attitude of Singaporeans!

We all enjoy a good laugh, be it laughing at someone's disposition, jokes, singing or dance moves. I love to bring laughter and joy to my audience. Each time before I stand on the stage, I visualise and think of how best I can make them laugh or to lift their spirits. Does it come naturally to me? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. What is most important is my belief - EVERYONE NEEDS SOME GOOD FUN AND LAUGHTER.

And tonight is no different. The crowd came from diverse background - different nationalities, languages, races, corporate hierarchy. Who cares? I just want everyone to have a good good time. From ice-breakers to finale games, the level of energy in the crowd remains high. From stage jokes to taking the jokes to the floor among the audience, the crowd responded well. As the saying goes - An emcee makes the crowd, but the crowd makes the show.

Thank you everyone for being such wonderful audience. See you next year~!

Presenting to you...

Just before the show...

WPG Holdings (South Asia) Annual Dinner & Dance 2011

Event: WPG Holdings (South Asia) Annual Dinner and Dance 2011

Date: December 2011

Venue: Suntec Conventi0n Centre

Theme: A Night of Razzle Dazzle

For tonight's event, I decided to come in full black suit, and contrasted with white hat, white tie and white shoes. It was awesome! The white shoes was awesome in highlighting my dance moves and grooves. Dinner and Dance may have changed over the years to Dinner and Draw (lucky draw), but my favourite is still with dancing. Dancing unites people, makes people happy and best of all, doesn't require difficult or highly technical moves. The key here is to teach everyone how to do it.

The reason why I love dancing so much started since I was a little kid. I would only watch MTVs of singers dancing, and often imagine myself on stage dancing and entertaining everyone. I would find a full length mirror or reflective glass anywhere and dance as if though I was performing for all to see. Till today, this child-like imagination and fascination with dance remains.

Tonight was a spectacular night of song and dance. Guests, especially the ladies, kept coming up onto the stage to dance. They were brilliant, danced to their hearts' content and everyone gave rousing applause! It was so fun, even for myself, to just join in their dance. I even taught my dance moves and they performed!

The finale game was superbly exciting and we managed to see some guests acted and performed with music and props, just like real actors and actress in movies! The winning team swept the best dressed award not only because they looked awesome, but their acting was so fun that brought so much joy and laughter to the 400+ audience~!

Thank you everyone at WPG! I had a great night as much as you did. :)

SITEX 2011 @ Singapore Expo

Event: SITEX 2011

Date: 27 November 2011

Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 5

Style! Emcee:

"Five sets only! Original price $1299. Right now Special price! $999.. $999..."

Sounds familiar? Anyone who has been to any consumer electronics show would have heard this a thousand, if not a million times. It never fail to attract buyers and bargain hunters. They are smart and they know when good offers come their way.

"At the count of 3. If you want it, raise your hand after the count of 3. One... Two... Three...!!"

Among the crowd, these well-researched shoppers will never fail to be faster than the rest. More and more IT show visitors are getting very well-informed, with mobile devices surfing the internet forums for best deals within the IT show. Sounds like guerilla shopping? You bet.

In the past, it was going around collecting brochures, copying prices and freebies. Then, going home to deliberate and sniff out the best deals. Times have changed. Visitors see the prices and immediately share the info with everyone else via social media. Not only is this faster, but the visitor has also become the marketing advocate for the retailer.

Now you know, at the next IT show, you don't have to be there personally to collect the product offer brochures and copy prices (because you can get them all online). But one good reason you must still visit the next IT show....

Be the first to raise your hand when I count "1... 2... 3!"

Cheers and see you all soon,

Style! Emcee Richard

Venda Engineering Annual Dinner and Dance 2011

Event: Venda Engineering Annual Dinner and Dance 2011

Date: 26 November 2011

Venue: Ban Heng Pavilion

Style! Emcee:

You won't believe it. The crowd was exhilarated. Even I didn't believe it until it happened. Some people said this was better than last year. I hope I have brought everyone more joy and fun.

I devised 2 new games today. I am so happy. It just came to me when I was running this morning and I thought I would incorporate these 2 games into the game segments. It turned out brilliant and perfect.

First we had a matching sequence game where all the audience participated. Then we had the beer strategy game where participants had to outdo the other 2 opponent teams. And finally we had an exciting segment of dance competition where all three team leaders gave their best, along with the director of the company! (Yes, I am not joking, the director joined in!)

I like being an emcee because no 2 shows are the same. All things remaining equal, the crowd is still different.

**Please continue to support my work and passion by clicking like on the Facebook icon just below my photos on the right.**

Tuas Power Active Day 2011

Event: Tuas Power Active Day 2011

Date: 18 Nov 2011

Time: 2.30pm - 8.00pm

Venue: Jurong East Sports Hall

Style! Emcee:

The guests started streaming in at around 2pm, with many dressed up in sports attire, and the cheerful expressions on their face tell me they are all ready to have a good time this afternoon. More than 200 employees turned up for the event and were equally divided into 8 groups, each represented by a different colour. The team leaders were very spontaneous and very quickly the rest of the guests joined in to their respective teams.

We kicked off the event with Mr Lim Kong Puay, CEO, leading everyone in a interesting exercise - Conductorcise. Each guest was given a conductor baton and taught how to hold the right way. The instructor, Moses, gave very clear and simple instructions which encouraged all guests to join in and have a fun workout. (I had a good time learning it too!)

After the warm-up, we kicked off the event with all 8 teams having to visit and complete the various challenges and stations. There were a while myriad of activities to promote active living, coupled with a healthy cooking competition, where 7 teams pitted their culinary skills to whip out a feast of healthy, tasty and creative dishes.

As the emcee for the event, I called together teams that were waiting for their turn at the stations to join in a round of team challenge, competing against other teams through a test of strategy, communication and luck. The team challenge, conducted in a knock-out format, finally saw 2 teams - Green and Navy Blue, making to the final round to contest for the Tuas Power Masters of the Universe 2011. Everyone cheered on for the 2 teams.

.... And the winner is..... THE GREEN TEAM!!!

Later in the afternoon, the judges went around the gourmet teams to grade while I interviewed the team members whom prepared the sumptuous dishes. (I should have taken photos of the food. They look tantalisingly delicious~!)

With the results out for all the teams, euphoria started rising and everyone cheered and clapped, wanting their team to be the winning team.

The evening proceeded on with a steamboat buffet and everyone sat around, ate, drank and shared the day's activities.

Thank you Tuas Power. Looking forward to work with the team again. :)

100PLUS EDGE Roadshow - Special Guest Appearance by Wang Yue Gu 王越古

Dear readers,

Come down to AMK Hub NTUC Fairprice Xtra tomorrow (12 November 2011) and meet in person our Singapore table tennis gold-medalist Wang Yue Gu (王越古). She, along with Feng Tian Wei and Li Jia Wei became the nation's first Olympics medal winners since our independence in 1965. Get a chance to see her in action, as she showcase her skills, speed and finesse in a demo match 'live' before your very eyes!

Take part in 100PLUS games and contests and walk away with attractive prizes and memorabilia.

So hurry down now and make a date with us at AMK Hub Fairprice Xtra, Level B2 at 1200pm on 12 November 2011 (Saturday)!

Yeah! I took a photo with her in Beijing Olympics 2008 after the Women's Finals...

... and I am so excited that I will get to interview her tomorrow!

Style! Emcee In Cosplay

Event: Dinner and Dance

Date: 04 November 2011

Venue: Marriott Hotel

This was taken with a guest who complimented and said I was pretty!

Being a woman is fun but it ain't easy.

PS: Maybe I should use the name Rachel instead of Richard! 🤣

Breaking Singapore Book of Records for Largest Plate of Rojak

Interviewing the participants and their rojak creation

Oh my goodness! Are you trying to fry the rojak in the air??

Chef Sharma as the judge (and that's me beside!)

A galore of cuisines from all over the world!

Event Poster

Event: Singapore Book of Records for Largest Plate of Rojak

Date: 04 September 2011

Venue: Changi Simei Community Club

Style! Emcee:

Yes! We did it. It was 77kg of Rojak, and we overtook the current record holder Singapore Tourism Board!

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_709388.html

Chef Sharma and myself hosted the rojak making competition with 12 groups of participants comprising of Singaporeans and our new residents, welcoming and integrating the latter into our community and make them feel at home.

The event was organized by the People's Association Lifeskills and Lifestyle Division, as part of their Global Cultures 2011 initiative. Through various courses, events, workshops, the initiative hope to bring different cultures through art, dance, cuisine, to the doorstep of our little lovely island. Do check out their website http://www.lifeskillslifestyle.org.sg/

Join us for the next event!

(If you would like to book me for your events, please contact me at style.emcee.sg@gmail.com)

Rasel Wedding Workshop 2011

Private Event: Rasel Wedding Workshop
Date: 12 Jun 2011
Venue: The Board @ National Library Board

Style! Emcee

Was invited to host this annual private event and this year it was held at The Pod, a ballroom on the 16th level of the Main National Library. The ballroom layout resembles a glass dome (as seen in the photos) and the 360 degree view was impressively breathtaking.

The Pod @ National Library Board

The Pod

The event was specially organized for couples tying the knot, helping them with the preparation for their big day. The 40 couples were invited to an international range of sumptuous cuisines and selection of fine crafted desserts, matched with breathtaking picturesque scenery.

During the quiz segment of the event where up to $500 vouchers were given out, I chatted with some couples and was amazed by their love stories. One couple dated for 16 years and another dated for less than 6 months. Both couples decided to tie the knot and I wish them all the best.

Wedding is a significant chapter in our life and you will definitely want every detail to be well taken care of, ensuring your guests a wonderful experience at the dinner and the event flows without a hitch. IF you are looking for a wedding emcee to ensure all details are well-covered, please contact me for a discussion.

OTO Bodycare Annual Dinner & Dance 2011

Event: OTO Bodycare Annual Dinner & Dance 2011 Theme: Bollywood Date: 05 April 2011 Venue: Grand Park City Hall Time: 7pm - 11pm Style! Emcee:

This is an excellent event, executed in perfect synchrony with the emcee. I was engaged as the emcee and the staff did the events planning, coordination and execution all by themselves. I am very impressed by their teamwork, meticulous planning and leaving no stone unturned to ensure the event was a great success. All the guests dressed up to the theme and had a wonderful evening of Bollywood song and dance!

OTO's Got Talents segment was a real eye opener for me! Excellent voices, great stage presence and the contestants were rallying for votes from the audience. There was an ALL-STARS group that came up to give an exciting dance performance. In the end, the ALL-STARS group had a dance showdown with the D&D Committee, each taking turn to teach the other group how to do their dance steps. Just like how they do it in breakdancing! Showdown on the streets!

Coming to the finale game segment, looking for the best-dressed Mr & Mrs Bollywood, names were being shouted and the contestants wasted no time in coming up to the stage. Everyone was very spontaneous. I did a dance routine and all the contestants followed, creating so much fun and laughter for everyone in the house.

To all the OTO D&D Committee Members, you guys did an excellent job. Looking forward to work with you again in the near future! :)

JEP Annual Dinner & Dance 2011

Event: JEP Annual Dinner & Dance 2011

Date: 01 April 2011

Venue: Crowne Plaza (Changi Airport)

Time: 7pm - 11pm

Style! Emcee:

My first event at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport! When I was informed that the event would be held at the new Crowne Plaza, I was very excited!

The event started well with a great crowd and everyone was ready to have a good time tonight! Totally impressed by the level of energy and enthusiasm of the crowd. The cheering, clapping, laughter and spontaneity. Wow!

There were great performances by Bosco - The Fire Eater and best of all, our own audience came up to the stage, did a handstand, and walked round the stage 2 rounds! He totally wowed the audience!

*Cheers!*

First Emcee Profile & Bio

Style! Emcee Profile

IT Show 2011 - Lenovo Enhanced Experience

Lenovo - What's your idea of fun?

Sales Promoters preparing for the grand opening on the first day

Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 Boot up Challenge

Style! Emcee:

It was an exciting day today on the first day of the IT Show 2011. The best part is the Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 Boot up Challenge. To all readers, if you have a laptop that runs on Windows 7, bring it down to the Lenovo Booth at the IT Show Level 4, and compete against the Lenovo laptop. And if your laptop boots up faster, you will walk away with $500 cash! So hurry, come down with your laptop and join in the challenge.

See you all tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday!

IT Show 2011

Event: Singapore IT Show 2011
Date: 10 - 13 March 2011
Time: 12 - 9pm
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre

Style! Emcee:

Catch me 'live' at the Singapore IT Show 2011. I will be covering the event for one of the popular laptop brands. Wanna guess which brand is that? I shall leave you with some web links that I found, already talking about the promotions for this brand. If you are dropping by the IT Show, remember to visit me and my booth!!

1) Bootstrike Blog
2) VR-Zone
3) IT Show (Official Website)

See you all!! :)

Red Bear Technology 6th Anniversary Dinner

Event: Red Bear Technology 6th Anniversary Dinner Date: 04 March 2011 Time: 7-10pm Venue: The Pines Club Style! Emcee:

I arrived at 5.30pm to finalize the program details (just in case there are some last minute changes). Usually the hour before the event, a few things take place: Final program meeting with events coordinator and client, emcee briefing to deejay, sound and mic test and finally changing into my attire for the night. The event coordinator came around and shouted "Alright, we are all set and ready to go!"

The guests started arriving in small groups. Some came alone, others with colleagues and spouse. At around 7.30pm, the client informed that majority of the guests were here and the emcee can commence the evening anytime. I went up on stage, welcomed and warmed up the audience and invited the CEO on stage to deliver the opening speech. At this point everyone was still feeling a little shy and awkward as most of them were from different companies. The CEO gave a good speech which managed to gather some laughter among the audience. Dinner ensued and everyone was happily tucking in with champagne and beer. When the game segment started, the CEO was very spontaneous and went around to invite others to join in. It was a great sight to see so many people joining in for the games. One of the games was a beer drinking contest and it was surprising that the overall beer champion was a lady! The CEO laid another challenge for the winner and if the winner could win the CEO, she will walk away with a 40" LCD TV. Even though the lady had drank 3 glasses, she went on to win and finally walked away with the grand prize! Everyone was so encouraging and started cheering at the scene where the CEO competed with the winner. Impressive! Another highlight of the evening was the lucky draw. The prizes were fabulous and definitely everyone would want to be a winner. The evening ended with a toast proposed by the CEO and his team, to all their business partners, vendors, customers, etc. The event was a great success. Instead of the usual chinese cuisine fare, the evening dinner was a sumptuous 6-course western cuisine and every plate tastes wonderful. Well done to the event organizers and client whom ensured everything went smoothly!

Corporate Team-building At Club Med Bintan

Event: Corporate Team-building
Date: 19-20 February 2011
Venue: Club Med Bintan

Style! Emcee:

I had a great time in Club Med Bintan last weekend. I was invited to a corporate team-building experience and I hosted the pre-dinner party.

Team-building, to me, is to break down the walls between colleagues and foster the working relationships, so as to build cooperation within departments as well as inter-department. Ultimately,the aim is to create a more conducive working environment to improve efficiency and productivity.

Interestingly from my observations, during the entire day of team-building activities, one would notice the synergy that has been created as teams comprising of members from different departments, are put to the tasks of overcoming challenges. This synergy is evident especially during brainstorming and discussions, where team members put aside their corporate ranks (director, manager, associate, etc) and put up ideas and suggestions on how best to solve these challenges. However, in real life, especially in Asian companies, when the boss casually asks for comments, the staff seated around the meeting table would hardly utter a word. The second piece of evidence suggesting this synergy is evident during lunch and dinner where people whom they have met for only a few times becoming so comfortable with each other, exchanging knowledge and experiences in their personal and professional life.

As a corporate trainer, I work with people from different age groups and industry backgrounds. The differences in team dynamics are aplenty, but one common similarity is the process of how Winning Teams are built. I have attached a link of Bruce Tuckman's Team Development Model and the 4-stage process (Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing).

Click here: Bruce Tuckman's Team Development Model

If you are looking at how to increase the productivity of your staff, I would love to work with you, through team-building activities, to improve overall staff performance and morale.

NTU MAE Dinner & Dance 2011

Event: Nanyang Technological University School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dinner & Dance 2011 Date: 18 February 2011 Venue: Ban Heng Restaurant (Harbor Front Centre) Time: 7pm - 10pm

How would I describe tonight event? A congregation of scholars and the best minds. I was honored to be chosen to host the event, especially since NTU is my alma mater. It is heartwarming to find familiar faces among the staff and professors seated in the audience. 

I felt happy tonight, after the organizing committee came to thank me for a great job. But what really got me happy about, is the fact that I got the chance to create an evening of fun and enjoyment for the staff and professors that once educated and nurtured me. Thank you for creating that spark in me to pursue my dreams. *cheers*

Singapore Chefs Association Annual AGM & Lo Hei Dinner 2011

Event: Singapore Chefs Association Annual AGM & Lo Hei Dinner 2011
Date: 12 February 2011
Time: 7pm - 10.30pm
Venue: Grand Copthorne Waterfront

Style! Emcee:

How do you serve your guests if they are all chefs and experts in culinary skills?

That was the first question that came to my head when I was engaged to host this event. The answer: Well, serve them good food, good drinks and GOOD FUN!

Welcome to Singapore Chefs Association!

Together with the event organizer, the organizing committee and the sponsors created and hyped up the mood for the evening, with exciting pre-dinner activities with prizes sponsored by Nestle Professional, majestic ice-carving by the hotel chef from Grand Copthorne, lion dance "cai qing" performance, and the God of Wealth who is loved and adored by everyone!

Impressive and majestic looking ice carving!
(If you look closer, there are test tubes of sweet desserts. Fabulous!)

Receiving blessings of luck from the God of Wealth
( Huat Huat Huat ah!...)

Pre-dinner activities: Spin & Win

As the emcee for the event, I welcomed the audience with phrases and phrases of Chinese blessings and everyone started clapping and cheering as I gave more and more words of blessings to everyone. It was a great way to start an event since Chinese New Year is about visiting friends and loved ones and sending our blessings to them!

The SCA President Mr Eric Teo addressed the audience and captivated their attention by sharing light moments of laughter. I liked the way he introduced each member of the committee. It had a nice personal touch as he shared a little about each committee member.

The lion dance troupe was awesome, in full upright posture, standing on top of the supporting trouper. The audience gave rousing applause as they presented the auspicious scrolls!

The next best part was the traditional Lo Hei customs. With 50 over tables in the ballroom, and everyone tossing and shouting words of blessings, I must say that the mood and atmosphere were perfect!

After the dinner commenced, I conducted my favorite segment - Fun & Games! It was an interesting sight after I invited the audience to join in. On one side of the stage was all the senior citizens and on the other was all our youth citizens. Coincidence?

The audience started competing and to everyone's surprise, the senior folks won instead of the young ones. As I announced the results, you could hear the audience was all cheering for our senior folks! The game prizes were fantastic - Hampers sponsored by Nestle Professional.

I went on to the second Fun & Games segment. You know that once the audience is all warmed up and ready for more, the energy level gets higher, the mood gets lighter and everyone is all eager to charge forward. Everyone had so much fun in the second Fun & Games segment and even I had lots of fun!

As the evening draw to a close, I invited the SCA President and the representative from from Nestle Professional to lead everyone for a finale toast. Cheers to even more surplus this year! 大家发啊!

Partners for the evening

Diversey Annual Chinese New Year Dinner 2011

Event: Diversey Annual Chinese New Year Dinner
Date: 11 February 2011
Time: 6pm - 10pm

Style! Emcee:

As I made my way to the event with the rain was pelting down heavily, my mind was thinking about the audience. How do they feel making their way to the event in the rain? Would the rain dampen their spirits? Would they not turn up?

When the time came, the guests arrived in great spirit, smiling, chatting and laughing merrily, some started with the great tasting finger food (specially prepared by the host), and some started toasting and sipping Italian wines.

sumptuous spread of finger food... yummy!

At the same time, the dinner was being prepared..

A delightful BBQ feast by the pool

Just before the event started, I am posing for the mobile phone camera man...

Model, anyone?

I launched the event in Chinese New Year style, getting everyone to clap and mimic the loudest ever man-made firecrackers (well, since real firecrackers are not allowed) and warmed the audience. There were guests from various countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, Italians and India.

After the opening speech, the Lo Hei was a unique and interesting experience. There were tea cup candles placed on the table, and the lights were slightly dimmed. It was like a fusion of Western fine dining with Eastern customs! Candlelight Lo Hei!

The crowd was great and spontaneously took part in the fun and games, and even the management joined in the dance! We also prepared a special segment for the birthday babies and sang them a birthday song.

The night ended on a high note with everyone toasting "Yum Seng" and some had their fortune in the lucky draw. Good night!