GPS Fools Japanese Students

Image credit: Fairfax Media/Getty Images 

I saw this on the front page of today’s The Star and read about the story of three Japanese tourists who were fooled by a low tide and their GPS into believing they could drive their rented Hyundai Getz to nearby North Stradbroke Island but ended up in the ocean at Oyster Point, about 25 km east of Brisbane, Australia. 

The three, who are students from Tokyo, had mapped out their path on their GPS system. The road looked clear, at low tide – but the map forgot to show the 15 km of water and mud between the island and the mainland. 

That’s what happens when we blindly rely on technology but we forget to use common sense.

I was in Petaling Jaya on Friday evening to attend the MIHRM Toastmasters Club meeting. And almost immediately, I was roped in to be both a Project Speech Evaluator as well as a Grammarian. 

It was worth my Friday time because the speeches were good and so were the evaluations! BTW, I was voted the Best Evaluator. 

The meeting even started on time and that alone made me happy. My score is a 6 out of a 10 and this is only because the meeting turned out to be a serious (although I would describe it as 'tame') affair where participants behaved as if they were confined in a library and no one dared to become lively.

And this morning, I went to HELP University to attend their Toastmasters meeting. I knew it would be a great meeting when the students actually started the meeting on time – they finally broke the godawful penchant of starting late! 

And then the speeches and evaluations followed and I was awe-struck by their first-rate quality. Every one did well. That includes me because I was one of the Evaluators. 

I was again voted the Best Evaluator and which didn't surprise me too much because I am good wad! 

This meeting was really awesome because there were thirty-one of us there to guarantee that the meeting stayed lively plus the fact that Grace Tan was the General Evaluator – her presence alone made me starry-eyed! It has been a long time since I attended a Toastmasters meeting that was rapturously gushing with high-spirited energy – not counting Taman Indrahana meetings of course. 

A nine of a 10 – yup, I am giving a thumbs-up to one of the best meetings I have ever attended!