KUCHING: Past president of Toastmaster International, Datuk John Lau Pang Heng, said the late Datuk Dr Yusoff Hanifah (first Kuching North City mayor) was a humble, kind and passionate man intent on serving the needs of the community.
“Yusoff was patron of Kuching toastmasters club when I was a member in 1990. His speech was profoundly smooth that inspired me to join the club.
“Later he was the Charter president of Lions Club of Kuching North where I was the third vice president and he came across as a passionate man,” he told New Sarawak Tribune yesterday.
Lau said he remembered when Yusoff told him, that he had the potential to serve the Toastmasters world.
“With this in mind I took up leadership roles in Toastmasters from local club to area to division to district to region and to president of Toastmasters International in 2012-2013 term”, he revealed.
“Thank you, Datuk Dr Yusoff, for coaching and mentoring me since our first meeting in 1990. It is 29 years now, but your words of encouragement are still very fresh in my memory,” Lau added.
