‘Father’ of Toastmasters clubs in Malaysia dies

Gift of the gab: Gerald Green’s eldest son Roger showing one of the three books written by his father whose life revolved around writing and public speaking.– WAN MOHIZAN WAN HUSSEIN/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Gerald Green, Toastmasters International’s first and only accredited speaker outside the United States and Canada, has passed away at age 78.

Born in Penang, Gerald was instrumental in the formation of the Malaysian Association of Professional Speakers and his name is etched in the Malaysia Book of Records (in 1994) for his professionalism and outstanding achievement in public speaking.

Eldest son Roger, 53, said his father was the one who initiated the first Toastmasters Club in Malaysia in 1978.

“He was fondly known as ‘Bapa (Daddy) Green’,” he said at the Mount Erskine funeral parlour yesterday.

Gerald was the first Asian to receive the Presidential Citation in 1993 for outstanding contributions to Toastmasters Interna-tional and its programme.

The recognition was also for spearheading the Pan-Southeast Asia Territorial Council that merged the Toastmasters Clubs from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. He was then its first chairman.

In 2014, when Toastmasters International Convention was held for the first time outside the United States and Canada, Gerald was given the honour to deliver the opening speech at the convention’s opening ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

The father of three wrote three books, titled The Magic of Public Speaking, My Pocket Speaker’s Brief, and Speak Like A True Leader.

His widow Daphne Green, 77, said Gerald was the president of Penang Eurasian Association for seven years.

“He was a loving husband and father. His life revolved around writing and speaking.

“He was working on his fourth book but he couldn’t complete it,” she said.

A close friend Eustace Anthony Nonis, 75, who authored The Eurasians — A Founding Community of Penang, said his death was a big loss to the Eurasian community in Penang.

Two grandsons Gavin Kyle Green and Galven Green are national golfers.

The funeral will be held tomorrow at 11am before the cortege leaves for the Mount Erskine crematorium.