2009 Toastmaster’s world champion public speaker Mark Hunter joined forces with 23-year-old Congo-born Ilyasi Siraji and dancer-turned-stockbroker Li Cunxin (of Mao’s last dancer), as guest speakers at the Rotary annual conference last weekend.
These three inspirational men, from very different backgrounds, took the stage at the PCYC to deliver individual speeches with a common theme - optimism.
“The difficulties in life are designed to make us better not bitter,” quoted Ilyasi Siraji, who at the tender age of 17 fled the Congo with three siblings in tow.
“I consider myself the luckiest person in the world. Four years ago I could not have imagined this,” he said.
Li Cunxin, who escaped a life of abject poverty in Communist China, spoke of the glass half-full metaphor and reiterated the importance of passion.
“If you don’t truly love what you do then you really can’t be good at it. Without passion you can’t reach your potential,” he said.
Mark Hunter said speaking at the Rotary conference was an opportunity to “make a difference”.
“When you multiply the audience by time that’s almost 200 hours of life. My goal is to make a difference to at least one person,” he said.
Both Li Cunxin and Ilyasi Siraji were, at one time, beneficiaries of Rotary.
“I was on the receiving end of the great things Rotarians do. Coming from a third-world war-torn country, Rotary helped me integrate. I want to encourage them,” Ilyasi said.
Li Cunxin said it was the opportunities given to him by Rotary that “helped me to change my views about the western world”.
“It’s important to remind them what a difference they make.”
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