“Tales of the Orient” was the theme for the 28th Kiwanis Treasure Hunt 2011; yet several participants must have involuntarily conspired to add a few twists in the hunt tales. Just less than 24 hours after Barcelona
As customary over the years, Kiwanis prize presentation dinner had always been very momentous; complete with eye-catching opening acts, hilarious skits, fun lucky draws and winner announcement; a perfect culmination for the fund-raising charity project. For this year, the dinner somehow lasted well over 5 hours, with lucky draws repeatedly alternated with answer presentation and winner announcement.
 |
| Kiwanis Prize Presentation dinner |
 |
| Opening performance during dinner |
There was a tendency to think that if Cinderella was among the Kiwanis hunters that night, she could have left the social function before the final winner announcement. Thankfully, the whole episode climaxed just before midnight; but not without drama and excitement.
In such a classic hunt, everyone inevitably harboured the desire of winning the title. For the champions, the win was not merely another hunt victory; it was a distinctive feather in the hunt cap that came with the great honour of donning the red shirts!
 |
| COC Toh Wei Ming |
As the presentation dinner dramatically wore on with more past winners eliminated, it became increasingly clear that the word ‘new’ used by the COC may refer to names yet to feature in the pantheon of the all-time greats.
By the time the 4th winner was proclaimed, only 3 teams were left in contention for the title of Kiwanis top dog:- ‘2 Sneakies & 2 Innocents’ (2S2I), ‘Hunters R Us’ (HRU) and ‘4 Ekor’ (4E). None of them were past winners; but one of them would be by the end of the night.
For ‘2S2I’; whose victories among the regular hunters have been well documented, something was still conspicuously missing from their trophy cabinet and hunt title collection. With the exception of the veteran hunter Goh Teck Koon (who previously won Putrajaya Hunt and theSun Hunts), the rest of them had yet to successfully clinch a Grand Slam title.
 |
| Champion - 2 Sneakies & 2 Innocents |
When 2S2I was ultimately announced as the champion, it was an occasion of indelible triumph, with a bittersweet vengeance and unbridled bliss. For 2S2I, it was a conclusive vindication of their hunt supremacy; as well as an impressive indication of their hunt credentials.
Yet just a few hours ago, all these seemed so improbable when as usual, Teck Koon prematurely wrote off their chances by modestly admitting “We tembak one question and are unsure about Crack-A-Pot”. With a question and 2 Crack-A-Post expectably wrong, 9 points were potentially at risk. For a hunt of such stature, every single point would make a difference; hence his pessimism was understandably justified.
However on the day, it seemed that 2S2I could do no wrong! While they only dropped one Crack-A-Pot question, their ‘shooting’ effort miraculously hit the bull’s eye and reaped the desired reward; perhaps Lady Luck must have whispered the answer to them.
Q14 Distorted tales is what we get when we ship incorrectly with these to follow the Chinese.
Ans: Kedai Gunting Rambut R&S
But a victory earned by 2S2I was unwittingly precipitated from the unlikeliest sources – 1st Runner-Up 4E and 2nd Runner-Up HRU. After all, it was 4E that inexplicably had a moment of amateurish insanity that fatally cost them 3 points; thus handing the Kiwanis title to 2S2I on a silver platter.
 |
| 1st Runner-Up - 4 Ekor |
A rare slip-up by the answer script writer, coupled with the absence of a spell checker, could have ranked as contender for ‘Comedy of Errors in Teamwork’ award. The nightmarish experience would be a bitter pill to swallow and possibly haunt them for years to come.
“We didn’t double check the answers” hunter Ling Fei woefully admitted their suicidal conduct. Surely not the best practice for a team with gargantuan dream of lifting the Kiwanis challenge trophy. A costly lesson for them may serve as a timely reminder for the others!
Likewise the 3rd-placed HRU (they were 6th in 2009 and 2nd in 2010) could have clinched the title too, had they managed to crack the Dahfa treasure.
T1.
This treasure is hidden first to start with a fad,
Showing that it’s your best choice for a snack,
A source of protein which is no longer wet to slice,
Bringing back a total serving size of 50g or more will suffice.
A: Dahfa Dried Fish Fillet
 |
| 2nd Runner-Up - Hunters R Us |
Fate further delivered another twist in the tales during the course of the hunt too. Who would have anticipated an overloaded lorry to ‘spill’ the plywoods at Juru interchange, which caused undue jam and chipped away precious minutes from other potential winners?
“The curse of Juru again” Mr Crack-A-Pot, Chen Thiam Leong perceptively remarked; with probably the precedent hiccup of Kiwanis Hunt 1997 ‘On The Mother Goose Trail’ on his mind.
On such blunders and mishaps was the title clinched.
But let’s not take the credit away from the worthy champion.
The result of 2S2I’s 100% score on road questions and treasures, allied with one correct Crack-A-Pot was definitely a title-winning effort. It was difficult to be anything but awestruck when describing a team performance of such near perfection.
Congratulations were in order for their victorious outing!
Success accorded them a new chapter, from a privileged throne among the elite. An admirable induction into the Grand Slam Hall of Fame was their just reward; as well as a testimony to herald their arrival among the upper echelons of hunters!
When all was said and done, one can conclude that 2S2I indeed had a fairy tale ending in this Orient hunt!
FULL RESULT
 |
| Top 3 Winners |
 |
| Hunters at final briefing |
 |
| Flag-Off |
 |
| A car full of Kiwanis stickers |
 |
Winning Sandcastle |
 |
Hunters at New World Park |
 |
| Futsal - MU vs NTMU |
 |
| Hunters regaling each other with their tales |
 |
| Dinner backdrop |
No comments:
Post a Comment