KIJAL 7 MAY 2011: NPC Treasure Hunt is certainly fast becoming the new darling of treasure hunters. Devoid of the lucrative theSun Motor Hunt in 2010 and hitherto in 2011, the hunt calendar was fortunately filled by this timely event.
Though not quite in the same league as the Mother of All Hunts, NPC hunt has never failed to offer mouth-watering cash prizes and lucky draws, mainly due to its enviable ability to get major sponsors on the bandwagon, such as Astro and Maxis (2010); as well as Naza and Shell (2011).
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| COC Gary Guna giving final briefing |
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| 1-Malaysia NPC Naza Hunt 2011 |
Last year, the participants elatedly embarked on an unforgettable hunt to Kuantan, with the evergreen COC Govind Nair. This time, NPC Treasure Hunt 2011 took more than 40 teams on a 334-km trip to the picturesque Awana Kijal; with Gary Guna assuming the COC mantle.
The hunt also uniquely dangles an additional special bonus for team with perfect score. The absence of flawless result in 2010 has snowballed the jackpot to RM3k this year.
While the previous COC Govind Nair tends to adopt slightly unorthodox method, the style of this year’s COC Gary Guna is more mainstream. The hunters must have begun rubbing their hands in undisguised glee at what seemed to be a realistic chance for sublime performance and lucrative remuneration.
However the premature confidence of regular hunters was swiftly brought crashing down in the hunt morning, with the sudden introduction of a guest COC by the name of Uncle Chong. He may be in the twilight of his years, but his prowess at setting super cryptic questions still shines through.
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| Group Photo of Participants |
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| Guest COC - Uncle Chong Foo Seong |
Although at pains to downplay his role in NPC Hunt, Uncle Chong inadvertently undermined his effort to assuage the growing apprehension, by facetiously confessing “I helped out with only a few questions” to several participants. Such modest revelation may seem innocuous, but coming from a person with such messianic qualities and fearsome reputation, it may have been sufficient to send tingling shivers down their spines; and perhaps creeping suspicions up in their heads. Those with aspiration for perfection must now take his few questions into consideration. A minor inconvenience for some, a major hurdle for others; but the unpalatable possibility was that his emergence at the eleventh hour could metamorphose this straight-forward hunt into another harrowing experience. Just ask those still reeling from the aftermath of his CNY Rabbit Hunt!
With such an unforeseen twist of fate, surely only those foolhardy or super-brilliant hunters would doggedly remain optimistic about surviving this hunt unscathed. For others, the vision of holding the mock cheque for RM3k bonus was fast fading.
Against a backdrop of escalating anxiety, the hunt was jauntily flagged off from KL with a 2-hour straight drive towards the east coast; the theme “Jom Gi Terengganu” perhaps weighing heavy on the COC’s mind.
To keep the restless hunters occupied during the arduous journey, he had thrown in 10 lengthy hunt-related ‘Scrabble Anagrams’; though one suspects that this would have kept them engrossed for half an hour at most. A meticulous gaze at the briefing notes, tulips and sponsors’ list would have yielded most of the answers.
Once Temerloh town finally came into vision, the questions also came in quick succession. The first 7 posers provided a warm-up exercise for the brain muscles; but Q8-Q10 proved to be a sterner test for teams still harbouring hopes for perfect score bonus.
Indeed you could argue that after that sector, the hunt target was consensually shifted to be more of damage limitation, rather than result perfection. More brain-draining questions soon followed en route to Kijal, with Q26 specially earmarked to deliver the killing blow.
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| Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek promising more to come |
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| Celebration of Mother's Day |
But when the dust had eventually settled and the hunt answers had been presented at night, the big question was:- how well did the 2 COCs perform as a team?
After all, this is not the first time that 2 or more COCs have collaborated to entertain hunters. Pavanathan and Dato’ Ramesh have orchestrated that in their PavaRam Deepavali Hunt; CK Loh, Jayaram and Purple Antz have done a fantastic ‘threesome’ in their inaugural 2512 Christmas Charity Hunt 2010 and repeated the feat in THS Hunt 2011. Likewise in the annual Kiwanis Hunt, there had been umpteen instances of 2 or more COCs jointly clerking the course.
Let’s briefly broach the subject about these 2 COCs.
More renowned for closed hunts, Gary Guna has occasionally masterminded open hunts; but on those few moments that he did (such as MAPTB Selangor Charity Hunt 2007 and FMFF Treasure Hunt 2008), his arsenal of cryptic trickery didn’t go beyond the merely difficult. There was no exception when it came to NPC Hunt.
Q4 The endless consequence with success.
Ans: Akiba Jaya
Q6 Bekas Menteri Kerja Raya sesat di sini.
Ans: Asmy Trading
Q24 Mungkin susah dipujuk.
Ans: Glide Aluminium & Glass Works
As for Uncle Chong, the veteran COC ultimately doesn’t veer too far away from his trademark custom too. His has been a valiant attempt to marry cryptic intricacy with predictable constancy. Invariable in feature, challenging in difficulty, he crafted his NPC questions in typical fashion, with the kind of emblematic A+B=C style we’ve come to know and dread!
Q9 Gabungkan sejenis tarian aneh dengan jawapan untuk bekas presiden.
Ans: AK Electrical Trading
Q14 Eco treatment with the answer for a top sportswoman and friends.
Ans: Lin & Associates
Q17 Award must be brought back in the answer for a coach of a Malaysian team.
Ans: Henn Motors Trading
“Tough but not very creative”, blogger-cum-hunter Michael Pang once delivered his verdict in Uncle Chong’s SF Hunt, back in Aug 2010.
Like the cigarette that constantly adorned the lips of Uncle Chong, his questions temporarily lit up the hunt world. Though these could initially scare the living daylights out of the newbies, regular hunters were gradually adapting to his much-anticipated modus operandi.
However when the brilliant brains of the two COCs were paired, it’s impossible to ignore the combined synergy. Where Uncle Chong lacks slightly in creativity, Gary Guna certainly complements in abundance with his variety. While Gary Guna traditionally flourishes in uncomplicated indirect anagram, Uncle Chong unsympathetically brandishes the heavy artillery, with upto 4 or 5 indicators in a question at times.
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| Dinner at Awana Kijal |
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| Open Category - 5th Winner |
It was an occasion to induce yearning for more ChonGar hunts in the future!!!
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| Open Category - 4th Winner |
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| Open Category - 2nd Winner |
7 comments:
Assuming that I get the correct "top sportswoman", should it be NICOLE or NICOL (without the E)? Or is that E significant at all?
When COC explained the solution for this one, I think that he's going with the spelling of Nicole David (rather than Nicol David).
But I don't remember anybody protesting; so I believe that all were in agreement with this one, for lack of better answer.
Anybody else out there disagree on this one?
Same goes with the Q: Jumlah kesilapan masa hujan. A: PERINGATAN 70 where 'jumlah' was explained as total = number = 70
I also have my reservation about Jumlah = Number = 70.
Jumlah is Total or Sum; but any number may not necessarily be Total, if it is not the result of addition.
By COC's analogy, in that case, Jumlah can be any numbers 60, 80 or 90!
OK, thanks for the clarification, 501001000
Regarding the NICOLE vs NICOL question, my view is that in the spirit of fairness to the hunters, in this special case, the CoCs owe the duty to be PERFECT in their questions and solutions, because there is big money at stake for perfect answers. Obviously you can't have a perfect answer if it can't be found within the sector.
It would have been interesting to know what would have been the CoCs' reaction if a team was able to solve ALL the questions except for the NICOL, not so much because they did not solve the question, but rather because NICOLE was clearly wrong.
If it's a matter of solving a clue to derive, say, SEPULUH; and then no SEPULUH can be found in the sector, then I suppose choosing the next best, say, X (Roman numeral for SEPULUH), can be acceptable.
But here it is a clear cut wrong spelling for a proper noun. NICOLE, to me, is not even the next best to fit NICOL, simply because it is wrong; just like BOY is not BUOY.
We can't arrive at SEPULUH, and then having failed to find that in the sector, choose SEMBILAN instead on account of it being the nearest figure and therefore best alternative to SEPULUH.
The point is, SEMBILAN is still not SEPULUH, as much as NICOLE is not NICOL.
Just my two cents.
I agree with you, Anonymous!
Ideally COC should be perfect & check the spelling if unsure of the fact; and of course, Nicol is NOT Nicole.
In this case, I believe that it is purely an oversight by COC, who is human too.
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