TREASURE HUNT ADDICTS CLUB (CHAT)

DAMANSARA UPTOWN, 6 AUG 2011: Are you addicted to Treasure Hunts? If you answered Yes to any of the following 10 questions, you probably are. You can choose to deny it or you can choose to get help. Remember, there is no disgrace in admitting that you have a problem.

1. Do the signages talk to you each time you drive or walk past ? 

2. Do you insist on checking out the snack food and soft drink aisles for new products each time you visit a hypermarket ?

3. Do you find yourself requesting the Q&A of every single hunt you had missed out on ?

4. Do you envy people who take part in closed hunts on days when there are no open hunts ?

5. Do you already look forward to the weekends although on a Monday morning ?

6. Do you feel listless and edgy on weekends when there are no hunts ?

7. Do you check Michael Pang's blog, A Hunter's Tale, Hunt News Network and other similar sites for updates every other hour of the day ?

8. Do you ask for tulips instead of directions ?

9. Do you send festive or birthday greetings in cryptic ciphers in place of ordinary messages ?

10. Do you buy newspapers only to scrutinize the hypermarket advertisements ?

With the newly formed Treasure Hunt Addicts Club (CHAT) of Malaysia, there is light at the end of the tunnel for all serious addicts. CHAT is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other not to help others overcome their addiction but to help them improve and bring their skills to another level. There are no fees or dues for CHAT membership. The only requirement for membership is a desire to hunt.

I was invited to be an observer by the 2011 President of CHAT to their very first meeting at Restoran Pappa Rich @ Damansara Uptown, and ended up volunteering to moderate their inaugural hunt on that day. The bubbly Mr. Loh Chee Kwan indeed has big plans for the club and promised to hold similar meetings on a regular basis to feed the addiction of its members.

2011 President of CHAT (member # 001)

Eight other people from different ethnicity, backgrounds and age group had turned up for the meeting. We had a couple of people including a fifty-something from the IT industry, another a young twenty-something training manager for a global forwarding company, an event organizer and a lady who worked in the insurance industry. One common reason that brought all of them here today was nothing other than their addiction to treasure hunting.

CHAT's founding members

The inaugural hunt's format, mooted by the President himself, is moulded in the shape of the Hunting for Food series but with a slight twist. The twist is that in order to participate, members had to craft between one to three riddles in 4 designated sectors.

And unknown to all prior to the hunt (including the President himself), their efforts can end up being an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the level of difficulty of their crafts. I ensured that hardwork is rewarded while impossible or unfair riddles aren't given the same benefits. Hardworking members who crafted the maximum three questions had the opportunity to begin the hunt with a minimum 9 points (18 points actually, since this was a couples hunt) - with 3 points or 4 points (depending on the level of difficulty) allocated for each question. But for each unanswered question, the responsible member(s) would be penalized all the points allocated for that question plus an additional half the points allocated as "punishment" for wasting the other member's precious time.

I contributed a couple of questions and a couple of treasures to earn my keep as the club had agreed to pay for my lunch. In total, there were 26 questions and 2 treasures to decipher over a two and a half hours time period.

In the end, the experienced combination of Goh Teck Koon and Lenny Wan swept both the honours and the opposition, though they also finished with the most number of punishment points (24 out of a maximum of 36 points). In fairness, their crafts weren't really impossible or unfair - the challenging route with an abundance of signages had added to the level of difficulty.

For those that missed the hunt, here is a teaser of the riddles set by muah. If you are interested to find out the answers (which I won't reveal here), feel free to email me.

Q18: An orderly quartet surrounded this place in an attempt to assume control.

(The answer can be found in one of the signages in the below picture)

T1: Small pair of ladies undergarment it is said to be,

I will let you pick the right colour suitable for me,

As long as it's something sweet, I will be more than happy.

(Laughs)

So, are you a member yet?

---

Treasure Hunt Addicts Club Inaugural Hunt
Maximum Score: 100

1st: Goh Teck Koon, Lenny Wan (68 = 92 - 24)
2nd: Lim Ming Yang, Loo Wern Ching (55 = 55 - 0)
3rd: Rajj Melambaran, Shirley Hoe (52 = 52 - 0)
4th: Lee Ling Fei, Claire Chin (47 = 47 - 0)
5th: Loh Chee Kwan (29 = 35 - 6)