MAB CHARITY HUNT - DARK KNIGHTS

GAMBANG, 8 Oct 2011: I am pleased, no I am ecstatic, with our current run of form. Our last defeat as a team happened in June. Though a shortage of eligible hunts over the last two months makes it sound more outstanding than it really is, nevertheless, I am overjoyed!

We successfully extended our fine run a week into October with the MAB Charity Treasure Hunt title under our belt. It was the unlikeliest of victories. Firstly, we weren't even supposed to be in Gambang - we made a last minute decision to sign up only after being informed of the cancellation of another hunt. And secondly, TAB events, a signature event of Take-A-Break Events (TABE) have always been our Achilles heel.

TABE hunts provide a nostalgic reminder of how hunts had been and should be - fun first and foremost.

In my opinion, in recent years hunt setters may have neglected this key aspect, one possible explanation why hunt cancellations have become annoyingly trendy. Noticeably, many hunts these days are designed with the upper echelon of hunters in mind, completely ignoring the gulf in experience between the hunt regulars and the novices. Hopefully the upcoming launch of the Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia will help to address this wane in interest.

I am glad we came for we did have a lot of fun. As expected, the bulk of the 30 questions and 2 treasures in the 8 hour hunt to Gambang were friendly to all, with perhaps 3 questions providing the main resistance to the regulars. In the end, we were the only team from the top 3 finishers that had dropped points in the route questions, missing out on Q27, a general knowledge question that completely bewildered us.

Q27: A deficiency of this together with paid in short can be related to anemic situations.

Ans: Pusat Optik G6.

But where we slacked in questions, we unexpectedly made up for in the TAB Events. Our knights in shining armour appeared in the form of yours truly and Wern Ching who sportingly volunteered for TAB Events 1 and 2 respectively.

Both missions were designed to give the sighted an insight into the world of the sight impaired. TAB Event 1 required teams to toss darts blind-folded. Points were awarded from the accumulated scores off three darts. I surprised myself and the team by garnering the maximum 10 points, converting off the final two darts (with the first dart completely missing the target) .....

TAB Event 1: The blind-folded darter with his coach providing the directions.

..... while Wern Ching contributed 8 points from the Braille Challenge which required teams to decipher five letters coded in Braille. She appeared surprisingly nervous throughout the challenge but delivered where it mattered most, coolly deciphering the penultimate and 'most difficult letter', "N", yielding two additional points that truly clinched the title for us.

TAB Event 2: Braille Challenge

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MAB Charity Treasure Hunt

Maximum Score: 200

1st: Chai Koh Khai, Chong Voon Kiat, Margaret Sha, Loo Wern Ching (193)

2nd: Lee Ling Fei, Claire Chin, Goh Teck Koon, Julie Tan (192)

3rd: Pavananthan, Ruben Enbasegaram, Lenny Wan, Lim Ming Yang (188)