TREASURE HUNT SOCIETY OF MALAYSIA - A DREAM NO MORE

All great things start with a dream. Jayaram Menon's dream was to convert the game of Treasure Hunting from a mere hobby amongst a group of enthusiasts into the national pastime of Malaysia. Treasure Hunting is so uniquely Malaysian that it beckons to be officially recognized in the record books as being born and bred in our country. Many of us shared a similar dream but without a unified platform to combine our ideas into one big melting pot, it remained just that, a dream until ..........

.......... a casual discussion amongst a handful of enthusiasts and friends brought life to that dream. On that occassion he learnt that there exist others who shared his dream and were willing to put their energy into making it happen. That nostalgic discussion on 2 Jan 2011 then sparked further kopitiam meetings. And within a couple of weeks, word spread like wildfire amongst the Treasure Hunting community that the formation of a National Treasure Hunting Society was on the horizon.

So on 16 Jan 2011, more than two dozen enthusiasts and invited guests gathered to elect a pro-tem committee to spearhead the formation of the Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia (THS).

Pro-tem committee Roll call:

PRESIDENT
Jayaram Menon

VICE PRESIDENT
Chong Voon Kiat

SECRETARY
Shirley Hoe

ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Loh Chee Kwan

TREASURER
Rajj Melambaran

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Wan Kamal Azlan
Kheirul Nazib
Michael Pang
Goh Teck Koon
Chai Koh Khai
Liong Chian Min

The pro-tem committee worked very hard to get THS officially recognized. The committee members met on a couple of occassions. Official documents were proof-read and re-read more than a dozen times. An official website was created. A Facebook page was added. And it took a handful of visits to the Registrar of Societies, before THS was finally registered on 23 Sep 2011.

The last ten months was the easy part. Now for the difficult part - the membership drive.

THS would like to welcome anyone and everyone from all walks of life nationwide to join us on this exciting journey to make this a truly national society. You can read all about the benefits of joining THS from the FAQ page of the THS website (https://sites.google.com/site/thsmalaysia/home). The application form can be downloaded from the Documents page of the same website.

The first big event for THS will be the coming inaugural AGM on 20 Nov 2011.

Should anyone of you feel you have the drive to bring this society to another level, the pro-tem committee is more than happy to accept your nomination.

We hope to see many of you there! The time and place shall be announced soon.

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Update 14 Nov 2011:

Inaugural Treasure Hunt Society of Malaysia AGM
Date: Sunday, 20 Nov 2011.
Venue: Hailam Kopitiam Lucky Garden, 1st Floor, 25 & 25A Lorong Ara Kiri1 Lucky Garden Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur (Behind Pizza Hut Lucky Garden, same row with TMC Bangsar, opposite to Bangsar Village old wing).
Registration Time: from 10.45 am.
Meeting Time: 11.00 am to 1.00 pm.

More info at https://sites.google.com/site/thsmalaysia/announcements

THIS IS IT... !

No, this is not the revival of MJ's concert, but merely my proclaimation that I have finally collected my 50th running medal last sunday in Kuantan. Many have asked why I was so crazy dashing off immediately after a hunt in Melaka and flying to Kuantan just to do a 10km run. Little did they know that this run was especially significant for me because my very first running medal (1/2 marathon) was collected in Kuantan way back in 1989 and I thought it would be nice to round up my 50th from the very place I started. Besides, I really wanted to dedicate this run medal to my dear friend, Vincent. In Dec 2005, when Vincent and I were in the Singapore 500K Race, a series of 5 amazing-race type of hunts where RM500k were at stake, the Singapore Marathon was on too. With Vincent's encouragement, I decided to take a break and run the 10km race. This very race (the marathon, not the hunt) re-kindled my running passion. It was there and then that I made a resolution to amass 50 running medals by the time I reach 55. Though Vincent is not here to witness my accomplishment, I still hope that he'll stamp his mark of approval from Heaven!

~ for Vincent

It has been a long hiatus from running for me; my last race before that was in 1991 and that's when treasure hunting took over priority. I took up running when I joined Fitness International (now defunct) in 1989. The centre, housed in the Park Royal Hotel, was run by an American couple. Dale, the manageress was a veteran marathoner and she practically "sapu-ed" all the marathons back then. It was she who led and encouraged a small group of us to run. Way back then we have nothing else better to do, no internet, no Astro and treasure hunting was in its infancy. My very first race was in Kuantan Marathon'89 where I ran 21km in the men's open category and clocked 1:44:20, which was a commendable feat for a beginner... :) I was 35 years old then.

~ my first run

Our little group practically ran round the country persistently running from one race to another those days. Except for Dale, none of us were any good to win any prizes in a race, but we were just as happy to be in the company of a champion. 3 months into running my first 1/2 marathon, I then ambitiously attempted a full marathon in Penang. Sad to say, it was disastrous for me! Being too eager to finish in good time, I over-stressed and exhausted myself in the first 3/4 of the run, and had to painfully limp the rest of the way to the finishing line. The time achieved : 4:18:25. Bad as it seemed, somehow I could never achieve any better in subsequent 42km races that I took part in. During the 2 years I was with the group, I ran in numerous 10km, 21km, and three more 42km races and collected a total of 26 running medals. For the record, my PB for 10km was 47 min and 21km 1:41:40. Doubt I can ever repeat those times nowadays, and I am glad I had a chance to do it when I was younger.

~ my first full marathon

Fast forward to 2005, having stayed away from running for 14 years and totally missed out on the junior veteran status (40~49), I returned to the running scene as a senior veteran (50 & above), and with a different perspective. No more running to better my times but merely to complete the course within the qualifying time frame and without injury were my objectives. Running, like treasure hunting, is like going on a vacation to me. For the past 4 years, I have been to various places outside Malaysia to run. Mostly 10km and an occasional 21 km runs are preferred when I run abroad for I need to conserve the energy for other things that I like to do after running. Don't get any wrong ideas there, I only meant shopping and sight-seeing. Though I have achieved my target of 50 medals, I will not rest on my laurels. I will continue to run but will not set any more targets and just take each run as it comes. I plan to run the 1/2 marathon in Melbourne in Oct, 25km Penang Bridge in Nov, the 42km in Singapore in early Dec and Chiangmai marathon (10km) in late Dec this year. I am giving myself six hours to complete the full marathon in Singapore. Anyone care to join me?

My testimonials.

~ my daughter's dowry :)

From the Bottom of Our Hearts - My Family & I - To You!

Dearest Friends,

When I was told that the inaugural Hunters Challenge had instead of being a professional hunt had taken on a special theme dedicated to me - I was firstly disappointed - because I had always wanted it to stay on track with our Vision and Mission - but my team mates assured me that those will not be compromised and made me realise that there were true friends out there who sincerely meant well for me and wished to share their love with me.

At a time like this, I could not wish for anything more than caring love.

My team mates told me that the event is now dedicated to helping me get well soon. I therefore am very grateful to each and everyone involved with this event; all my friends, friends whom I have yet to know, corporate sponsors and friends of mine who did not take part in the Hunt itself but have kind thoughts for me - we, my family and I, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I feel your collective desire to see me pull through this personal challenge triumphantly and I know that means more than anything else to you. I therefore will! Because, not only I have your solid faith, but I also have two very strongly founded beliefs:

1. I believe in His Promise that whosoever believes in Him, shall so be healed and is thus healed. I hold on to His Word, of some 2000 years ago, that He has healed me. I only faithfully wait for the day of completion of His Promise to me. I thus lay claim to His Vow.

2. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. My situation happened for a purpose - a greater one than what it appears to be. I pray for a miracle and I shall be His Witness of His Glory - to live to tell His Story of yet another of His Mysterious Ways.

If there is anything that my situation can do for anyone today, it should at the very least raise the awareness amongst all those who get to know about me - that you will see wisdom in reviewing all your priorities in life - for your family, for yourself.

There are insurance plans, wills, health plans, personal attitudes, career plans, work ethics, relationships, lifestyles, beliefs, goals and life purposes to review. If nothing else, please review your stress management strategy - don't let stress manage you (that's my biggest mistake!). If my situation could stir enough soberness in anyone of you to "take two" on your priorities and live life more meaningfully - I will take humble solace in knowing that it has served a useful purpose already.

To all those friends that I have not met and yet to put face to name, I thank you for your sincere encouragement. I will treasure them all. Thank you for your support to HRU and to me.

To all my friends whom I know so well, I am ever grateful to you for just being there for me. I look to the day when I can be with you soon, to enjoy the good side of life together all over again.

Last and never the least - my family and I are very grateful to have my team-mates, KK Chai, Margaret and VK and their families, as our best family friends! We will be forever indebted to them for their unrelenting, unconditional support and love!

I am indeed blessed to be amongst the very kind - I ask in the name of the Gracious God, that He Blesses each one of you abundantly always.

We thank you all once again, for your loving kindness! God Bless and We Love You back!

And our heartiest congratulations to all winners of the inaugural Hunters Challenge, 2009!

Vincent & Family
March 1, 2009

UPDATE {March 7, 2009}:

Friends of BlogCe5nt chatting and sharing!

Today, my HRU mates - KK Chai, Margaret, VK along with Claire visited me and were soon joined by KS, YS and Wendy and Uncle Chong, Ricky and Rosalynn. They brought to me a few hours of wonderful unforgettable moments - to cheer me up and to keep my spirit up.

They also brought with them a wonderful get-well card accompanied by your very generous collective contribution! YS & Wendy also brought me the "magical" apricot seeds!

It was a wonderful surprise and my family and I are extremely grateful for your loving kindness! I promise each one of you that your love will be immortalised in every cell of my soon-to-be healthy again body! I will do it for you all!

I cannot find the best words for our gratitude - there will never be one good enough - to describe how we feel of your caring love!

We love you and wish for God's Abundant Blessing To Be Upon Each Of You, Always!

Vincent & Family
March 7, 2009

WHEN JUNK MAIL IS NOT JUNK MAIL

I don't usually spend more than 2 seconds on junk mails - to send them off to the Trash bin.

However, I did take a couple of minutes to browse through this one and I was glad I did. It doesn't hurt to read how others approach life in a more positive light. Maybe one can learn a thing or two from these short stories.

---

IT'S ALL IN THE ATTITUDE

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!'

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. 'Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or ... I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. 'Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or ... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.'

'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.

'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. 'You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins ... Wanna see my scars?'

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ... I could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.

He continued, '.... the paramedics were great. 'They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action'.

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything. Yes, I replied.'

The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'.'

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.' He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude .....

I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore 'do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' -- Matthew 6:34.

After all, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Get Well Soon, BlogCe5nT !

Some of you readers out there must be wondering why this blog has suddenly gone "quiet" for the past two weeks.

Well, one of our prolific contributors, BlogCe5nT, had recently fallen seriously ill, but is now recovering slowly but surely. We all wish him well and pray for a speedy recovery. In the meantime we will wait patiently for him to resume his yet to be released M - Z of treasure hunting series.

Feel free to post your well wishes here.

SAVE SELF or COUNTRY? WHY NOT BOTH?

I am too much of a vintage for any kind of Singapore styled National Service. In this respect, I salute our youths for their sacrifices as they undergo the character toughening NS duty at such tender ages.

There is however an opportunity that I recognise as a form of "National Service". Sacrifice personal savings for 2 short years by obliging the Government's call to help boost the national economy.

The Government has decreed that EPF contributions are to be automatically reduced by 3% starting from Jan 2009 for 2 years. Those who wish to opt-out will have to write in. BTW, this has the support of the Opposition too, as reported by one local paper.

I, for one, will let the auto-reduction take place and I will do my part in this "National Service" by spending instead of saving the extra 3%. Personally, it may be a small amount, but if every working person in the country heeds the call - the collective impact will be very substantial.

The Government needs our help to make the stimulus package work. They need each one of us to create as many economic activities as possible to give the laggard economy a big push. It just cannot be any easier for anyone of us - we already know how to - "belanja saja"!

I however would prefer that we deploy the extra cash only in sensible economic transactions that will benefit those who will NOT remit their earnings out of our country - thus preventing further losses in foreign exchange . We must patronise trades, consumer services and businesses which keep their profits and grow their capital domestically.

This easy-to-perform special duty is only for 2 years, hopefully.

"Bersama-sama" we may just do enough to save the country and thus save ourselves. We will be better poised to ride through the economic turbulence with more resilience and steadfastness, while a new wave of hope sweeps the entire globe - led by China and the new Obama Administration.

Malaysia Boleh!

P/s Local Treasure Hunts Are Healthy Economic Activities! Jom!

SURELY ONE CAN SEE 50 FAMOUS PLACES IN ONE'S LIFETIME. Yes?

map image courtesy of http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/small_continents_map.htm/1288/2#eg.nell.ahcs.ursret.nuh

Everyone probably thinks they will have enough time to visit many of the famous places in the world. How about visiting just 50 of the world's most popular places - according to BBC!

Think you can do that in your lifetime? 50 only, mah!

I discovered an interesting web-site and thought you may like to find out for yourself - just how long it will take you to visit 50 famous places. 

As for me, I will need to live my life 4 times over! How one wishes for a cat's 9 lives! Don't believe? Go ahead, get curious and find out here ... tell us about your discovery! It may just turn out to be very rewarding too ...

 http://www.twisty.com/misc/50places/

If You Can See The Heart of Things ...

I thought that this is a fun kind of optical illusion that is classic. My first experience with this was way back in my secondary school days - I remember a peer showed me a cut-out from a newspaper and asked me if I could see the many little hearts out of a b&w picture of roses. I was thrilled by what I could see - "Am I special or what?".  At that time, it was an "out of this world" experience!

This one reminded me very much of that first experience ... and I hope with this, you can recall yours too! (If you need help, let me know!).  With digital technology now - the experience is further enhanced - many, many folds!  When you can see it - this blog goes 3D!

Can't get enough of it?  This image was taken from a book "Magic Eye" by N.E. Things Enterprises - great collection of such images - comes in 3 books you can find them in MPH and other popular bookstores.

Doctor Looking for A Life Partner ...

Know anyone who may be interested to respond? 

There is a catch to it!

Found displayed at my family's clinic.

Despite what the sign says, he is REALLY looking for a life-partner.

I'll Bring This Back for Liverpool 2008/2009!

I have it in my hands already!

Rafa - make it someday sooner than later!