Australian International School Malaysia’s Adventure Race in Aid of Rural Children in Sabah

Eager and enthusiastic treasure hunters woke up bright and early for the Australian International School Malaysia’s (AISM) Adventure Race on Sunday October 12 2014. Participants were at AISM as early as 7:00am. There were 22 teams and although there were some ‘pro-hunters’ amongst them but most are just looking for a little ‘adventure’ in their life as well as doing their bit for charity in aid of the rural children in Sabah.

The participants were told that they do not need to be a treasure hunter-pro to join the race. All they need is some good teamwork, resourcefulness and a little creativity.

After the final briefing at 8:00am, all participants were invited for a photo session and thereafter the race started with a quiz where all teams have to identify the various Australian football teams to their respective logos. Excitement was felt throughout the hall as team members scrambled to get their answers into the box before the time was up. Thereafter, all teams were asked to return to their cars to start queueing for the flag off at the front of the school by the AISM Principal, Mr David Kilpatrick. The Malaysian Australian Alumni Council (MAAC) team was led by President, Ms Pat PW Yeoh along with 3 other team members.

And the race began! Throughout the race from Seri Kembangan to Cyberjaya and back, all participants were seen trying to solve the questions given by looking at all the signboards along the routes provided by the tulips. There were also treasure questions where they had to unravel the riddles to identify the items which they need to purchase. Other questions include knowledge questions on the school as well as some road safety questions. However, the most exciting part of the race was the challenges imposed where team members had to throw a boomerang into a bag, throw a sock into a hoop, do an aboriginal face painting, blow into a blowpipe to pin-point the typical Aussie food that the team do not want to try and blow a didgeridoo. Teams were made to eat Vegemite, liquorice, raw chilli and durian tempoyak.

The race ended at approximately 1:00pm and an Aussie BBQ lunch was served. Thereafter, everyone gathered in the hall eagerly as the organisers went through the answers to the questions. There were laughter and cheering as the organisers showed candid shots taken throughout the race as well as some of the answers provided by the teams. The top 10 teams were then announced and the grand prize of RM 2,000 along with the Malaysia Australia Colombo Plan Commemoration (MACC) Scholarships Coffee Table Books was won by the 4-Ekor team. 4-Ekor is one the 3 pro-hunters who entered the race.

The event partners for the Adventure Race were The Malaysian Australian Alumni Council (MAAC), the Malaysian Australian Business Council (MABC), Malaysian Australian New Zealand Association (MANZA) and Malaysia New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (MNZCC). The main sponsors were Sime Darby Ramsay and Central Equity Properties. Proceeds from the race were donated to the AISM’s Matilda Project – aimed at helping 30 rural children in Asrama Desa Pukak, Sabah access primary education.