Sesat Saja beats 73 other teams in public category to bag first prize

Team Sesat Saja celebrating their win. Team captain Hasbullah Nordin (second from right) attributed their victory to solidarity, fitness and experience.

THEY ran non-stop. If a team member lagged behind, he or she was urged to hurry up.

Heated arguments were the norm before the group came to a unanimous decision.

That was how the Sesat Saja team from the public category walked away with the first prize of RM4,000 in cash and RM3,000 in Boost app credits at the Miss Shophia Shopping Hunt.

“At Puduraya, our e-hailing ride got stuck in traffic so we got out of the car and ran 950 metres all the way to Central Market, ” said team captain Hasbullah Nordin.

For beating 73 other teams in their category and covering all 10 malls as stipulated by the hunt, Hasbullah attributed their victory to solidarity, fitness and experience.

“We took part in the first two editions of this hunt so we knew what to expect. 

We are also treasure hunt participants. The night before this event, we were at the Putrajaya Treasure Hunt in Precinct 3. We have also taken part in museum and food hunts, ” said Hasbullah.

Camaraderie also played a part as the team members are colleagues in the same pharmaceutical company.

Team Receh from Indonesia clinched first prize in the international category. Team captain Megan Faustine (right) said keeping the group no longer than 45 minutes at every mall

helped them win.

Team Receh from Indonesia, who clinched first prize in the international category, said keeping the group no longer than 45 minutes at every mall had helped them win the RM3,000 cash prize from Tourism Malaysia, a voucher from One World Hotel and RM4,000 worth of merchandise from 1 Utama Shopping Centre.

“To look for the things in the hunt, we split up and communicated by phone, ” said team captain Megan Faustine.

100 teams comprising of 400 participants took part in this year’s hunt. Flagging off at the KL Craft Complex in Kuala Lumpur and ending at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya, the hunt saw participants from Indonesia, Brunei, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Organised by Tourism Malaysia, the event aims to promote the year’s end sale campaign from October 1 till December 31, Visit Malaysia Year 2020 and promote the use of public transport to get to the participating malls.

In his speech, the agency’s director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said during this period shoppers will enjoy discounts of up to 70% for goods and services.

For an idea how important shopping is to tourism, he revealed for the past four years, shopping held the biggest share of tourist expenditure. Last year, it took up 33.4% of total tourist receipts, amounting to RM28.1bil, a 4.6% increase compared to 2017.

This year’s performance is especially remarkable as from January to June this year, tourist arrivals of 13.35 million has already brought in a revenue of RM41.69bil.

The favourable exchange rate, product quality and diverse choices have been named as some of the reasons why Malaysia has become a popular shopping destination.

Promising participants that the shopping hunt will be returning next year, Musa said that the fourth edition will feature elements of artificial intelligence and augmented reality as an added challenge.

Hinting that they may be doing away with physical forms, he said the next hunt would require participants to look for and scan hidden codes for questions and instructions.

-thestar online.