Saving The World: A Race for Humanity

Written by Yap Jia Xin, Form 4 Science 1, Class of 2015

Photographed by Lai Li Chan, Junior 1 Higgs, Class of 2015

It was just two days before we had to say our painful goodbyes to the school holidays and jump back into the frenzy of homework and studying 24/7. That’s two days to shake off the holiday mood and recap everything from our books that we had gladly forsaken just a mere week ago.As luck would have it, the Save The World society (otherwise known as STW) had introduced and planned out what they call “STW’s Race for Humanity”, a STEM-based treasure hunt where all proceeds would go to charity. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and that was the theme that the treasure hunt was going to be centred around in order for all participants to learn and be educated while having fun - perfect for getting us back into the studying spirit.

On the last Saturday before school reopened, 9am to be precise, 25 teams of four gathered at the Pusat Sains Negara, ready to take on whatever physical and mental challenges STW had in store for us. The race was kicked off with a quick briefing by the STW presidents, Chin Wye Mun and Ryan Yoong, followed by a group picture. After the picture was taken, we were off!

Every team was provided with a card with seven different clues on them which led to seven different checkpoints. As for my group, we started off solving a riddle about some black and white keys, which led us to a floor piano. There, our team were to play the song “Mary Had A Little Lamb” as a group, by stepping, or in our case, skipping along the keys of the floor piano.

We played the piano with our feet.

After that task was completed, out next clue led us to the dome shaped entrance of the science centre where we had to create then belt out our war cry until an echo could be heard. We then had to face a series of Biology related questions which definitely got our brain juices flowing. You would think the biology component at this checkpoint was all mental, no biologically physical strain whatsoever. My group found out the hard way, via the mistakes from the questions we answered.  Push ups, sit ups, as well as running down a VERY long winded, never ending ramp in just under 20 seconds - we had to carry out a much gruelling penalty. Thankfully we completed penalty given its circumstances and didn’t have to stick around for more.

Next up, a challenge which most groups completed pretty quickly. Four per team, one on each side of the table which within it, was a maze. A ball was inserted into the side of the maze, and the task was to tilt the maze, and direct the ball into a hole in the centre. I would say it took about 30 seconds, tops.

“Take a selfie with Potamotrygon Motoro” - Our following clue. “I think it’s a fish”, was the first thing my teammate blurted out. With no other ideas, except for another suggestion that it was a dinosaur, we headed to the aquarium which turned out to be exactly where the clue was leading us. Yes, it was a fluke, a fluke which had served us well.

My group's 'SELFIE-SH'! (sorry, couldn't resist it)

After our insta-worthy selfie with the fish, we hopped along to our next checkpoint, the mathematics checkpoint. We were given a piece of paper with rather stimulating questions which we had to obtain all the right answers to. All I remember from that station was counting brown tiles then recounting them all again, and I think it is safe to say everyone is with me on this one. Right guys?

At checkpoint number 6, we were given four stations to choose from as options. My group, consisting of rather lazy people, made our decision by picking the station nearest to us, obviously. We had to build a dice. It might sound easy but it most certainly was not! That was unquestionably the most mind challenging checkpoint that my group encountered in my opinion.

Finally, we reached our last checkpoint. Isolated from the rest, it was effectively concealed near the playground beside the ramps we ran down for our penalty. Once again testing the mind, we had to answer a riddle. When we had succeeded in doing that, we were directed to look for a person in the area who was wearing cape. It took my team a few minutes but eventually, we stumbled upon this mystery person right in the middle of a children’s swimming pool, which meant only one thing - we had to go in.

After waddling in then out of the pool, we complied all the alphabets given to us after the completion of each checkpoint and began to unscramble. Soon enough, we figured out the so called ‘password’, was “charity” and did our war cry one last time before successfully completing the Race for Humanity! Yay!

All in all, it was a great way to start off the weekend before the holidays were over, exercising the mind (and the body, for some) and getting to see our friends! Whether we realise it or not, I’m sure everyone learned a thing or two at least, from the experience of simply being a part of the treasure hunt. Can’t wait for the next one!