IPOH: The 'Close One Eye' group, consisting of veteran journalists, has clinched the first place in the Media Hunt National Journalists Day (Hawana) 2023 treasure hunt, held yesterday.
Close One Eye's Abdul Razak Abu Chik, 62, said he has often participated in treasure hunts, organised by various parties, for the past 10 years.
"This Media Hunt was indeed challenging, with its questions which required us to think outside the box, but the competition was well organised and we were satisfied," said Abdul Razak, whose group bagged RM4,000 in cash.
He said this when met by Bernama after the Media Hunt prize ceremony, presented by Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer, Roslan Ariffin, here today.
Abdul Razak, a former New Straits Times journalist and now a freelance writer, said he, along with three friends, will use the winning money as best as possible.
Meanwhile, the representative of the Kamikaze group, Mohamad Hafiz Yusoff Bakri, 36, said he and three other group members, from Utusan Malaysia, said that they did not expect to emerge as first runners-up because it was their first time participating in such a competition.
"The challenges we faced throughout this competition were driving for a long distance and complicated questions.
"We will enjoy the RM2,500 cash we won and we want to eat durians in Perak, which are in season, before driving back to Kuala Lumpur," he said.
Meanwhile, Bernama Special Project Editor, M. Govind Nair, who is also Treasure Hunt Clerk-of-Course, said that they would like to increase the number of participants if Hawana continues the Treasure Hunt activity as part of the programme.
"Other than that, regardless of the location where Hawana will be celebrated next year, perhaps we can allocate an additional night for the participants to stay, instead of only one night," he said.
A total of 30 vehicles, carrying 120 participants of Media Hunt HAWANA 2023, were flagged off by Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital, Teo Nie Ching, at Wisma Bernama, Kuala Lumpur yesterday, where they were taken to many attractive locations in Perak.
The three-day Hawana 2023 celebration, themed 'Media Bebas, Tunjang Demokrasi' (Free Media, Pillar of Democracy), will be officiated by Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, later today. - Bernama