Tone Race to Fiesta Alor Setar

The participation of 1166 people in a mixed treasure hunt challenge, the largest number in a hunt in this country thus far, has earned an entry in the Malaysia Book of Records for the Largest Mixed Hunt ever in Malaysia.

The hunters, four to a team, participated in two categories: by car or train. There were 140 cars in a convoy and the rest of the participants, some 640 of them, took a chartered ETS train, boarding at KL Sentral and alighting in Alor Setar, Kedah.

The two-day interstate simultaneous train/drive hunt made stopovers in Ipoh and Penang, wrapping up with a walking hunt in the town of Alor Setar. The hunt ended in time for an open air carnival, Fiesta Alor Setar at the Darul Aman Stadium.

Yours truly joined in the convoy not as a treasure hunt participant but as a media member. When the train made a stop in Ipoh for the continuation of the first leg of the hunt where participants went around Old Town, I conveniently boarded the train.

The ‘Race to Fiesta Alor Setar’ was organised in conjunction with Tone Group’s sixth anniversary and as part of the company’s annual regional celebration. The town was chosen as an ending point of the hunt in support of Kedah State Government’s Discover Kedah 2016 initiative.

All participants in the record setting event are users of the Tone prepaid SIM cards, either Tone Excel or Tone Plus, from all over Malaysia. About half of them were from East Malaysia. The top team of the hunt walked away with RM10,000 cash. Also, a grand prize of a Proton Saga FLX Plus car worth RM40,000 was given away in a lucky draw.

Tone is said to be the world’s only prepaid card that pays. While I was skeptical previously, the fact that more than a thousand users and members from all over Malaysia turned up to support the company proved that the passive income generating plan is genuine.

In Tone Group’s collaboration with KTMB Berhad, the rail company also created a first of their own. To ferry the 640 passengers, KTMB Bhd. linked two train sets to make it a ‘couple set’ stretching almost a thousand metres in length. Linking the trains meant that it could carry the 640 passengers, in contrast to the usual 312 riders.

As a regular ETS commuter, it fascinated me that KTMB offers 36 services on weekdays and 42 services on weekends. 10,000 commuters are served on weekdays while weekends see an increase of 3,000 passengers.

Event: Tone Race to Fiesta Alor Setar
Venue: Kuala Lumpur to Alor Setar, Malaysia
Date: 5th – 7th August, 2016
Time: full day

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