Proton Gives Back – Persona Quest 2009
Looking for an elusive snail, a hidden donkey, and a lizard without a tail; this was all part of a tricky but exciting Persona Quest organized for 28 Proton Persona owners and their families and friends over the weekend of 13th June 2009. The Persona Quest was a customer activity specially organized for Persona owners by Proton Edar Sdn Bhd.
Starting from the Proton Centre of Excellence (COE) in Shah Alam, the participants had to find answers to fifteen clues set by the Huntmaster, after which every one had to make their way to the Sepang International Circuit, where they had to undergo a driving skills competition to score additional points.
Here, each team had to nominate its best driver to take part in a slalom competition, a race against the clock through a course marked out by traffic cones. The driver scoring the fastest time of the day (FTD) won the top score of 10 bonus points towards the total score, with the rest of the teams scoring 8 points, 6 points or 4 points depending on their individual performances against the rest. With the Lotus inspired road-holding capabilities built into the Proton Persona, the drivers had a great time, competing against the clock to see who would get the fastest time.
In the interests of safety, the co-driver and other passengers in each car were only allowed to be in the car with the driver during the ‘sighting run’, during which the driver had to memorize the track with his or her co-driver guiding him or her through using a layout plan provided by the Huntmaster at the site. After the ‘sighting’ run, the co-driver and passengers had to alight from the car, and watch the proceedings from the spectator areas around the ‘circuit’.
For many of the drivers, it was a great opportunity to impress their families and friends with their driving skills; it was screeching tyres and burning rubber for the more enthusiastic ones, while others who loved their cars very much cruised around. The fastest time around the 1.0 kilometre twisty circuit with slaloms and roundabout turns was achieved by Herman Chiew, a first time owner of the Persona. The competition was very intense, with many other drivers coming to within a second of Herman’s time. Said 33 year old Herman Chiew after his success, “My brother, Kenneth is a regular competitor in the GRA Autocross Championships in a Proton Wira Aeroback. Motorsport runs in the family, as my father used to take part in motor rallies back in the seventies, and some of it must have rubbed off on me,” he quipped.
After the excitement at the SIC slalom competition, one that the participants would be talking about for the next few years to come, if the excitement and the enthusiasm is anything to gauge it by, the teams move on to Nilai and the wholesale shopping area of Nilai 3, where, amongst other things, they had to unravel a snail clue. All they had was a picture of a snail; the answer was ALISAN RENOVATION, and as explained later by the Huntmaster, the word ‘renovation’ suggests that there is an anagram, and A SNAIL works out to be ALISAN, part of a signboard found along the route in Nilai Baru.
Other interesting tasks included looking for an answer to a clue that showed a picture of our very own astronaut, Dato Dr Sheik Muszaphar. Cartoon characters were used also by the Huntmaster to coin clues that usually children would know the answers to, unless of course, their parents watched the cartoons with them. One particularly cute clue was a picture of Mr. Bean, with a clue alluding to his kids with high IQ. The answer was ‘Smart Little Beans’.
The Persona Quest ended at the grand and new Pullman Hotel in Putrajaya, and the participants were treated to a lavish high tea at the Laguna, a covered open area overlooking the Putrajaya Lake. Here, the Huntmaster provided a slide presentation of the answers to the clues, and how the answers are derived. Everyone had a great time, with some friendly bantering going on amongst team mates about how some walked right past some answers and never spotted them whilst on the quest.
At the end of it all, Herman Chiew got the most pleasant surprise when he emerged the first overall winner of the Persona Quest. Close on his heels, scoring exactly the same points was Khairul Anuar B. Mohd Hisham, while the all ladies team of Wan Amisah Bt Wan Mahmud trailed home in third position. First prize was RM1,500.00 in cash, with a RM500.00 Service Voucher thrown in. Second prize was RM1,000.00 in cash, while third prize was RM500.00 in cash; both second and third prize winners also received RM500 Service Vouchers. Five other teams received RM200.00 in service vouchers, and every other team received a consolation prize.
En. Kamsani Haji Ahmad, Head of the Marketing Division in Proton Edar Sdn Bhd was present at the start and finish of the event, and he was seen mingling with the Persona owners and their friends and families. He stated that Proton Edar intends to hold more of these events in the near future. Also present was Jack Lim, the local celebrity, movie actor and the official brand ambassador for the Proton Persona.
