Why were the youths of WYZ District running away from the sound of bells in Boat Quay?
By Eugene Teh
PHOTOS: Elizabeth Kamaldin.
It was an exciting afternoon for the youths from the district led by City Harvest Church district pastor Wu Yuzhuang. Ninety of them were gathered at the Raffles Place MRT station on the morning of Mar. 11 for the first zone event of the year–WYZ Running Man!
Running Man is a popular Korean variety show that gets players to achieve various objectives to win a race. One game pits two teams against each other in a hunting game—they eliminate members from the rival group while carrying out a mission. Inspired by this show, WYZ District came up with its own Running Man hide-and-seek game.
The players were divided according to their age and placed in groups called PG13, NC16, M18, and R21. In each group, the players were placed either in the Mission Team–tasked to complete a series of missions—or given the role of a Chaser—tasked to hunt down the Mission Team and eliminate as many of them as possible. Each chaser team had to eliminate a rival team from another age group.
The Mission Teams raced off at the start of the game, frantically scouting the scenic Boat Quay to complete their missions. As if that was not stressful enough, the team members were all on high alert for the sound of bells—bells that the Chasers were wearing.
The faint but ominous jingle sounded as one of the mission team combed the area behind the Parliament House. As the jingle grew louder, cries of alarm rang out as realization dawned on the Mission Team: the pursuit had started!
Like a pack of wolves hunting their prey, the Chasers descended and the Mission Team scattered in all directions. With everyone out in the open, it was not long before the Chasers rounded up their targets and tore off their nametags as a sign of elimination.
Many Mission Team players of the other groups were eliminated by the Chasers in similar manner. But those who were crafty enough managed to evade the hunters, while shrewdly ticking missions off their checklist.
The game ended with the exhausted players gathering to hear the final verdict. Victory went to the R21 group.
“The event was extremely exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. Having the constant awareness of your surrounding in order to spot and capture your rivals was really fun,” recounted Jared Lim, 20, a graduate from Republic Polytechnic.
“It was a great opportunity for us (members) to get to know peers from the same zone. New friends who came to join us also got to know people from our church in a relatable and fun way,” he added.
The popularity of Running Man is evident among the youths. 70 to 80 youths from another zone led by CHC’s zone pastor Goh Yock Kiang also held an event adapting the “Running Man” game format on Mar. 17 at Singapore Polytechnic.
The event turned out a well-run one (pun intended). Players went home with memories of a fun day out—and possibly a slight phobia of the sound of ringing bells too!
