Funding Societies’ 2022 Summer Retreat at Sentosa

Here in Funding Societies | Modalku (FSMK), we are big believers in a culture that enables our people to work smart and forge strong bonds as one ‘FSMK’; and having fun is a key ingredient to uphold that! To that end, on September 2nd, around 35 members of our FSMK Singapore team took part in an Amazing Race challenge held in Sentosa for some team-building activities. After what would have been almost two years of no major group activities, we were finally getting together in person for some summer fun!

Jointly organised by TVworkshop Asia Pte Ltd and Elevate Teambuilding Singapore, the Amazing Race comprised a total of eight stations planted across unique corners of Sentosa island. Each station involved attempting a unique team challenge as well as a riddle that would lead to the next station. Participants were divided into six teams and were given three hours to complete as many stations. Attractive prizes awaited the top three performing teams. 

Faced with a variety of mind-boggling challenges with only a three-hour window to cover the whole island – not forgetting the unkind rainy weather – the odds were stacked against these teams. 

The Race Begins…

The race was off to an interesting start. As soon as the race briefing was over, our participants were thrown into a tricky card game, of which the leading team solved it fast enough to gain an almost 15 minute lead ahead of the rest! Aside from this, let’s have a look at the other memorable and epic moments that happened throughout the race!

A station every team got to try out was the robot drawing challenge. Here, a team would be tasked with drawing a simple cartoon robot using a marker attached with six rafia strings. As each team member pulls one of the strings, they are to trace out the contours of the robot in a way that the art piece looks exactly like the original.

Our participants also had their song knowledge put to the test. Located near Universal Studios was a station where teams had to guess pop songs…through Morse code. Talk about challenging!

It would not be an Amazing Race without some blindfolding challenges! Here’s a snippet of some of these stations.

At the Finish Line

As everyone made their way back to the gathering point, the Amazing Race drew to a close with the announcing of the winners and a closing speech by both our Singapore Country Head, Simon Xie, and Group COO, Wong Kah Meng. 

And to think the fun ends here! With the finishing of the race, everyone made their way to the nearby Coastes bar for post-event drinks and dinner. Truly, nothing beats a tiring day of games than a time of replenishing oneself with beer and snacks, while reminiscing over the team’s antics over the race.

When reflecting on the wholesome fun the team has had, Cassandra DeBonneville, our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity (IDE) Specialist, reflects, “I’m super grateful for this Amazing Race. It was an amazing opportunity to befriend the colleagues in my team, understand one another’s roles, all while challenging ourselves to run around Sentosa! Definitely a great step for inclusion despite not being in the winning team. Looking forward to the next summer retreat!”

As organiser of the Amazing Race, our Head of Sales, Renee Pak, chimes in, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much! The FS family is indeed amazing!”

“It was a great and spontaneous event. One of the most memorable moments was definitely the Kungfu Chopsticks station. It was located at Madame Tussauds and standing between us and the station was this steep climb of what felt like almost 500 steps! While exhausting, it was during our way up where the team got closer as we motivated one another to reach the top. Looking back, I’m fond of how our team coordinated closely and persevered right up to the finishing line despite the pouring rain.” said Eugene, our Team Lead for Sales and also one of our race organisers.

Adding on is Anthony Poh, Financial Product Manager, “I’m glad that we could gather as a big group physically again since the pandemic. It’s such a happy occasion finally being able to meet and interact with newer colleagues face-to-face. Through the running (and perspiring) around Sentosa, this Amazing Race has proven to be a great bonding session!”

Our Singapore Captain, Simon shares, “This Amazing Race personally highlights three important observations about working as a team. 

Firstly, there needs to be an alignment to the same goal, in this case to complete the task and win the game. Secondly, the race demonstrates how a high performing team needs to be wary of its strengths, roles, and responsibilities. This is to ensure that every teammate can focus on their strengths to achieve success (e.g., some people are good at reading maps while others excel through maths). And lastly, I’ve observed how motivation comes from making small early achievements. This was very evident from teams who completed the first game early. Altogether, these observations translate into what makes a team function well and how we should focus to improve it into a high performance group.

And oh I must add, the post-event drinks was an amazing time for us to bond, especially when everyone opened up and shared more about themselves!”

Finally, Kah Meng, our Group COO, praises, “A big thank you to our organisers Renee and Eugene for organising our first outdoor team building activity since the pandemic. Despite the rainy weather, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and camaraderie of our team members despite coming from different backgrounds and departments. It was also a timely event to celebrate the successes & milestones we’ve achieved as a business whilst allowing us to re-connect and learn more about our colleagues, old & new, outside of our day jobs. Overall, a wonderful event to kickstart our social calendar & really looking forward to our next adventure!”

Thank you everyone for attending this year’s Amazing Race; we hope to see you again next year for another awesome summer retreat!

Want to be part of a team that works hard and plays hard?  Check out Funding Societies careers below:  

Funding Societies Careers

---

Disclaimer: The information provided to you in this blog post is intended only for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice on any subject matter. The materials and the information provided are not intended to be and do not constitute an advertisement or solicitation.  In no event will Funding Societies be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages for use of such information by you or any unauthorised third party.