So when I was first challenged by Abacus International – about 18 months ago now – to come up with a travel industry-led fun event to raise funds for a good cause, I thought long and hard about it.

This was a great opportunity for travel to take the lead in a fun event that would serve a great purpose and if a major organisation wanted to drive it, why not?

I thought, no run. There are too many runs these days. Indeed the Sundown Marathon just finished this past weekend and I watched those poor souls limp by my neighbourhood late into the night.

So I started discussing ideas with a few travel industry friends. We thought it should have a travel theme, involve an activity that has something to do with travel. One idea was to pull an Airbus 380 – which became downgraded to an A320 – which became downgraded to 000 when we encountered numerous difficulties, one of which was finding an airline who’d willingly give us a plane to tow for a day.

As the conversation expanded – it took a couple of meetings – the heritage theme came into the picture. Travel is after all about uncovering stories. Travellers today want local stories. And what better way to tell local stories than through an event that would “guide” people around key heritage spots in a certain locale.

It was an idea that could scale. You could have Heritage Races in Georgetown, Penang or Luang Prabang, Laos or Auckland, New Zealand. Every place has distinct heritage precincts. In fact, when I was in Northern Ireland last week, I found the perfect zone for such a race, but that’s another story. (Anyone interested in taking on the race, talk to me)

All that would be needed would be champions willing to take the idea and execute it on the ground. The basic idea being to identify 20 heritage spots in any precinct and do a trail and race around them. So participants would each get a passport and get it stamped at each of the 20 spots and the first three to return to the starting point would win some prizes.

Funds raised would then go towards a charity for the elderly in each of these places because it is in the elderly that our human heritage resides.

Armed with that idea and no clue how to execute it, I mentioned it casually over lunch to Rae Tang at Ramada & Days Hotels Singapore at Zhongshan. 

She liked the idea as she felt the Balestier Heritage Trail, which has been curated by the National Heritage Board, was Singapore’s best kept secret and that it should be told not only to tourists but to local Singaporeans who, like me, probably only knew Balestier Road for its Boon Tong Kee chicken rice and bah kut teh (pork ribs tea).

And so we shook hands and said we’d do it together. That was eight months ago. And well, I have to say, we’ve both learnt a lot because this was completely new territory. Who knew we needed a police permit? Who knew we needed, well, hundreds of little things done …

Who knew the Balestier area has a history going back 180 years old? That this was the district where key moments of the 1911 Chinese Revolution were hatched and classic Malay films were shot? The Sun Yat-Sen Museum and the Jalan Ampas studio where legend P Ramlee (left) shot many of his movies are just two of the 20 heritage spots that participants on the first Heritage Race will get to visit and learn about on June 12, next Thursday.

I think what I like best about Balestier is that it remains authentic and original – it’s not been gentrified and commercialised like other heritage districts – and parts of it remind me of Penang where I grew up among shophouses, old-style bakeries, coffee shops and markets.

The race will kick off at Ramada-Days Hotel’s ballroom at 12 noon, where participants will be briefed and handed their passports. Then it’s up to them to plot their route and visit all 20 spots. It’s within a pretty small area – which is why Balestier’s perfect for the race – so you can pretty much walk it. The first three to return to the starting point will win prizes of $1,800, $1,000 and $500 respectively.

Funds raised, after costs, will go towards the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home which, in itself, has an incredible heritage. Lee Ah Mooi was a registered nurse in the Singapore General Hospital during the 1930s when the hospital was seized by Japanese forces to function as the Japanese military’s primary surgical centre in South-east Asia. She started the home in the 1960s to provide nursing care for the Samsui women and Ah Mahs and today, her two sons continue her legacy of providing shelter to elderly in need.

It’s been a race of sorts for Rae and I to get to this point. And I’d like to thank those who’ve played a part in the first shaping of the idea – Kevin Cheong of the Association of Singapore Attractions and Daniel Tan of the Food Playground. Rita Goh for helping out with social media and Havas Worldwide for doing our creatives and social outreach. Abacus for being the first sponsor to come onboard – you were after all the one who fired the first shot and got me running.

To all travel companies who want to have their staff take part in a fun, meaningful activity, make it a HR day and come join us.

To all travellers who love discovering stories of places, come join us and yes, I have to quote Maya Angelou, “put a rainbow in someone’s cloud”.

Sign up here (only S$30 per participant)

If you can’t participate, you can also make donations by emailing us here