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Whether you’re a local or a newcomer to Jakarta, exploring the capital and getting to meet some of its residents is guaranteed to be an enlightening experience.

Modeling its new event on the popular reality television show, “The Amazing Race,” the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia is organizing a very nontraditional networking event to appeal to young professionals here.

The Amazing Race, Big Durian, is a giant scavenger hunt set to take place over the whole city. Getting into the spirit of the event, the Jakarta Globe is sending its own team of three to participate.

One of the organizing committee members for the event, Scott Hanna, said the race would require contestants to take photos and collect specific items from various locations around the city.

The race would take in most of the capital’s key attractions, he said, and promote the spirit of adventure and teamwork.

“To add excitement to the experience, the AmCham Young Professionals have confirmed participation of contestants from the Amazing Race Asia reality TV show,” he said. “They will open the event and possibly join our teams in completing the scavenger hunt.”

Hanna said many travelers thought of Jakarta only as a center for business and government, often sidestepping it in favor of the country’s other more attractive destinations. Meanwhile, the people who lived here rarely ventured out of their comfort zones, he added.

However, the reality is that Jakarta teems with an eclectic mixture of cultures brought here from across the vast and diverse archipelago, he said.

The event’s organizers expect a broad cross section of young professionals, both from home and abroad, to participate. “Most of the expatriates are American, but we’re not exclusive — anyone is welcome to join,” Hanna said.

Some of the people who have already registered in the race are students, recent graduates and young people starting out in their careers. They also come from a variety of sectors, including services, technology and consulting, as well as entrepreneurs starting their own businesses.

While the teams should consist of three or four members, Hanna said those who registered by themselves would be matched with other unattached competitors.

The organizing committee has developed a roster of more than 100 unique challenges and tasks across the city. Each tasks has an assigned point value. At the end of the race, the team with the highest number of points will be declared the winner.

Each team, Hanna said, would be left to determine their own strategy and routes across the city to try to accumulate as many points as possible.

“The competition adds to the fun, but we want to create an atmosphere of friendly competition,” he said.

“The most important rule of the race is to be cool, be a courteous visitor. Any conduct deemed un-Amazing will be grounds for disqualification from the event.

“We strongly encourage people to take time to say hello and smile as they make their way across the city. Ultimately, the most important thing is for everyone to have fun, be safe, meet new people and get to know the Big Durian and the community we live and work in.”

Amazing Race, Big Durian
May 28 from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.

Registration:
Rp 50,000 for members of Chamber of Commerce
Rp 75,000 for nonmembers
Rp 100,000 to register on the day
Includes beer, soft drinks, race T-shirt and fun!

Location:
TBA on RSVP
Web Site: amcham.or.id
E-mail: functions@amcham.or.id
Follow
@MyJakartaJG to get live tweets of the Globe team’s progress