Which Asian city is the world’s coldest national capital?
What was late American director Stanley Kubrick’s final film?
And what do Free Willy, Lisa Kudrow and Nelson Mandela have in common?
These were just some of 60 questions posed at the inaugural Media Versus PR Trivia Quiz Night on Nov xx. Organised by the Press Club (SPC), the virtual quiz saw more than 30 trivia buffs convene on Google Meet for a friendly face-off of brainy proportions and some spectators in for the fun too. The 7 participating teams came mostly from the media and public relations industry. SPC also invited friends from Telum Media, the Foreign Correspondents Association, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Institute of Public Relations.
A special discount was also offered by our partner Lazy Lizard so participants could order their meals and have it delivered.
Quiz master and Thomson Reuters managing editor Ranajit Dam kept participants engaged for two hours with challenging questions from geography and history to science and pop culture – and no Googling was allowed.
The team from Bloomberg, aptly named Play To Win, edged out the competition to win $200 worth of Dempsey Hill dining and shopping vouchers, courtesy of Country City Investment. AfterHours, the youngest team comprising students from NUS and SUSS snagged the second prize: $150 worth of Lazy Lizard dining vouchers. Coming in third was A Team Has No Name, a motley crew of single-players led by journalist Nicholas Yong. Each of the top three teams also received two bottles of wine sponsored by SPC.
“The questions were really well thought out,” said Yong, assistant news editor at Yahoo and self-professed trivia regular. “I have been to other pub quizzes where the questions are either too difficult or clearly just plucked out at random. My compliments to Ranajit. So much effort and thought put into it.”
Quiz host and SPC management committee member Yeo Sam Jo said this is likely the first of many trivia tournaments to come. “It may have been our first quiz night, but the great turnout tells us that people, journalists or not, love a little friendly competition. Even if you don’t win, it’s all in good fun and you get to bond with others while learning a thing or two,” Sam Jo said.
Speaking of learning, if you’ve read this far and you might want to know the answers to the questions cited earlier: Ulaanbaatar is the coldest national capital, Stanley Kubrick’s last film was Eyes Wide Shut, and Willy, Lisa and Nelson are all characters from The Simpsons.
If you missed the Trivia Night, look out for the next one in February 2021. The teams who have participated, especially the Telum Media team, will be back for sure and we hear more will sign up.