My first time being ‘kiasu’ on a gameshow

It was a dreadful, dreadful day when I was asked to try out the new Channel 5 game show, Don’t Forget To Remember.

I am not the best at remembering things. It just isn’t my sort of thing. I barely remember where my things are five minutes after putting them down.

Although it wasn’t an actual recorded game, I went there prepared to be embarrassed.

Don’t Forget To Remember is a one-hour game show that challenges the viewer’s memory and observation skills through a series of mini-games, hosted by funnyman Gurmit Singh.

To my relief, I was assigned a partner. Not only was she friendly, she also looked really brainy. I knew my future was in good hands.

And so, I stepped up the podium, ready to accept my fate.

Thankfully, with Gurmit Singh as the host, we were all put at ease with his light-hearted jokes.

The first round consisted of eight photos, which were flashed for five seconds consecutively. Afterwards, questions about these pictures were showed.

I was lost by the third photo. All I could do was watch the pictures flash before my blank eyes. Before I knew it, the question was put up on screen.

I turned to my teammate blankly and let out a nervous laugh. Thankfully, she seemed to know the right answer. This went on for the whole of the first round. Sadly, and quite predictably, my team lost as we had the least number of correct answers.

In the real game show, we would have been eliminated. However, because since was a trial, we were allowed to stay on to try the next stages.

The second round was slightly different. Instead of pictures, we were now showed a video, followed by questions about it.

The first question was about picking the right fruit featured in a small part of the video. The problem was, neither my teammate nor I remembered seeing a fruit!

Very obviously, our answer was wrong.

For the third round, we were asked to read a passage that flashed one word at a time. My teammate and I were pretty confident for this round, seeing how we both learnt best through reading. And we did!

However, we didn’t do well enough to make it to the bonus round, and we lost our chance to win $10,000. Boo.

In the bonus round, participants had to answer a question correctly after watching a video that included both text and visuals. The question was really tough, even requiring calculation.

The team got it right! Sadly, no real money was given, since it was just a preview.

After being in the game show for an hour, I was surprised by how competitive I was throughout the game. I used to mock the players in game shows, calling them kiasu for being so excited and anxious to win.

But, guess who slammed the buzzer quickly like a kiasu auntie on that show? I did.

It truly was an experience like no other, as my brain struggled to keep up with my rising adrenaline. Not only was it exciting, it was really educational as well.

How would you fare in a similar game show like this?