Triquetra.sg, the company that offers Vespa vintage sidecar heritage tours in Singapore, will organise a 500-mile Charity ride from the Lion City to Penang, in conjunction with the inaugural WIT Indie being held in the northern Malaysian state.
Simon Wong: Wants to create “something as iconic as Singapore Girl, Shophouses or Chilli Crab”.
Founder Simon Wong, who’s speaking at WIT Indie, the new event organised by WIT for independents and creatives around digital, saw this as an opportunity to bring his fleet of sidecars to Penang where his late wife was from, as well as to raise funds for cancer research.
He hopes to make Penang another base for the Vespa Vintage sidecar tours which have been gaining a lot of attention and interest in Singapore.
A 10-person team riding three sidecars and one support vehicle will make the 500-mile journey, via a scenic route passing old kampongs (villages), paddy fields, local eateries with frequent destination and factual posts to keep driving attention to the causes the team are supporting. 
Funds raised will go towards the Singapore National Cancer Centre’s Community Cancer Fund which goes to supporting needy patients, and The Bone Marrow Donor Programme.
The ride will be entered into the Book of Records upon completion.
“We were thrilled when Simon brought up the idea of the sidecar ride to Penang for our event,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of WIT and WIT Indie. “It’s exactly the kind of ideas that can only come from the independents and creatives that we hope to attract to WIT Indie – like, how can we have fun and yet do good for a worthwhile cause.
“It’s going to be a long, slow ride – these sidecars don’t go very fast and when they do, they rattle – I know because I’ve been in one – but they are fun and what a road trip it will be especially if they take the side roads where they will see and feel the real Malaysia.
Triquetra had its soft launch last August and last month, had its travel agency licence approved. This means it can now go full steam ahead with creating interesting experiences around the sidecars, said Wong, who comes from a branding and design thinking background.
Currently, its most popular tours are the classic heritage trails. Retailing at S$120 per hour, they have proven popular with MICE groups, corporate events, independent tourists looking for something different to do in Singapore and media groups.
The idea of offering what he claims to be the world’s first Vespa Vintage sidecar tours came to Wong after he and his friends put on display their own vehicles at a charity event in Singapore and “people kept asking us, how much is a ride?”
He then started the process of importing the sidecars and restoring them. He now has eight sidecars and it wasn’t that hard finding riders. “There are a lot of Vespa enthusiasts in Singapore and many of them do it out of passion and fun.”
Other than Penang, Wong would like to expand Triquetra to places like Hong Kong’s New Territories, and Sri Lanka.
“Think mini road trips for a place like Hong Kong, where city folks can get a break and ride and camp in the countryside, or mini-expedition adventure trips where one can ride mini convoys to seek out and explore ancient ruins while enjoying spectacular plantation views or sea views along the way.
“It’s a fun way to experience a place. You get closer to the ground for sure and our riders and guides come with a wealth of local stories to share.”
Wong, a British-born Hong Konger, came to Singapore in 1999 and was one of the original Partners & Directors of Chemistry, an award-winning branding and design agency. “A group of us, all independents, decided to form an alliance so that we could compete and pitch for global accounts.”
With Triquetra, he said, “I get to utilise my branding and design expertise to create something we see has the potential to become truly iconic – as synonymous with Singapore as the Singapore Girl, Shophouses or Chilli Crab.”