Meet the Oldest Contestants on Reality-Show INNOVATHON and Their Sustainable, Low-Cost Alarm System

Meet Ahmad Bin Darus (73) and his wife Zubaidah Binti Zainudin (70), the oldest contestants in INNOVATHON, a new reality series by the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and produced by Astro.

Over 1,000 contestants showed up for the audition from all around Malaysia but only 56 contestants were chosen for the final presentation to win a cash prize of RM100,000 and an investment grant of up to RM1 million.

Among them was a husband and wife team who innovated an emergency alert system, Distress Signal Actuating System (DSAS). innovathon dsas

The couple initiated the idea after they had experienced a break-in situation in their home 10 years ago.

Because of their helplessness, the elderly couple came up with a discreet device that would call an emergency contact should they face the same situation again.

All you need to do is flip a switch (like in the movies) and a signal will be sent out to an actuator attached to an old analogue phone (think old Nokias) which will directly call your emergency contact.

Sustainable solution

During his pitch, Ahmad mentioned that the DSAS uses recycled phones and materials that are produced cheaply.

This way, the cost of the product can be kept low and older phones can be kept out of landfills.

Catch their pitch to the judges, which include YB Rafizi Ramli, in the first episode of INNOVATHON.

We also recommend you to watch episode 6 where the youngest innovators on the show, sisters aged 10 and 11 will be pitching their innovative idea which will encourages kids to brush their teeth.

Stay tuned for plenty more innovative ideas throughout the 8-episodes run of INNOVATHON and you’ll have to catch it for yourself when it airs every Saturday on Astro Ria (Ch 104) on 15 July, 9pm. Sign up for an Astro pack to enjoy the show live or On Demand after 15 July.