An Exclusive Interview with the Paxgon Communications Team

A unique perspective into the revolutionary SpongeBob Run Malaysia!

Recently, Homefinder Malaysia has had a wonderful opportunity to meet up with the event management team of Paxgon Communications. Together with Homefinder’s Mr. Eddie Tan, we had a casual chat and heartfelt conversation with its director, Mr. Liew Kok Boon, alongside senior copywriter Ms. Sheena Ho, and creative director Ms. Lim Lee Lian who is the spokesperson for the company. During the hour-long interview session, we talked about the various milestones achieved by Paxgon leading up to the SpongeBob Run Malaysia in 2017, as well as the general impact of such community runs on the real estate industry and property sector in Malaysia. The following below is a brief excerpt.

First and foremost, kindly introduce yourself, and give us a brief overview of your company, as well as some of your past events.

We are first started out as an advertising and promotions company – as our bread & butter business. With vast experience accumulated during the founding years from handling events throughout Klang Valley. In addition to the numerous contacts we had accumulated with our continual expansion, clients have kept returning to the company for more referrals. Later, we started diversifying our business to include events management as our core enterprise. We have subsequently evolved into a full-fledged events management company till today.

Apart from that, we are involved in various charitable activities and pro bono events such as the iconic and evergreen ‘Terry Fox Run Malaysia’ – which we had co-organized since 2007. As we continue to gain much valuable experience from organizing and managing runs, we have also come to realize that such runs are fast becoming global emerging trends throughout international regions during the past decade or so.

At the moment, we are handling the Nickelodeon portfolio which is the brands owner of SpongeBob and Squarepants – the mainstay cartoon characters behind the maiden ‘SpongeBob Run in Malaysia’ initiative. Incidentally, Nickelodeon has been a loyal client of Paxgon for quite a number of years now. Henceforth, it struck us that we could actually capitalize on the popularity of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob & Squarepants by organizing a fun run for Malaysians. In fact, our novel idea had previously been initiated prior to us by Singapore as well as Taiwan.

What is the inspiration behind Malaysia’s first ever SpongeBob Run?

Most of the runs organized in Malaysia today are categorized into either “fun run” or “competitive run”. Moreover, fun runs especially appeal to the public due to their myriad or assortment of fun-filled activities, carnival-like atmosphere, and general laid-back ambience. We have stage shows, selfie stations, role plays, food trucks, and much more. Other fun runs such as Hello Kitty Run do not even begin to compare with what we have to offer our visitors and spectators. The mere experience of being associated with one of Hollywood’s most popular cultural icons is reason enough drive down to Setia City Park at Setia City Mall on 25 March 2017. The animated world of SpongeBob and friends are indeed a welcoming change and retreat from the daily hustle and bustle of city life in the metropoles of Greater Klang Valley.

Could you elaborate further on some of the activities that will be held in conjunction with the first-of-its-kind ‘SpongeBob Run in Malaysia’?

As mentioned earlier, activity wise, we have various fun and games to entertain the adults and keep the kids occupied during the entire event. Face painting, sand art, stilt walkers, inflatable balloons, merchandise stalls, crafts & sculptures, clowns & magicians, as well as the much awaited food trucks. These dedicated food trucks regularly serve or dish out local delicacies and cooling refreshments to beat the heat (i.e. quench one’s thirst) and to whet one’s appetite (i.e. curb one’s hunger).

We have also engaged the services of a celebrity emcee from Singapore who literally enjoys celebrity cult status back home. For diehard or hardcore fans of SpongeBob and friends, there will also be ‘meet-and-greet’ as well as autograph-signing sessions. There have also been unconfirmed plans for a designated ‘bubble-and-foam’ pool area dedicated to “bath battles” to let off some steam on a day during a sunny and scorching afternoon. This would be ideal for children as well as adults to mingle and interact in a cool and casual setting, but within a lighter but more-friendly environment for greater family bonding.

During the opening ceremony, SpongeBob and friends will also “flag off” the runners or participants prior to the commencement of the run itself. Amidst the SpongeBob character experience, it is truly a big day out for the entire family – a family get-together if you will on a most eventful weekend. For further details of the activities planned on that auspicious day, do browse or check out our website at:

How would social and community events such as SpongeBob Run benefit Malaysian real estate, and the local industry as a whole?

The direct impact to real estate is associated with the shopping mall (i.e. Setia City Mall) which houses Setia City Park on which the event is to be held. The specific benefits are rather obvious. Increased traffic to the mall during event day; higher occupancy rates to adjacent hotels; better returns for diners, eateries and restaurants located within the shopping mall itself. Other advantages of such runs include greater media coverage, exposure or publicity for the twin convention centres situated in the shopping mall’s vicinity, which are meant for future entrepreneurial functions as well as potential business transactions.