The highly followed MediaCorp Subaru Car/Palm Challenge 2015 commenced at Ngee Ann City’s Civic Plaza at 1pm this afternoon (Saturday, 31st October).
Now in its 14th year, the challenge gathered 320 Singaporean participants and 80 regional participants from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and last but not least, Malaysia.
Unlike its previous years, this year’s challenge takes place in an air-conditioned 1,000 square metres space for the first time in 14 years due to the haze conditions in Singapore.
The contestants are in the running for a chance at winning the biggest prize in the history of the challenge: a Subaru XV I-S worth up to SGD115,000 (including COE, for Singaporeans), plus SGD5,000 worth of free fuel from Shell.
If the winner is from Malaysia (there are 10 Malaysians in the challenge), the prize will be a Subaru XV Premium worth up to RM114,000.
With their eyes on the grand prize, the 400 determined contestants (40 to a car, 10 cars) will have to push themselves to the limit, enduring fatigue, inclement weather, and sleep deprivation as they place their right palms firmly within the surface area of the palm decals.
They will be given a 5-minute break once every 6 hours – at 7pm, 1am, 7am, and 1pm throughout the competition. And during the 5-minute break, contestants will really put their level of efficiency to the test as they juggle eating, drinking, running in and out of the toilet, and getting a quick massage, before running back to their respective cars.
That having said, as of 8pm today, a total of 52 contestants have pulled out of the challenge. 26 people opted out in the hours before the first 5-minute break while the remaining contestants called it quits during the break.
And as of 8pm today, all 10 Malaysians are still in it to win it.
This year, supporters play a crucial role which may make or break the contestants. Additional rest breaks can be given to contestants with supporters who take part in an online game here. The top 10 game scorers on the scoreboard will earn their supported participant an extra 5-minute break.
The scoreboard will reset after every break and the public contest will end upon the last 11 standing contestants.
Regional contestants will also compete for additional titles and cash prizes such as:
Country Winner: A cash prize of SGD1,000 to the final standing representative of each participating region.
Asian Winner: An additional SGD5,000 for the last standing regional contestant.
Country Team Winner: SGD10,000 to be equally divided among the team of the country or region whose participants have the longest combined standing time.
To put this entire challenge into perspective, last year’s winner and record-holder was G Jaishanker with an unbelievable time of 82 hours and 16 minutes.
In other news, amidst the anticipation of this year’s challenge, visitors will get to experience other onsite activities such as the “The Walking Dead” live showcase, where visitors will stand a chance to win a pair of tickets to Comic Con 2016 in USA*.
There’s also a Les Miserables Subaru Car Display and 5 lucky visitors will stand a chance to win one pair of Category 3 tickets* each to the musical when they take a selfie with the car. So do drop by if you’re in the area!
Follow our Instagram account as we’ll be posting up live updates from the MediaCorp Subaru Car/Palm Challenge 2015. And of course, cheering our fellow Malaysians on from the sidelines 🙂
*Terms and conditions apply
For more information, visit its official website.
