Photo by Ulysses Ang

The region’s most anticipated endurance challenge kicked off today at Ngee Ann City’s Civic Plaza at exactly 1 PM. The Subaru Palm Challenge, now in its 13th year, sees 400 contestants from Singapore, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam gathering for the final qualifying round of the MediaCorp Subaru Challenge, for the chance of winning a Subaru XV 2.0i worth P 1,298,000.

Marking the 13th year of the Challenge, a new online game was added to this year’s competition. Through the online game, 80 Singaporeans were given direct entry to the competition with the ability to choose their preferred palm positions on the car in the order of game ranking. The Top 20 regional contestants in the online game also had the opportunity to choose their preferred palm position.

As an interesting twist to this year’s competition, and for the first time ever, the public will have the opportunity to win extra breaks for their friends or family competing in the event by playing a special online game. The Top 10 game scorers on the scoreboard will earn their support participants an extra 5-minute break. The scoreboard will reset every break and the public contest will end upon the last 11 standing contestants.

“For the first time ever, the public will have the power to direct help and support their friends and family who are competing for the coveted Subaru car. Poised to be Asia’s most daring test of endurance this year’s Subaru Palm Challenge will see contestants exuding sheer determination and willpower. We look forward to an exciting four days of competition where only the toughest survive,” said Mr. Glenn Tan, Executive Director, Tan Chong International Limited.

In addition to being eligible for the grand prize of the Subaru XV, regional contestants will also compete for additional titles and cash prizes. The title of Country Winner and a cash prize of SG$  1,000 (~P 35,000) will be awarded to the final standing representative of each participating region. The last standing regional contestant will win the Asian Winner title and will walk away with an additional SG$ 5,000 (~P 175,000). The country or region whose participants have the longest combined standing time will be awarded the Country Team Winner title along with SG$ 10,000 (~P 350,000) to be equally divided among the team.

The 400 finalists will give their best to battle exhaustion, unforgiving weather conditions, sleep deprivation, hunger, and thirst while keeping their right palms firmly within the surface area of the palm decal with a 5-minute break given once every 6 hours: 7 PM, 1 AM, 7 AM, 1 PM throughout the competition.