On the 8th of November 2014 at 1pm, more than 400 contestants from 10 Asian countries taking part in The Mediacorp Subaru Challenge 2014 – The Asian Face-Off took their positions and placed their right palm firmly on one of the 10 Subaru Imprezas parked at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza. Now in its 13th year, the contenders are struggling against harsh weather conditions to outlast each other in hopes of walking away with a Subaru Forester 2.0i Premium worth S$85,000 (without COE).
Besides Singapore, other contestants hail from the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia.
The blistering heat and humid temperatures proved to be too much for some contestants and after more than 50 hours in, less than 39 people are left standing. This means that we are very much closer to finding out who will be winning the brand new Subaru Forester this year.
The remaining contestants will have to fight hard to battle exhaustion, sleep deprivation, hunger and thirst as well as the unforgiving weather conditions while keeping their right palm firmly within the surface area of the palm decals. The contestants are only given a 5-minute break once every six hours at 1pm, 7pm, 7am and 1am throughout the competition.
Needless to say, the 5-minute breaks given to the contestants always result in total havoc. Within five minutes, they have to recharge themselves with sustenance, relieve themselves in the loo, get quick massages for their cramps, receive words of encouragement from their family members and friends, and stretch their bodies to get their blood flowing well.
To mark the 13th year, for the first time ever, the public has the opportunity to win extra breaks for their friends or family competing in the event by playing a special online game via this website. 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.
Besides the grand prize of a Subaru car, the regional contestants will also compete for additional titles and cash prizes. The title of Country Winner and a cash prize of S$1,000 will be awarded to the final standing representative of each participating region. The last standing regional contestant will win the Asian Winner title and walk away with an additional S$5,000 cash. The country or region, whose participants have the longest combined standing time, will be awarded the Country Team Winner title along with a cash prize of S$10,000 to be equally divided among the team.
Stay tuned to find out who will be the last one standing! For more information and updates, kindly visit the official event website.
