Second regional winner to win the grand prize in Last Palm Standing-Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge

Singapore, 5 November 2019 –  Mr Siripong Toosadee from Thailand is the winner of the Last Palm Standing – Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge. He clocked an impressive time of 76 hours, 55 minutes and 5 seconds in the 2019 edition of the iconic urban endurance challenge. The 41-year-old despatch driver succeeded in his fifth attempt and won a brand-new Subaru Forester 2.0i-L worth THB 1.33 million (S$59,738). As the last regional contestant left standing, he also won an additional S$5,000.

After four days of battling fatigue and enduring high humidity under the scorching sun and a short spell of rain on the last day, Siripong was visibly emotional when he was crowned the winner. This unique urban endurance competition is in its 18^th year.

Siripong said: "I entered this competition to prove myself, to challenge myself. Though I’m physically exhausted, I am extremely happy to have won, after pushing myself beyond the limit for four days. I want to thank my supporters for cheering me on. I am truly grateful to them. I am also very much looking forward to driving my new Subaru with my family and friends. For now, I would like to buy a cup of ice milk tea to celebrate my win."

The contestants had to endure rain when the sky opened up on the last morning of the competition. For safety reasons, the contest was suspended for 40 minutes during the thunderstorm.

It was a tough fight till the end for Mr Siripong who faced against Mr Luu Van Quoc, from Vietnam. The 29-year-old self-employed Vietnamese emerged as the first runner-up and won S$1,000 as the Region Winner. Coming in third was 54-year-old Singaporean nurse Ms Mazlinah Ahmad who clocked 76 hours and 9 minutes.

The competition started on Saturday, 2 November at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza and attracted 400 contestants from nine countries/regions. 320 of the contestants were from Singapore. There were 10 representatives each from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The team from Philippines bagged the title of Regional Team Winner and S$10,000 with the longest standing time (combined timings of all 10 representatives from the same region) of a whopping 424 hours and 54 minutes.

The last standing representative from each region also won S$1,000 each. The list can be found in the Annexe.

Presenting the prizes to the winners were Mr Glenn Tan, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Tan Chong International Limited, Ms Debra Soon, Head of Group Corporate Management of Tan Chong International Limited and Ms Irene Lim, Chief Customer Officer of Mediacorp.

Ms Debra Soon said: “Congratulations to Siripong from Thailand for his unstoppable spirit. Siripong pushed past his physical and mental limits to show what it is like to be a Subaru winner! I hope he will continue to inspire others and that he enjoys his new Subaru car! I would also like to thank Mediacorp for nearly two decades of partnership. After 18 years, we are still looking for ways to further improve the competition and do better every year."

Ms Irene Lim said: “The Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge goes beyond outlasting fellow contestants, setting records and achieving fame. It inspires all of us to dream big and go the distance to achieve our dreams.”

She added: “I would also like to thank every contestant for their participation, our partners and of course our titular presenter Subaru for another exciting challenge in this 18-year-old initiative, which continues to capture the imagination of followers throughout the region.”

- ends

Media contacts

Cruz Teng
Senior Manager, Group Communications & Customer Experience,
Tan Chong International Limited
Phone: +65 6703 8388
Email: cruzteng@tanchong.com

Winston Chong
Communications Specialist, Corporate Marketing & Communications,
Mediacorp
Tel: +65 6350 3351
Email: winstonchong@mediacorp.com.sg

About Mediacorp
Mediacorp is Singapore’s largest content creator and national media network, operating six TV channels, 11 radio stations and multiple digital platforms including CNA, Singapore's most used news app, and Toggle, its digital video platform. Its mission is to engage, entertain and enrich audiences by harnessing the power of creativity.

Mediacorp pioneered the development of Singapore’s broadcasting industry, with radio broadcast in 1936 and television broadcast in 1963. Today, it reaches 98% of Singaporeans in four languages weekly and has a growing Asian audience base through CNA as well as entertainment content that is distributed across markets in the region.

The Mediacorp Partner Network brings Mediacorp together with industry-leading brands like ESPN, Edipresse Media, 99.co and VICE to deliver rich content for consumers and effective solutions for advertisers.

Mediacorp is the recipient of industry accolades including New York Festivals, World Media Festivals, PromaxBDA (World and Asia) and Asian Academy Creative Awards.

For more information, please visit mediacorp.sg.

About Tan Chong International Limited 
Tan Chong International Limited (TCIL) is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKSE:0693) and is a major motor, property and distribution company with operations in Singapore, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.  Since its inception in 1957, the Group has grown its assets substantially through continuous expansion of its existing diversified business portfolio in manufacturing, distribution and retail. Other businesses that TCIL engage in across Asia include automotive, commercial, manufacturing, trading and property investment businesses. For more information, please visit www.tanchong.com.

About Motor Image  
Motor Image is a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL and exclusive distributor of Subaru vehicles across eight markets in Asia. Established in 1986 and headquartered in Singapore, the company has offices in 10 markets: Singapore, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The company has identified ASEAN as the key engine for future growth. In July 2011, a partnership was established with Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.) for the production of Subaru vehicles at a CKD assembly plant in Malaysia. On 8 February 2017, Subaru Corporation and TC Manufacturing and Assembly (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (TCMA TH), a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, entered into a joint venture – Tan Chong Subaru Automotive (Thailand) Ltd (TCSAT) – for the local assembly of Subaru vehicles in Thailand. The vehicles produced in both Malaysia and Thailand will be distributed by Motor Image through its Subaru network. For more information, please visit www.subaru.asia.

About Subaru Corporation 
Founded in Japan in 1953, Subaru has since grown to become one of the world’s leading carmakers. In 1972, Subaru became the first in the world to market an All-Wheel Drive (AWD) passenger car and pioneered the market in Japan for high-performance station wagons by combining a turbocharged engine with an AWD system. Subaru has improved and refined its AWD system, to create a Symmetrical AWD system that enables optimal driving pleasure and safety. 

Subaru is well-known by motoring organisations worldwide for its engineering, design, functionality, safety and reliability. The Subaru range of vehicles includes the BRZ, Forester, Impreza, Legacy, Levorg, Outback, WRX, WRX STI and XV. Collectively, they have been known to be “driver’s cars” offering superb handling because of the Subaru Four Core Technologies, such as the Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and Subaru Boxer engine, built into every model. For more information, please visit www.subaru-global.com.

Annexe

Regional winners