There’s a large mall just across from me called “Takashimaya” — it’s a ritz anchor store (like a Nordstrom) and also the name of the mall itself. Last weekend, in front of this glitzy shrine to western materialism, I found erected a white tent — and in front of the tent, a fenced in area containing about 10 cars (max, 40 per car). Different colored Subaru Imprezas to be precise.
Around these cars were gathered some 300+ “contestants.” The challenge? How long can you keep your hand on the car.
That was Saturday, 1pm. A young Singaporean woman answered that question on Tuesday, after she kept her hand on the car for 77 hours and 13 minutes. Seriously.
And the crowds watched.
Now, they were allowed breaks — every 6 hrs they got 5 minutes to use the bathroom, get food and water, and get a free shoulder rub. They stood under the blazing equatorial sun, the thunderous winter monsoon downpours, the long days and the longer nights.
And the crowds watched.
I found myself pulled to the scene to see how many participants were still holding on. It was an interesting demonstration of mind over matter to be sure.
Congratulations to the winner … the first woman in the competition’s 6-year history to hold out longer than the men. And truly, when the man won the men’s segment, there were 3 more women holding on for final victory.
Why the pain? Well, I heard tell of someone who bought a fairly standard Mercedes here for $400,000.! Cars here are exponentially more expensive. The car from this competition, for example, was valued somewhere around $80,000 (my mini is something like $90,000) — crazy! So this is quite a prize to vie for. I’ve never seen one of these before. Not sure it really qualifies as a spectator sport, but I did find myself detouring to walk in front of the tent and see how everyone was doing on their cars.
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