One Contestant Exits from the Extreme Challenge

One of the four contestants ‘living’ in a Ford Ranger Extreme parked outside Sg Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur since early last week has decided to drop out. After 8 days, 6 hours and 15 minutes, 36-year old Hiew Wee Keong staggered out of the Ford this afternoon, ending his chance of becoming its owner.

Hiew had been taking part in the hitz.fm “Ford Live In It To Win It” challenge which has been dubbed Malaysia’s own ‘Radio Survivor’. In this contest, 4 hitz.fm listeners remain inside the Ford pick-up without showering, air-conditioning, and standing or sleeping room – for as long as it takes for one to remain, who will then drive home the mobile trophy.

Left behind inside the vehicle now are housewife Mary Biniol, driving instructor Sritharan S. Amordalingam, and law student Cindy Wong Hsin Ee.

Hiew, who is by profession a ‘purveyor of pharmaceutical products to alleviate pain and hair loss’ – hence his nickname the ‘Pain Specialist’ – immediately begged for a shower when he was ‘liberated’, whereupon he was quickly taken to a nearby hotel.

When asked about his decision to surrender, Hiew said that while he was sad to give up, he’d basically had enough of the sweat, the lack of sleep and the boredom, in that order. He added that he had originally targeted a stay of one week in the vehicle, hoping to reassess the situation at that point. However, having exceeded his own expectations, he decided that he had all the same better be the first one out, considering that none of the other three looked anywhere near to surrender. The extra seating space should be welcome by the other three…

Asked for his predictions on the next contender to follow his defeat, and for his guess as to who would outlast all others to drive home the RM88,500 prize, Hiew could not offer a guess and said that his companions in endurance should be able to outlast him by quite a distance.

The hitz.fm contest is the first attempt of its kind to take place in Malaysia. As such, whoever stays on to win the vehicle will go down in Malaysian history and become the official record holder under the title “Longest Time Staying In A Vehicle”, to be listed in the Malaysia Book Of Records.