President’s Challenge Night 2024 and inaugural walkathon raise S$9.7m for 65 beneficiaries

This year, Singapore media network Mediacorp raised S$9,699,979 for 65 beneficiaries by the end of Sunday night (Oct 6) through the inaugural President’s Challenge Walkathon and its flagship fundraiser President’s Challenge Night.

The day started with the first-ever President’s Challenge Walkathon which saw President Tharman Shanmugaratnam flagging off the 12-hour relay at The Turning Point Halfway House. Joining him were more than 1,000 spirited participants including Mediacorp personalities Rebecca Lim, Pierre Png, Mike Kasem, Aura Shai and Mohamed Rafi.

The walkathon comprised multiple stops all over Singapore including Northpoint and AMK Hub for a total of over 90 kilometres.

Along the way, participants stopped at various organisations supported by the President’s Challenge 2024 to deepen their understanding of the support needed for vulnerable groups in Singapore.

The group ended their journey at The Theatre at Mediacorp – just in time for President’s Challenge Night 2024.

Hosted by Steven Chia and Yasminne Cheng, President’s Challenge Night 2024 saw a myriad of performances from the likes of Irish singer Ronan Keating, veteran Singaporean singer Rahimah Rahim and even a collaboration between Zoe Tay and Bhaskar’s Arts Academy.

Towards the end of the show, President Tharman and former national goalkeeper Hassan Sunny got the crowd roaring in a penalty shootout which saw the former beating the latter 3-2.

After his win, Mr Tharman said: "My strategy was to gelek (dance in Malay) a bit but you can't beat [Hassan Sunny] straight. Honestly, I'm just in awe of Hassan... He's really an idol for all of us."

Donations for this year's President's Challenge can still be made via its official website till Sunday (Oct 13).

Catch President's Challenge Night 2024 on demand for free on mewatch or watch a repeat on Channel 5 on Oct 13 from 4.30pm.