By Goh Kok Kuan
GEORGE TOWN: Kimmy Liew Mun Fung had only one thing in his mind when he went to Penang in September. He had gained fame as a world-class magician, but he had a burning desire to achieve something more; something extraordinary.
The 35-year-old Cheras-born entertainer was one of the eager participants at the second edition of the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) Live! record-breaking event at a mall here. Prior to his trip to the island, he had endured five months of gruelling practice.
“I have burned my throat, tongue, nose and hands throughout my practice. At one point, I was not even able to open my eyes for two weeks,” he told Bernama.
But all the pain paid off when he successfully made his way into the MBR as the first Malaysian to complete the fire eating challenge. His record was set for ‘eating’ 59 fire torches in 58.84 seconds.
“If given the same opportunity again in the future, I will definitely try to break my own record,” he said.
MBR LIVE!
Liew was one of the participants who made history by setting national records during the second edition of the MBR Live! roadshow, held between Sept 20 and 22.
The three-day roadshow themed “Extraordinary Malaysia” saw record holders and eventual record breakers from all across Malaysia gather at the event to accomplish extraordinary feats.
The MBR chief operating officer Christopher Wong said the roadshow would continue to highlight the outstanding achievements of Malaysians.
“The first MBR Live! roadshow held in Klang Valley last year was a resounding success. It has now become an ideal platform for Malaysians to showcase their talents as well as encourage and inspire more Malaysians to take up the challenge and achieve greater heights every year,” Wong said in his speech during the grand opening.
This year’s programme showcased 45 records and 39 live record-breaking attempts.
Non-stop haircut
The roadshow actually started a day earlier with a haircut relay event by a group of 17 barbers and hairstylists from all around Malaysia, aged between 23 and 37.
The event which started at 1pm on Sept 19 provided free haircuts to the public — including this Bernama journalist.
The group ended their free haircut event on Sept 22 at exactly 1pm, earning themselves the MBR award for the “Longest Non-Stop Haircut Relay by a Group for 72 hours”.
The team organiser, S. Kalitasan, 34, told Bernama that the team’s record-breaking attempt was an inspiration of his own MBR record for giving the most haircuts in 24 hours, with a total of 144 free haircuts given between April 31 and May 1.
The Perak-born barber had handpicked the members of his team from a pool of 750 barbers and hairstylists and had expected to give away 1,000 free haircuts throughout the whole relay.
The team ended up giving 425 more haircuts than anticipated.
“What really shocked me was the number of people who turned up for a haircut even after midnight. Malaysians and foreigners alike turned up outside the shopping mall at 2, 3 and even 5 in the morning just to support us,” he said, expressing his gratitude for the team’s collaborative effort and the support by customers.
Cell escape
Another noteworthy feat at the event was that by A. Vikneswaran, an escape artiste from Kuala Lumpur.
Before the start of the event, he could be seen sitting atop a water-filled glass cell with his hands and ankles cuffed. He appeared to take long, deep breaths before praying in front of the audience, which included his wife and son.
“I was praying to God to give me the strength and focus to escape the cell and hoped that everything would go well. I also prayed to Him for my well-being because I have a family to take care of,” the 31-year-old later told Bernama.
Performing a feat similar to that by the famous magician Harry Houdini, Vikneswaran’s task was to free himself by unlocking the cuffs while being submerged in the water-filled cell measuring 3 feet (0.91 m) x 3 feet (0.91 m) x 8 feet (2.44 m).
It was not only the cuffs that he had to unlock — there were also two padlocks that he had to open with only a single lock pick. The extreme stunt has claimed the lives of around 14 magicians worldwide.
On Sept 21 at 6 pm, Vikneswaran broke his own MBR record by escaping the water torture cell at 2 minutes and 3 seconds. In a stage performance in KL the previous month, he had managed the feat within 3 minutes and 26 seconds.
Having ventured into cell escape performances only three years ago, he acknowledged that every stunt attempt could potentially lead to his death. He said that even with an emergency team on standby, rescuing him from his escape attempts would still require a period of time.
“However, I am doing this to not only challenge myself but to prove to the world that even magicians in Malaysia are equally as competent as the ones overseas,” he said.
Twenty-two records
A total of 22 new records made it into the MBR during the three-day event.
Out of the 22 MBR records, 13 of them were set by a team of Penangites aged between 21 and 45 years old. They represented a gym in Bukit Mertajam.
The 10 individual-based MBR records were the “Fastest Chest to Ground Push Ups in one Hour” (1391 push ups by Albert Chai), “Most Number of Full Contact Punch Strikes in One Minute” (Male: 515 by Seah Zhang Yu, Female: 215 by Seah Yee Lin); “Most Number of Reverse Palm Push Ups in One Minute” (37 push ups by Gooi Wen Xin), “Most Number of Burpees Pull Ups in One Minute” (18 burpees pull ups by Booi Chai Yee), “Most Deadlifts in One Minute” (21 deadlifts with 101 kg weights by Shashela Devi); “Heaviest Dumbbell Weight Lifted by Index Finger” (30.3 kg in five seconds by T. Logassree), “Most Full Contact Elbow Strikes with Alternate Elbows in One Minute” (312 strikes by G Omprekash), “Most Number of Side to Side Jumps in One Minute” (112 jumps by Phoon Kai Yeen) and “Most Number of Skips in One Minute Using One Foot” (145 by Angel Chew).
They have also set three team-based MBR records, namely the “One Hour Backward Jog on a Treadmill in a Team Of Three” (Goh Kheng Leong, B Puvaneshwaran and Cheong Seng Chiew) and male and female record for “One Hour Non-stop Run with 5kg Sand Vest on Treadmill in a team of three” (Male record: Danny Choo Jin Hin, Jackie Sin, Lye Yong Sheng) (Female record: Gooi Wen Xin, Goh Ying Yun, Alice Lim).
Meanwhile, a team of four marathoners comprising Mahendran Suriyanarayanan, 45, Mohd Azlan Abdullah, 38, Siti Rohani Shahridzuan, 34, and Harras Kumar, 23, jogged their way to the MBR record for “Longest Non-stop Team Relay on Treadmill for 48 hours”, with a total jogging distance of 316.25 km.
Sabahan jersey salesman Iranmal Kasan, 34, made two MBR records in a day for “Most Number of Juggles in One Minute while Sitting” (210 juggles) and “Most number of Juggles in One Minute with Foot Soles” (135 juggles), whereas security manager from Kajang, V Gunalan, 46, clinched his second MBR record for “Most Number of Backwards Jump Rope Skipping in 30 Seconds” (67 skips) alongside with his first MBR achievement for “Non-stop Skipping Relay for 24 Hours” in line with Malaysia’s Independence Day this year. – Bernama
