PLANE PULLING

On september 30, 1990, R. Letchemanah became the first Malaysian to use his hair to pull an aircraft. This Herculean task involved dragging a 32.5- tonne Boeing 737 over a distance of 16.85m (55.3 ft) at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang.

BUS-PULLING

On May 1, 1999, Letchemanah once again put Malaysia in the international spotlight with another world record when he used his hair to pull a double-decker bus, weighing 7,874kg, over a distance of 30m (98 ft). The event took place at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leicestershire, UK.

FIRST ARM TRANSPLANT

On May 18, 2000, staff from the Selayang Hospital, Selangor led by Dr. V. Pathmanathan transplanted an arm onto four-week-old Chong Lih Ying’s deformed limb during a 15-hour operation. She was the first, and the youngest person in the world to undergo a transplant for a whole limb. Chong’s donor was her twin sister, who was born with a severe brain abnormality and had no hope of survival before the operation. The transplant scored another first as both
donor and recipient were identical twins with identical blood group and cell makeup; due to this, Chong will not require anti-rejection drugs throughout her life.

TALLEST PENCIL

Faber-Castell (M) Sdn Bhd took four months to complete a 20.248m tall pencil made of kiln-dried Jelutong sawn timber. The pencil is now housed at the company’s premises in USJ, Subang Jaya, Selangor

MOST TREES PLANTED IN ONE MINUTE

A total of 110,461 trees, each measuring 1m tall, were planted simultaneously in one minute at 152
locations across Malaysia during a ‘Millennium Tree Planting’ project organised by the National Landscape
Department, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council and the Tree Planting Group on October 15, 2000.

BIGGEST PEWTER TANKARD

The world’s biggest tankard was crafted in 1985 by Royal Selangor Pewter to commemorate its centenary. Six skilled and experienced artisans were assigned to create the 1,557-kg tankard, which stood
1,987 mm tall; with a volume capacity of 2,796 litres.

LARGEST BEAN ART

A total of 250 students from the Central Academy of Art and 250 volunteers took two days and two hours to complete a 31.7 m long and 26.8 m wide Buddhism Auspicious Design collage made entirely from
12 tonnes of beans.

LONGEST COIN LINE

The world’s longest coin line was created by 524 local volunteers from the World Wildlife Fund Malaysia and Dumex Sdn Bhd at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur,
on August 6, 1995. A total of 2,367,234 pieces of 20 sen coins were used to construct a 55.63 km line, surpassing the previous world record of 48.89 km, set in the United Kingdom in 1992.

MOST EGGS CRUSHED WITH THE WRIST

Sivasamy s/o Balakrishnan of Panaikkulam Village, Perak crushed 25 eggs in 30 seconds. He placed the egg atop the back of his wrist and bent his fingers backward to break the eggs. The feat was achieved on Sept 20, 2005 at his work place, the Restaurant Naina Mohammed in Ipoh, Perak.

FASTEST PYRAMID CANS STACKING

On Sept 23, 2000, a group of students from INTI College, Subang Jaya constructed the pyramid-can-tower in 24 min 54 sec. A total of 9,455 empty cans were used. With 30 cans x 30 cans at the base, the pyramid stood 3.5 m in height at the East Entrance Atrium of Mid Valley Megamall. The team comprised of 12 students.

BIGGEST FLOWER

The Rafflesia arnoldii can grow up to 91 cm in diameter and has a petal thickness of 19 cm. The arnoldii is the biggest of about 16 rare Refflesia species found in the South-East region.

LONGEST ABBREVIATION

The longest know abbreviation is S.K.O.M.K.H.P.K.J.C.D.P.W.B., the acronym for Syarikat Kerjasama Orang- Orang Melayu Kerajaan Hilir Perak Kerana Jimat Cermat Dan Pinjam-Meminjam Wang Berhad. The shorter version of this abbreaviation reads S.K.O.M.K.

ONLY ELECTED MONARCH

Fourty-six of the world’s 171 sovereign states are not republics. Malaysia is the only country with an elected monarch.

LONGEST ‘FIRE DRAGON

A 118.54m-long dragon with a 91.04 cm diameter, was made and displayed at The Mall, Kuala Lumpur on April 1, 1988.

FIRST TEAM TO ABSEIL PETRONAS TWIN TOWER

On August 28, 1997, the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department staged a ‘Snatch Rescue’ operation when 21 firemen and a female squad member, scaled down the Petronas Twin Towers. The personnel descended from the 88th floor, at 451.9 m high, by using a 9,840-m long rope. The entire operation took 20 minutes.

SMALLEST SHREW

The smallest adult specimen of the pentailed shrew (Ptilocercus Lowii) of Malaysia has a total length of 230 - 330 mm (3-13in). It has a head and body length of 100-140 mm, its tail is 130-190 mm and it weighs 35-50 g.

LARGEST CAVE CHAMBER

The Lubang Nasib Bagus Chamber in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, is the largest in the world at 700m long, 70m high and an average width of 300m. It is big enough to accommodate 40 Boeing 747s.

LARGEST UNDIVIDED LEAF

It is the Alocasia Macrorrhiza found near Tawau in Sabah. A specimen found in 1966 was more than 3 m long and 1.9 m wide. This non-woody plant with a rather fleshy, heart-shaped leaf is often found in damp, shady ares.

MOST FREQUENT BEST MAN

As of March 2006, Ting Ming Siong of Sibu, Sarawak is
still the most frequent best man with 1,395 times from 1975 to present day.