8 Unique Guinness World Records Attained By Malaysia
Here are some of the eccentric Guinness World Records Malaysia has achieved over the years.
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Malaysia has come a long way since its independence in 1957. Be it in the economic or environmental aspect, our nation has achieved significant success. Our place at the Guinness World Records, for instance, is one indication that serves as valid proof.
Since the organisation started in 1955, Malaysia has been a frequent achiever, winning numerous titles throughout the years. While it comes as no surprise, did you know that our nation has also won for various eccentric milestones?
Yup, Malaysia, like many other countries, has some interesting titles to call her own. From being the first nation to complete a race in Baju Melayu to having the largest line of Nasi Lemak, here are some of the most unique Guinness World Records Malaysia has won to date.
- Heaviest train pulled by teeth
Yes, you read that right! In October of 2003, Velu Rathakrishnan achieved the title after using his teeth to pull two KTM commuter trains. The total weight of the trains was 260.8 tonnes (574, 964 lb).
Velu managed to pull both of them at a distance of 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) along the rails at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. The Tampin native who gained the nickname King Tooth, then went on to break his own title in 2007.
This time, he pulled a train that weighed over 297.1 tonnes for 2.8 meters at the Old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. His secret behind his success? Velu revealed that he developed his incredible strength after learning an Indian form of meditation.
His guru taught him at 14 to channel his energy and power to a single part of his body.
- Longest line of Nasi Lemak
Of course, what is success without some Nasi Lemak? Seeing how much we love our Nasi Lemak, it is almost compulsory to have it win a title for us. That happened in 2013 – all thanks to HungryGoWhere Malaysia.
In August of 2013, the food and restaurant review website arranged 11,315 packets of nasi lemak neatly on tables at the ice-skating rink of Sunway Pyramid.
Each of the nasi lemak packets had the classic ingredients – a quarter cup of rice, one slice of cucumber, a half-boiled egg, and a spoon of sambal belacan. And it was wrapped traditionally in banana leaves.
To achieve the milestone, staff members of HungryGoWhere and volunteers all woke up and started the process by 9 am.
The record was then noted down by Guinness World Record adjudicator Carim Valerio who looked through all the 11,315 packets of nasi lemak. Plus, the nasi lemak did not go to waste as 7,000 of them were distributed to charities and churches.
As for the rest, it was handed out to shoppers who were present at the mall on that day.
- Completing a full marathon in Baju Melayu
Speaking of nasi lemak, another milestone was made by a fellow Malaysian’s patriotism for the country. Marathon runner, Mohd Syahidan Alias, achieved a Guinness World Record for completing a marathon in a traditional male outfit.
The 36-year-old completed the race in under three hours in a traditional Baju Melayu at the TCS London Marathon this year. His record, in fact, specifically was under 2 hours, 49 minutes, and 22 seconds at a distance of 42.2 km.
He broke his previous record in 2019 when he achieved the title for the fastest marathon run with a national flag costume under 2 hours and 54 minutes.
His costume was made possible, thanks to the local boutique Bulan Bintang. The well-known local boutique house specifically made the costume for Syahidan’s occasion.
- Largest gathering of “human cats”
DC’s Catwoman may have the most memorable cat outfit, but our local version takes the cake when it comes to the initiative.
Young Sarawakians, in May of 2017, won the hearts of audiences when they showed up at the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards in Sarawak as cats. Along with wearing a black bodysuit, their faces were accesorised with cat whiskers, ears, and cat makeup.
They even wore tails to complete their look. As a result, the meow crowd of 440 people won the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as cats. The motive behind their cat costumes?
They had wanted to pay tribute to their love for cats as their capital city, Kuching, refers to the animal in Bahasa.
- Largest group of people dressed as Spider-Man
Is it just me or there seems to be a pattern here? Hmm.. regardless, we set the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Spider-Man.
In conjunction with the release of this year’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, 685 fans dressed up as their favourite friendly neighbourhood superhero. The gathering took place at the Bukit Tinggi Aeon Mall in Klang on 3 June.
The event started around 4 pm at the Centre Court, where the 685 participants gathered for at least 5 minutes to qualify. Their effort sure paid off as the event ended with a certificate presentation ceremony.
Guinness World Records official adjudicator, Kazuyoshi presented the certificate to Sony Pictures Malaysia managing director, Simon Foo. The title was previously held by India, who had a crowd of 601 individuals dressed as Spider-man.
- Most eggs crushed by the wrist in 30 seconds
At first, this may seem like an easy feat to accomplish. But after breaking a couple of eggs, one will realise how tiring it can be. So imagine doing it with your wrist. For Balakrishnan Sivasamy, however, the act seemed like a piece of cake!
Within 30 seconds, Balakrishnan crushed 25 eggs just by placing them at the back of his wrist and bending his fingers backward. The feat was made at the Naina Mohamad Restaurant in Perak on 20 September 2005.
- Lowest annual cinema attendance per capita
This is a bit surprising considering our love for entertainment. But in 2003, Malaysia, unfortunately, earned the title for the lowest annual cinema attendance per capita.
With a population of 22, 662, 365 and a total of 336,000 admissions in 2003, our country got the lowest cinema attendance per capita with only 14.83 visits per 1,000 people (0.01483 visits per person).
We are confident to say though, that things have significantly improved for our cinemas since then.
- Most dice stacked on a cat’s paw
Who says only humans are capable of breaking world records? In fact, cats too are just as capable of doing so! Siew Lian Chui from Puchong proved that with his pet cat, Bibi on 18 June 2007.
Siew stacked 10 dice on Bibi’s paw and surprisingly Bibi was able to balance the dice all on a single steady paw. The best part? Bibi was able to achieve it while looking like a boss! This, in return, gave him the title – the most dice stacked on a cat’s paw.
Apart from that, Bibi can supposedly also hold up to 13 playing cards in a suit in one paw. If things do not work at home for Bibi, he can look at working in a circus as he sure has a bright future there!
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