Because if there’s anything Malaysians love more than the world/national records we hold for the tallest/biggest/longest/most something whatevers, it’s setting brand new ones. Yesterday saw the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja organising a mammoth skip rope session at not one, but nine locations all across Malaysia pulling together 7,801 kids between the age of nine and 17 to set a new Malaysian record for, uh, most rope skippers skipping rope for five minutes.
Granted, it was for a perfectly good cause: the event marked the end of year-long “Healthy Lifestyle – Skipping for Health” programme, aimed at yanking Malaysian children away from the Candy Crush-running tablets and smartphones and out into the sun for some exercise.
Why akipping ropes, and not, say, TRX rigs or full-contact rugby? Organising chairman Datuk Dr Prakash Rao said the Rotary Club chose the skipping rope because it was the simplest and cheapest form of exercise.
“There are many health benefits with this simple rope so try and do it!” suggested Dr Prakash, as reported by The Star Online.
Yesterday’s event was held at George Toen, Raub, Temerloh, Karak, Kota Baru, Kuching, Teluk Intan, and Dataran Merdeka. The new record entry in the Malaysia Book of Records was signed at the George Town leg of the event, with State Education Department deputy director Dr Sharifah Bee Aboo Bakar acting as witness.
“Malaysia has taken the lead among South-East Asian countries for the most number of obese people.
“This is not the type of publicity we want and the Education Ministry wants to change the mindset of people by supporting this project (mass skipping),” said Dr Sharifah Bee.
As part of the programme, 100,000 skipping ropes were also distributed to over 200 schools around the country.
Photo: The Rakyat Post
