Friday August 13, 2004

Baffled by ‘pull’ of farmer

BY FOONG THIM LENG

IPOH: Farmer Tan Kok Thai has found instant fame in Tanjung Rambutan with a body that can attract rocks, metal, plastic and rubber items, pieces of wood and even bananas.

He has left people in the town completely amazed by his mind-boggling feats – spectators often find it hard to believe their eyes when they see a hefty piece of rock sticking to Tan’s chest.

The 66-year-old has even demonstrated the ability to lift two bicycles tied to a chopper attached to his body.

RARE FEAT: Tan has the ability to attract a long list of items from bananas to choppers and even plastic bottles. The farmer is proud of his special gift which is being researched by professors at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Tan first realised that he could attract metal last year when a coin dropped out of a shirt pocket while he was taking off the garment and stuck to his chest, but he gave little thought to it.

However, inspired by a Chinese documentary last month showing a man in Taiwan sticking coins to his body, he tried to imitate the feat.

“Soon I discovered that I could also attract other items like handphones, calculators, plastic and glass bottles, books, biscuits, planks, bananas and torchlights,” he said in an interview.

The long list of items he has successfully experimented with includes remote controls, an air conditioner, electric irons, knives, canned food and tubes of toothpaste.

Tan said he started to stick stones on his body some 10 days ago and, after much practise, he could now keep a piece of rock weighing 38.5kg stuck to his chest.

However, he added, his wife and children were not impressed by his rare ability.

“They think I have gone mad but I give little weight to their criticisms. I know I have gift although I don't know how it came about,” he said.

Tan also said he had to do simple exercises like pumping to warm up his body before performing his feats. However, he added, the items would drop if he perspired.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturer Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood said Tan’s ability was probably associated with suction properties in his skin. However, he said, tests had to be carried out to confirm this.

Nasrul Humaimi and Prof Dr Mohamed Amin from UTM’s electrical engineering faculty in Johor had done research on people with special abilities.

Their study covered Liew Thow Lin, 74, popularly known as the “Magnetic Man” because could make metal stick to his body.

Liew from Gunung Rapat in Ipoh could lift 30kg of weights attached to a metal plate placed against his abdomen.

During a carnival at Hospital Bahagia, Tanjung Rambutan, in September 2001, he had also pulled a Kancil car over 20m using an iron chain hooked to an iron plate stuck to his midriff.

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