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Friday June 6, 2008 MYT 7:04:00 PM

Scouts build tower, break Malaysian record

By CHRISTINA KOH


IPOH: Using 5,000 pieces of mangrove wood and 300kg of rope, young scouts from the Shiang Yang 219th Kinta open troop built a 40.26m tower that made it into the Malaysia Book of Records.

It had taken 50 of them 10 days to build the tower, spanning nine levels, at the Bercham recreational garden and sports complex here.

For that, the structure entered the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) Friday as the tallest scout pioneering tower.

MBOR official Ricky Yap said the tower was an amazing feat as it was built entirely by hand without the use of machinery.

"One of the criteria in the attempt was that the feat had to be motivational and inspirational, and this certainly fits the description," he told reporters after presenting the certificate to the group here.

The previous record, he said, was set in 2002 by a group of Penang scouts who built such a tower 35m high with the help of cranes and scaffolding.

"I'm highly impressed as it's quite risky to construct with their own hands. Of course, they must take all the safety precautions," he added.

Scoutmaster Leong Siew Chuan, 26, said they built the tower to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Scout Movement and the eighth anniversary of the open troop.

For three days until Sunday, visitors are invited to visit and take pictures of the structure. The more daring ones can scale the tower for RM1 under the supervision of the scouts.

Located behind the Bercham police station, it will be on display for a month.

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