KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA: Taking life "one step at a time" is an alien concept to a man who prefers to take 51 flights of stairs at a time.
But Mohd Noor Mat Amin's punishing take on life may just get him into both the Malaysia Book of Records and the Guinness World Book of Records.
The 41-year-old athlete, who is in the midst of conducting his Pendakian Merdeka 2008 feat in conjunction with the country's 51st Independence Day celebrations, has climbed up and down the stairwells of some of Malaysia's most iconic buildings.
Mohd Noor Amin
As part of his feat, Mohd Noor has climbed the staircases of Pelita Tower in Sarawak, Tun Mustapha Tower in Sabah, Alor Star Tower in Kedah and the Felda Residence Hotel here, an astonishing 51 times each.
On Wednesday, the Terengganu-born mountain climber who was part of the successful 1997 Malaysia-Everest Expedition, will complete the fifth leg of his nationwide feat by repeatedly climbing the stairs of the Kuala Lumpur Tower, one of the world's tallest.
In addition to honouring Malaysia on its 51st national day, Mohd Noor is also hoping to set a new record for the Malaysia Book of Records for the highest number of climbs in 24 hours, as well as entering the Guiness World Book of Records for 51 counts of climbing up and down the Kuala Lumpur Tower.
Mohd Noor, who has conquered many mountains worldwide, said he became a record-setter in the Malaysia Book of Records in September last year after managing to individually climb Mount Kinabalu 50 times in 60 days.
This newfound passion for record breaking appears to run in the family, as Mohd Noor's son, Muhammad Syahrulnizam, has been bitten by the same climbing bug and accompanies his father on many of his exploits.
In fact, the four-year-old is mentioned in the Malaysia Book of Records as the youngest person to climb the staircase of the Kuala Lumpur Tower in one hour and 13 minutes.
