THE STAR (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) 31 May 08 Snake man aims to break own record
Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but snakes are clearly Mohd Noor Abdullah’s best friends.
Famous snake handler Mohd Noor (Pak Sani) will attempt to break his own national record by staying with 300 'hissing friends' for 45 days in a cubicle.
Hailed as a snake maestro, the 61-year-old had previously entered the Malaysia Book Records (MBR) for staying with 250 poisonous cobras for 35 days in a cubicle in 1999 at the Summit Plaza in Bukit Mertajam.
A check with MBR has confirmed that to date, no one has broken his record.
Mohd Noor said: “I was told that when I was only a week old, I was already playing with snakes. My parents were mortified and tried to discourage my interest in the reptiles.
“When I was seven, they tied me to a tree and put a half-opened coconut sprinkled with sugar beside my feet so that ants would bite me. This was punishment for refusing to promise that I wouldn’t play with snakes anymore.”
He was left tied to the tree all night but eventually managed to loosen the ropes and escape, he said in an interview recently.
He said: “I ran away that night, took a ferry to Butterworth and a train to Johor where I found a job washing dishes in a restau-rant.
“A kind German customer from Singapore took pity on me and later adopted me. Finding that I had a penchant for animals, he asked if I’d like to learn their language. I said I did.
“So he sent me to an animal naturalist in Turkey where I learnt about various animals such as tigers, elephants and siamang (black gibbons).”
The grandfather of 22, who now lives in Langkawi, has also worked as an elephant handler in a local circus but his passion for snakes never ebbed.
His upcoming attempt to live with 300 cobras has received endorsement from the Penang Government which will also help to promote it as a tourism product.
Event manager Khoo Teng Chye said the 6m by 10.7m cubicle would be landscaped with a mini waterfall and a cave to make the cobras “feel right at home.”
“Pak Sani will also document their behaviour on video. Apart from promoting the Malaysia Boleh spirit, the effort is to spread awareness on animal conservation and dispel misconceptions on snakes,” he said.
He added that a nominal admission fee for visitors would be charged and part of the proceeds would go to welfare organisations to be chosen by the state government.
Khoo said they had identified a few possible venues and were currently waiting for confirmation.
He also said he would contact MBR to invite a representative to witness the attempt.
Snake man aims to break own record