Longest Journey on Skates-world record set by Khoo
Swee Chiow
[Jan 21]SINGAPORE-- Singapore adventurer Khoo
Swee Chiow skated 6,088 kilometres in South East Asia in
94 days and set world record for the Longest Journey on Skates.
Khoo
Swee Chiow began his journey on 20 October last year. Starting
off in Hanoi, Vietnam, Khoo was in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia
before arriving in Johor Bahru on Sunday. He returned to Singapore
on Monday.
The previous record was 4,175 kilometres.
The adventurer said he used over 100 sets of wheels
and two pairs of shoes for the journey. The first Singaporean to
scale Mount Everest, Khoo
Swee Chiow aims to write a book about his journey in the
next six months.
Taking off his skates was a relief, but Khoo was mindful
of the message of energy conservation he hoped to spread through
his feats.
Khoo
Swee Chiow said: "I've been to many beautiful places - Mount
Everest, North Pole, South Pole. These are places that are disappearing
fast, because of human activities. "So I would like to ask the media
to help spread the message that we should all help to preserve these
(places) for our future generations."
.
Singaporean adventurer Khoo
Swee Chiow embarked on this mission in October of this year
to tour throughout Asia on his skates with a primary aim of raising
awareness on the importance of reducing energy consumption amongst
individuals and companies.
(enlarge
photo)
"With natural resources depleting rapidly across
the globe, energy-conservation has never been more crucial. In fact,
it has become increasingly necessary for someone to go the extra
mile to draw attention to the seriousness of the matter," said
Khoo
Swee Chiow.
"With the support of Brocade,
I will embark on this expedition to highlight the critical need
for each of us to strive to become more environmentally-conscious."
As a member of the Green Grid, a non-profit consortium
dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business
computing ecosystems, Brocade
(Nasdaq: BRCD) recognizes the significance and importance of energy
efficiency. This has been crucial especially with the increasing
demand for green data centers around the world.
"Today,
data centers and computer rooms across the globe consume approximately
two percent of the world’s energy, and will continue to grow on
a daily basis," commented Deb Dutta, Vice President, Asia Pacific
/ Japan of Brocade.
"Through this sponsorship, Brocade hopes to contribute
to protecting our environment by creating awareness for the importance
of energy conservation and educating the public about it in the
process."
Khoo
Swee Chiow, who was one of the first Singapore representatives
to scale Mount Everest in 1998, is also the holder of the existing
World Record for the Longest Scuba Dive in a Controlled Environment.
He said of his endlessly supportive wife, Madam
Tok Wee Leng: 'If I didn't have a wife like my wife, I wouldn't
be able to do any of this.'
Mr Khoo, 43, said at a press conference at the
Shangri-La Hotel: 'While not all of us will skate a distance of
6,000km, we can do something in our daily lives to protect our environment.'
He cited installing energy-saving appliances at home and turning
off the office lights at the end of the day as helpful habits.
Khoo
Swee Chiow has set foot on both of the earth’s poles, and
in 2003, he was the first man in the world to ride a bicycle 8,066
kilometers from Singapore to Beijing, China, in 73 days.
Khoo’s expedition is also sponsored by:
Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Keppel Corporation, Bods.Bodynits,
Canon Singapore, Oakley, PowerBar and Skateline.
KHOO’S RECORDS
The Singaporean man has scored remarkable milestones
in his career as a professional adventurer
* 2000: Officially said goodbye to office work as an
IT engineer to become self-proclaimed “professional adventurer.”
He conquered seven major mountain summits in one year.
* 2002: Travel to the North Pole
* 2003: Cycle from Singapore to Beijing
* 2004: Swim the Malacca Channel
* 2005: World record for the longest
distance scuba-dive
* 2006: Climb
Mount Everest for an astonishing second time