RIYADH, 29 May 2003 — An adventurous Malaysian is hoping to enter the Guinness Book of Records by visiting 118 countries by car over an 18-month period.
“I want to repeat the history of Ibn Batuta, with the only difference that I’ll be traveling by car, not by ship,” Shamsurrijal Abdul Jamil, a Malaysian government employee in his mid-30s, told Arab News at the Malaysian Embassy here.
He said another objective of his mission was to send across the message that Islam is a religion of peace and that Muslims as a whole should not be branded terrorists for the acts of a few misguided elements.
The current record-holders, he said, were Jims Roger and Peige Parker who rode through 111 countries. Shamsurrijal wants to outperform them on both the fronts. Sponsors include the government of Johor, his native island, Proton, Malaysian Airlines Systems (MAS), the New Straits Times and Berita Minggu, a vernacular daily from Kuala Lumpur, which carries regular e-mail dispatches from Shamsurrijal about his experience along the way.
Shamsurrijal, who set out on his journey by Proton, Malaysia’s own car, on Feb. 15 this year, has so far logged in over 20,500 km, driving through 20 countries over a three-month period.
“I want to study the various cultures, mix with the people and experience their lifestyle. All this input will go into the production of a book and a CD,” he said.
People, he points out, behave nicely so long as they do not hanker after power or other interests in which others are seen as a stumbling block.
Even in war-torn Afghanistan, he enjoyed the hospitality of the people armed with guns and other weapons. “I slept in their houses, ate along with them, and explored their cities.”
On average he does 300-500 km a day depending on the weather conditions. However, on the Jordan-Kuwait sector, he covered 1,200 km in one day, touching a maximum speed of 200 km an hour.
What about communication?
“It wasn’t a problem,” he says. “I used sign language to get my message across.”
During his travel through South Asia, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and the Middle East he did not experience anything untoward except the elements, such as heavy snowfall in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrghistan. “It was a hassle-free ride except for the change of tires in Jordan.”
Shamsurrijal has set up a website, www.jgii.skali.com, to log in the details of his journey. Besides, his car is equipped with GPS, GIS and satellite communication facilities. This makes it easier for others with the same facilities to track his movement and the speed at which he is traveling.
He left yesterday for Makkah and Madinah before continuing his journey, which will take him to Australia, 17 African countries, the whole of North America, Latin America (except trouble spots like Surinam and Guinea) and the whole of Europe. “I did extensive reading for two years before embarking on my globe-girdling trip,” he added.
