STUNTMAN FULFILS DREAM AFTER 19 YEARS
I feel ‘reborn’ after my first jump from KL Tower, says Akmal Jamal
NINETEEN years ago, Mohd Akmal Jamal witnessed participants BASE jumping from KL Tower.
The then 15-year-old teenage boy told himself that “I will do that one day” and yesterday, he fulfilled his dream when he was among 103 jumpers in the Kuala Lumpur Tower International Jump Malaysia (KLTIJM) 2019.
Now 34, the Movie Animation Park Studios stunt performer said he felt “reborn” after his first jump from the 300m-high sky deck.
“BASE jumping from KL Tower was always a goal that I wanted to achieve. I never thought that I could achieve it this year as I had just started jumping for a year.
“My senior recommended me after seeing my performance because KLTIJM is a high-profile event, and we don’t want to mess things up.
“My seniors coached me and I had joined other BASE jump events in the country, including The Shore Sky Tower and Hatten Tower in Melaka a few months ago,” he said.
BASE jumping involves parachuting or wingsuit flying from a fixed structure. BASE is an acronym for the four types of fixed objects where a jumper can set off from — building, antenna, span and earth.
Akmal said it was a huge challenge for him and he valued his life more after each jump.
“There is no space for error and it’s different from skydiving. I can rely only on one parachute.
“I am always thankful when I complete the jump safely. I target to jump 10 times per day during this four-day event,” he said.
KLTIJM is the last of a series of BASE jump events in Malaysia this year. The other event locations were the Alor Star Tower, Gua Damai Xpark in Batu Caves and Wisma Sanyan in Sibu.
Akmal’s friend, Mohd Nor Feirkhan, 42, said he never imagined he could jump in the event due to his age.
“My father was a commando and skydiving instructor. I grew up watching him skydive and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps when I was young. Unfortunately, I was rejected as I did not meet the physical requirements to be a skydiver.
“But my passion for skydiving re-emerged in 2015, when I met Akmal and several of his seniors. I have been skydiving since then, but I only started to do BASE jumps early this year after I knew about this event in March.”
Nor said it was a dream come true for him after he jumped off KL Tower yesterday.
“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘can I do this?’. But I receive lots of encouragement from my seniors and I don’t want to disappoint them. I did the best jump that I can. I will take part in this event again next year if I receive an invitation,” he said.
Brooke Brown, 31, who had BASE jumped 600 times around the globe, said her aim was to complete the jumps safely.
“This is my first time jumping from KL Tower. It was great and I’m ready to do more. KL Tower is not the highest that I have jumped.
“The highest I have tried was in Italy, where I jumped from a 1,219m-high mountain. I will also be doing night jumps this time,” said the American.
Menara Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Mohamed said 103 jumpers from 25 countries had participated in the 19th KLTIJM.
He said although it was slightly hazy yesterday, the condition did not affect the event.
“The event will go on as long as the jumpers can see the landing spots. We will also stop the event if there are strong winds and rain,” he said after the flag-off ceremony.
Razlan said the event had put Malaysia on the international tourism map as a destination for extreme sport tourism.
“We expect the jumpers to return as many of them had asked about the dates for next year’s event. They want to plan their leave,” he said.