Base jumpers leap from KL tower

By Jonathan Kent
BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Base jumpers have been allowed to dive from the city's highest points

Dozens of people have been marking the start of Malaysia's 50th anniversary celebrations by throwing themselves off one of the country's tallest buildings.

The international base jump from the KL Tower is part of a tour of the country by extreme sports enthusiasts.

Malaysia boasts some of the world's tallest buildings, which are a familiar feature of its urban landscape.

Authorities are proud of the high-rises and generally relaxed about letting thrill-seekers base jump off them.

To honour next week's 50th anniversary of Malaysia winning its independence from Britain, international base jumpers have been allowed to dive from urban highpoints across the country.

This includes sites in the cities of Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo, and from towers in Alostar, George Town and the capital Kuala Lumpur in West Malaysia.

Three hundred metres up the KL Tower, a telecommunications tower in Kuala Lumpur, I asked one base jumper the obvious question: "Just how crazy do you have to be to jump off a building with just a parachute?"

"You have to be completely sane to jump off a building with a parachute," he replied.

"That's the point. I don't think any of us are really crazy. [We] put a lot of planning into this, think about it and make it as safe as possible."

All that planning is aimed at ensuring this celebration of half a century of Malaysia's high-rise ambitions passes off without any accidents.