KUALA LUMPUR: Ravichandran Tharumalingam or best known as Ravi ‘Everest’ never fail to bring the Jalur Gemilang on his mountain climbing adventures.
Ravichandran or Ravi as he prefers to be called, is Malaysia’s first solo climber successfully conquered the famous Mount Everest, 11 years ago.
Ravi is also listed in Malaysia Book of Records for his feat in climbing the 8,843.43m mountain on May 15, 2006.
The inspiring adventurer said that it is always an honour to bring the Jalur Gemilang on his journeys as it shows a sign of pride he has for the country.
“There is a reason why I always bring my Malaysian flag on every climb; it is because it always gives me an extra boost to keep going knowing that my country is always supporting me.
“I realised that only smaller countries like Malaysia brought their flags to show a sense of honour they have for their countries even if they are a minority in this world,” he told News Straits Times during an interview at the launch of KidZania SportZ 2017 here today.
The humble climber said that particular climb was a significant experienced for him as he learnt so much just through one journey.
“Reaching the summit thought me the values of being humble and to appreciate life even more as you have to leave fellow climbers behind and remove your own frostbitten fingers.
“When I reached the peak, it gave me so much satisfaction and made me realised the true meaning of Malaysian pride,” he said.
Ravi is so passionate about climbing that he lost eight fingers due to frostbites during the particular climb but kept going to make the country proud.
“Despite the bad experiences I had to go through, there was never a moment that I wanted to give up as I want to bring honour for Malaysia.
“The pride and joy it brought while representing the country on the climb is priceless,” he added.
The experienced climber said he will never stop climbing as he will continue with his passion and hope that this will inspire the younger generation in Malaysia about the meaning of Malaysian pride.