At the end of 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China, and the world began to change. Governments enforced lockdowns, masks and vaccines distributed, and many countries closed their borders to prevent the spread of the virus.
During this period, I monitored the construction progress online for the second-tallest building in the world, Merdeka 118, in Kuala Lumpur. It stands at a staggering 679 metres tall, with an impressive spire. It was the perfect climb, but Malaysia's border was still closed in March 2022, and I worried I might miss my chance to climb it under construction.
Thankfully, on April 1st, Malaysia opened their borders to tourists. After preparing my COVID-19 documents, downloading some apps, and inviting some friends, I was on my way.
I missed my initial flight to Kuala Lumpur because my passport had a small tear in the corner, and Qatar Airways wouldn't allow me to fly with a "damaged passport". This damage was the consequence of a drunken night out back in 2019. Eskilite had put my jacket, containing my brand new passport, in the washing machine. Refusing to give up, I booked another flight with a different airline and boarded that evening. My wallet took a hit, but eventually, I made it to Malaysia.
By the time I arrived, the others had already explored the city a bit, and were nearly ready for the big climb. From a nearby rooftop, I spotted Merdeka for the first time. After years of waiting, it was surreal to see it in person.
I was fascinated to learn that the silhouette of the tower symbolises the iconic image of the outstretched hand of Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, when he proclaimed independence at Stadium Merdeka in 1957.
Finally, it was time to climb. We slept for a few hours and met up at midnight, excited but tense. Eskilite and I had already been there the evening before to plan our route so we could spring into action as soon as we arrived.
We purposefully attempted the climb on this specific day as it was a bank holiday in Malaysia and the end of Ramadan - we assumed there would be fewer workers and security guards on site because of this, and there were.
As we approached Merdeka 118, we noticed a group of people directly next to our entry point - not workers, just random people. They had a portable floodlight aimed directly at the building, seemingly to take photos. The group would see us climb in, so Mello put on a high vis and a helmet, then went over and told them politely to leave, which they did.
The four of us hopped the fence, found a way up the side of the atrium, and spotted a way into the sixth floor, exactly how I had planned during my many hours of online research. We could hear the snoring of a guard to our left and the distant sound of workers to our right. Below us, we saw the flickering of a torch from a security patrol. We weren't alone, but it wasn't too busy. One by one, we climbed the scaffolding from the atrium to the building and crept into the stairwell. I looked up the middle and saw that the stairs went up the whole way, which was a great sign. After walking up a few flights, I noticed an open door on one of the floors, so I slowed down, peered around the corner and spotted a security guard sitting on a chair in the doorway. He was facing the opposite direction but would hear us go past. I signalled to the others to back away and go down the stairs. We then changed stairwells and got past that floor successfully. In the following half an hour, we bypassed a few alarmed gates in the stairwells, either by climbing over them or squeezing through gaps in the bannisters.
Upon reaching floor 50, we were dripping in sweat and weren't even halfway up. We took a break, Eskilite and I shared an apple as we rested, panting as quietly as possible.
The next 50+ floors were a blur. We passed locked floors and more alarmed gates, eventually arriving at one we couldn't sneak past. There were no gaps to climb through or over it, and we could hear a security guard on the phone one floor above us. In a mild panic, we scoured the floors below for a way past this hurdle, which caused us to split into two groups and then both assume the other half of the group had gotten caught. At this point, doubt began to creep in, and I worried we wouldn't make it up. Every method I tried led to a dead end or a room with cameras. We met back up and fortunately found a way up some scaffolding to reach the staff canteen on floor 116.
We crouched behind some tables as we looked into the canteen floor, spotting the guard walking towards the stairwell with his back turned to us. We took this opportunity to look around the floor for a way up. I spotted a small opening that led to one of the slanted sections of the roof and went for it. Thankfully, the glass panels of the buildings' facade were yet to be installed, which left the metal frame exposed. We climbed the slope on all fours, using flimsy wires from the metal frame as hand and footholds. I went slowly, checking my surroundings vigilantly when passing each floor. The top few floors of the site were incomplete and temporarily open-plan. We risked being spotted by anyone in the top few floors. Looking to my left, I could see into the stairwell of the site, and after a few floors, I spotted the unmistakable neon glow of the security guards' high-vis. Luck was on our side as, once again, he was facing the other way whilst still chatting on the phone. We passed that floor, and as we reached the top of the slope, I turned to take a photo of the others climbing up it. Unfortunately, I would never see this photo again, but I know it was a banger.
Rushing onto the top floor, we saw the spire for the first time since being on the ground. Blue luminous light flooded the roof - it was so breathtaking up close. Crossing over some elevated beams, we sprinted for the stairs of the spire and began to climb. I was still in disbelief and was sure something would stop us in our tracks, but nothing did. Eventually, the stairs turned into narrow ladders cluttered with cabling and equipment. The small holes in the spire allowed us to catch teasing glimpses of the view as we climbed. Sweat dripped into my eyes and made them sting, but I continued, nearing the top of the 160m spire at around 6 am. I could see a wooden board with a chain and padlock covering the hole at the top, but as I got closer, I saw the gaps around the edges and effortlessly squeezed through, the sweat acting as a lubricant. Success.
I had a few minutes alone up there before the others joined me. I spent the time in silence whilst seated on the edge, looking across Kuala Lumpur's skyline.
We sat up there for about two hours, watching the sunrise from 679 metres high. We had infiltrated and summited the second-tallest building in the world. Nothing else mattered for those two hours. We talked, took photos, and ate the little food we had. Every tall structure we'd seen over the past few days was below us. Kuala Lumpur Tower, TRX Exchange, Four Seasons, and many more looked small and insignificant. As the sun rose, the clouds rolled in, and the landscape was perfect. The spires of the Petronas towers, the world's tallest twin skyscrapers, sliced through the clouds beautifully. Looking past the city and towards the horizon, the silhouettes of the mountain peaks appeared, complemented by the vibrant oranges and reds of the new day. Eventually, the adrenaline wore off, and I lay down for a thirty-minute nap, something I never do during a mission. The climb took five intense hours, and I was knackered.
At 8 am, we decided to leave. Looking over the side, I could see workers scattered around the roof, starting their shifts whilst unaware of our presence at the top of the spire. Reluctantly, we descended the ladders and walked across the beams to the stairwell. The plan was to walk past the workers whilst disguised as workers ourselves. Admittedly, I was sceptical of this plan, but our only other choice was to stay at the top of the spire until nightfall, hoping the site would quieten down again, but we had no food or water, so that didn't seem logical.
Sadly, the stairs were a bad option, and when we reached the locked gate, we found ourselves surrounded by a continually growing number of workers who knew we weren't supposed to be there. They weren't buying our story, and we later found out why. With no logical escape plan and too many people to run from, we had no choice but to face our demise. They told us to wait for the lift, so we did. With that lift came MP5-wielding police officers, construction site managers and an angry site safety officer. After arguing, we convinced them to take us into a private room to discuss our situation, away from the crowds of intrigued workers.
We used the lift to get to a lower floor, arriving in what looked like a meeting room, where they explained that someone else had attempted to climb Merdeka the same evening as us and had been seen by security, causing them to search the entire site and make all of the staff aware, which explains the reaction to our presence. One by one, we had to empty our bags whilst explaining each item and deleting our photos on our phones and cameras, including the recently deleted folder on iPhone. Fortunately, before descending the spire, I had ejected the SD card I was using, hidden it behind the foil of a Benson and Hedges cigarette packet, and taken a few quick photos with my decoy card, so when my turn came around, I formatted the decoy card with confidence. However, they became concerned when they saw the photos on my phone. They asked if I was a spy or worked for an intelligence agency, and it took a while for them to believe we were just thrill-seekers. Unfortunately, I lost all of my phone photos from the experience. When emptying my bag, I had to lay the cigarette packet out, which I tried to draw as little attention to as possible. After a few minutes of talking, one of the other police officers took a sudden interest in the packet. It seemed he had never seen one like it, maybe because it was English. He looked inside and shook it lightly. My heart was thumping through my fucking chest so hard, but I had to keep my eyes on the safety officer speaking to me. Thankfully, he didn't see the SD card and set the box down after what felt like a lifetime, but it was probably only a minute or two. That pack was the first thing I put in my bag once they were satisfied with my show and tell.
They cuffed us to each other and led us downstairs to the vehicle entrance. I vividly remember the burn of the hot morning sun on my face as we waited for our ride. An unmarked minivan pulled up, and we got in, one police car in front and one behind, escorting us with sirens on through the city to the police station. In a big rush for nothing really.
We spent a long time waiting around the station to speak to an investigating officer and were cuffed to multiple walls as we did. We were sleep-deprived, marinating in a gross amount of sweat, and had not eaten properly for nearly 12 hours.
After 32 hours in the cells, we were free to go back to our hotel. We showered, popped champagne, relaxed in the pool, and ate.
