At the end of 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19 erupted in Wuhan, China, and the world began to change. Governments enforced lockdowns, distributed masks and vaccines, and many countries closed their borders to prevent the spread of the virus.
By this point, I had been monitoring the construction progress online for the second-tallest building in the world, Merdeka 118, for a few years. Located in Kuala Lumpur, it is a staggering 679 metres tall, with an impressive spire. It was the perfect climb, but despite the UK relaxing its travel restrictions, Malaysia's border was still closed in March 2022, and I worried I might miss my chance to climb it under construction. Eskilite and I were so desperate that we discussed sneaking through a land border from Thailand or getting a boat from Vietnam to reach Malaysia. However, after hearing horror stories about broken lockdown rules over there, we decided against it.
By this point, I had been monitoring the construction progress online for the second-tallest building in the world, Merdeka 118, for a few years. Located in Kuala Lumpur, it is a staggering 679 metres tall, with an impressive spire. It was the perfect climb, but despite the UK relaxing its travel restrictions, Malaysia's border was still closed in March 2022, and I worried I might miss my chance to climb it under construction. Eskilite and I were so desperate that we discussed sneaking through a land border from Thailand or getting a boat from Vietnam to reach Malaysia. However, after hearing horror stories about broken lockdown rules over there, we decided against it.
Thankfully, on April 1st, after months of being misled by false alarms from fake news sites, 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 drama was the result of a drunken night out in 2019, involving Primrose Hill, a large bottle of vodka, vomit, and a train, after which Eskilite put my sick-covered jacket, containing my brand-new passport, in the washing machine. For context, I'd used this passport to fly many times since then, and this was the only time the damage was ever flagged.
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 and met Eskilite, Mello, and Drift at our hotel.
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.
Merdeka 118 towers over everything else in Kuala Lumpur by far, dominating the skyline. 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, after buying some PPE and finalising our plan, it was time to climb. 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 slept for a few hours, met up just after midnight and jumped in a taxi, excited but tense. After a navigational issue, we arrived at Merdeka at 2 am and noticed a group of people directly next to our entry point - not workers, just random people. They had a 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, worked our way up inside a building next to 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 access still seemed possible. 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, which was momentarily true.
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, got past that floor successfully, and headed up the stairs. 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 60+ floors were a blur; the heat and dehydration became extreme. We passed locked floors and more alarmed gates, eventually arriving at one harder to bypass on floor 114 - netting and cable ties sealed the gap in the bannister, and we could hear a security guard talking on the phone 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. None of our phones had signal either, meaning we couldn't contact each other. At this point, doubt began to creep in, and I worried we wouldn't make it up. Tensions were high, and every method we tried led to a dead end or a room with cameras. We met back up after a while and decided to cut the ties and squeeze through, wary that although we could no longer hear the guard, he could appear at any moment. With our shoes off to reduce noise, we went up more stairs and soon faced another gate boasting the same issue. This time, we managed to find a way up some scaffolding on floor 115 to get past it and reach the staff canteen on floor 116.
Crouched behind some tables, we looked into the canteen floor, where there were quite a few workers scattered around, which felt bizarre as we'd avoided them until this point. We waited for a while, and the floor cleared out as people finished what was probably their breakfast. We took this opportunity to look around the floor for a way up and spotted a small opening that led to one of the slanted sections of the roof, and went for it. The glass panels of this slope were yet to be installed, which left the metal frame exposed for the top five floors, providing us with a ladder. We climbed it 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 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. He was chatting on the phone whilst looking in our direction, so I waited for him to face the other way and continued. As we reached the top of the slope, I turned to take a phone 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 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 160 metre 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. After infiltrating and summiting the second-tallest building in the world, nothing else mattered for a while. 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 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 four intense hours, and I was knackered.
At 8 am, we decided to leave. Looking over the side, I could see workers on 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 crowd of around forty 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 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, in pairs, 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. Once we arrived at the police station, we spent a long time waiting around to speak to an investigating officer and were cuffed to multiple walls as we did. I tried to rest, but whenever I closed my eyes, another officer would come over and question us.
Police officers questioned us aggressively for a long time, took our fingerprints, mugshots, basic details, and seized our camera equipment. They allowed us to use our phones momentarily, so we informed loved ones of our situation and made up excuses for our absence from work. I used my damaged passport as my reason, telling my manager I had to get an emergency passport, etc.
Inevitably, we spent a night in the cells, wearing distributed purple shorts and t-shirts. The cells were essentially large cages, with high ceilings and wooden floors with one toilet at the end, which doubled as a shower. I'll let you visualise how that works. We passed one holding roughly twenty people, but were ordered into an empty one, thankfully. I slept the entire time, only waking to receive our breakfast, cold coffee in a plastic bag and bread with some curd.
They released us in the morning, after spending 32 hours in the police station. It had then been 43 hours since our capture on the upper floors of Merdeka, and not only were we sleep-deprived, but we were marinating in a gross amount of sweat, and had not eaten properly for days. Because of the holiday period, the courts were closed for another three days, so we would have to stay in the country until then, maybe longer if we faced conviction. Not only would we miss our return flights, but we had planned to visit Singapore too, which we missed out on. After returning to our hotel, we showered, popped champagne, relaxed in the pool, and filled our empty stomachs. We also went to the nearby shopping centre to buy temporary phones as the police kept ours as evidence for the ongoing investigation.
After a relaxing weekend, we headed to the courthouse in the best outfits we could put together on a budget and met up with our lawyer. There was no sign of our investigating officer when we arrived, and after a short wait, our lawyer got a call to say our case had been thrown out. Freedom. We went back to the police station to collect our equipment, then booked our flights home for the following day.
