It was Oct 10, and Janahan Arumugam had made his way into the Malaysia Book of Records for hosting a 14-hour-long online mathematics seminar – officially recognised as ‘The Longest Virtual Non-Stop Mathematics Webinar’.

Over a thousand secondary students from across the country attended the seminar which was provided free of charge as a crash course in mathematics before the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia(SPM) examination.

Janahan spoke to FMT of his achievement: “I am definitely happy, relieved and grateful for the opportunity.

“Throughout those 14 hours, what kept me going were all the bright smiles of my students,” he says, adding that some students had their camera on throughout the 14 hours and their enthusiasm pushed him to remain online for the whole duration.

Janahan says the seminar reached its targeted goal in terms of the number of participants. Over 1,000 students from across Malaysia had tuned in to get the latest and best tips on mathematics.

He admits that it was no easy task getting through 14 hours with little rest and no nourishment in between.

“Of course, it was difficult. Especially since it was a non-stop programme, I could only take a 15-minute break.

“But I challenged myself to contribute a total of 14 hours just for my students, so that it (the seminar) would be beneficial for them,” he says.

The achievement has set Janahan to aspire to take on even bigger challenges in the near future.

“Definitely! I am planning to have a mega event, something greater perhaps, with even higher numbers of participants!”

What will this event entail? That remains to be seen as Janahan will share more once he has finalised his plans.

For now, he is happy to continue with his life’s work of teaching students to embrace their love of all things mathematics like he had done in school.