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I'm not the average Joe. Not even close.
I have always been regarded as "The Special One". Not certainly in a positive manner, but regardless, I was at often times associated by many with attributes of being rather "different". Such labels would presumably bestow upon me with the identity of an outcast, but that in fact, is exactly what I indulge in as a role.
I am built different. I'm not the average Joe, not even close. No, I'm not saying that I'm some kind of extraterrestrial genius who managed to speak 20 languages at five years of age, but rather that I am not what anyone would expect from the ordinary individual. I possess a vast array of skillsets which greatly distance me from the ones surrounding me, highlighting my presence as somewhat divine and unique.
I, Lim Kai Yi, am a 124-time Official Guinness World Record Holder; a hyperpolyglot who speaks 10 languages fluently; a sponsored athlete; a 6-time Speedsolving World Champion; a content creator who has managed to amass over 700,000 subscribers/followers and 500,000,000+ views in total etc.
The list goes on and on, but the standpoint remains clear and simple, which is that I am far from what you would consider to be "normal". I am special; I am unique; I am who I am, and my achievements as well as my capabilities would allow the question of "Who am I" to be answered for itself, literally, as in searches online can be done towards my name, and the responses needed would gradually unravel itself in waves.
Hence, this piece of research would be an autoethnographic study using myself as the subject, wherein I will attempt to "Speak against, or provide alternatives to, dominant, taken-for-granted, and harmful cultural scripts, stories, and stereotypes" as part of constructing the integral focus of the research. This is because I am usually the one who is initially looked down upon, wherein I would later prove my haters wrong by succeeding what they thought was impossible for me to achieve, thus making them eat their own foul words as I slowly march towards glory and my well-deserved pride.
Anchor 1
The video above is an autoethnographic collection of data in the form of videos and photos across the span of 30 days, featuring a one-second clip or a random photo each day, which focuses on my daily life as well as the expected representation of me as I live through my "normal" life in front of the screen.
The 30 separate entries have been listed individually as shown below, with the exact dates and context being attached for better reference.
Home: Contact
Entry 1 (10/02/2024)
- I am a speedcuber
Entry 2 (11/02/2024)
- I like to sing
Entry 3 (12/02/2024)
- I am an Official Guinness World Record Holder
Entry 4 (13/02/2024)
- I like to play football
Entry 5 (14/02/2024)
- I like to assemble locks
Entry 6 (15/02/2024)
- I believe hardwork leads to success
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Entry 7 (16/02/2024)
- I like to challenge my grip strength
Entry 8 (17/02/2024)
- I am a product tester
Entry 9 (18/02/2024)
- I am a YouTuber
Entry 10 (19/02/2024)
- I am a speedstacker
Entry 11 (20/02/2024)
- I like to challenge the limits of sports
Entry 12 (21/02/2024)
- I remember being on a televised interview
Entry 13 (22/02/2024)
- I am a Rubik's Cube collector
Entry 14 (23/02/2024)
- I am a 134-Time Official Guinness World Record Holder
Entry 15 (24/02/2024)
- I like Hula-Hooping
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Entry 16 (25/02/2024)
- I am an Instagrammer
Entry 17 (26/02/2024)
- I believe determination induces success
Entry 18 (27/02/2024)
- I like playing games
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Entry 19 (28/02/2024)
- I believe persistence is the
key towards achieving success
Entry 20 (29/02/2024)
- I like weightlifting
Entry 21 (01/03/2024)
- I believe that success is
the product of optimism
Entry 22 (02/03/2024)
- I like to challenge my strength limits
Entry 23 (03/03/2024)
- I am a speedslider
Entry 24 (04/03/2024)
- I am a bass vocalist
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Entry 25 (05/03/2024)
- I believe that
creativity brings success
Entry 26 (06/03/2024)
- I remember being on a TV show
Entry 27 (07/03/2024)
- I believe not giving up
will drive me towards success
Entry 28 (08/03/2024)
- I am a sponsored athlete
Entry 29 (09/03/2024)
- I believe that positivity creates success
Entry 30 (10/03/2024)
- I am hungry for success
Entry 1
"I AM A SPEEDCUBER"
The first entry of the data collection shows my identity as a speedcuber, hence the title "I am a speedcuber". I would consider this to be one of my most prevalent identities when presented under the spotlight, since I have in fact achieved rather decent milestones in the cubing world. For some context, the term "Speedcuber" refers to an individual who is capable of solving puzzles like Rubik's Cubes or any similar equivalent within short periods of time, hence the visual that they are quick at solving puzzles.
I am often regarded as a speedcuber since I am in fact rather skilled at speedsolving the infamous Rubik's Cube, as demonstrated through the video on the left, where I executed a 20-move sequence one-handed within a single second. My speed and skills however, are not simply a party trick; but are in fact abilities which have garnered global recognition and fame.
That's where the clip in the middle and the photo on the right comes in, since they showcase my Official Guinness World Record titles for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Rotating Puzzle Cube whilst Controlling a Table Tennis (Ping Pong) Ball" event at 21.97 seconds. This piece of achievement indicates that I take speedcubing very seriously, and that I would at often times manage to locate a way to excel very differently compared to what the average person would perceive as success; never failing to exceed expectations and to make others' jaws drop.
Which brings us to the part where I will speak against some harmful stories regarding the subject matter in the past, being that many fellow speedcubers have looked down on me, and that they said I would never succeed in obtaining official recognition for my abilities. These were the exact group of individuals who refused to believe that I actually managed to secure more than 90 Official Guinness World Record titles in the end; also being the same people who never accepted to acknowledge that I have indeed proven them wrong. I told them that I would in fact become the very best in the world at doing something, and so I eventually did, making them eat up all of their own words unrelentingly.
This data entry thus poses a strong connection with the concept of "Communicative Functions of Language", which was encapsulated within the Introduction to Ethnography and Communication Course (SE103) at the UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus. Communicative functions refer to the purpose of gestural, vocal, and verbal acts intended to convey information to others, and some communicative functions include commenting, requesting, protesting, directing attention, showing, and rejecting.
In this scenario, the negative commenting by the mentioned speedcubers towards me can be considered as an example of communicative functions, with the aim being to break me down, and to discourage me from achieving excellence; me on the other hand rejecting their statement would also qualify as another communicative function, since I eventually managed to disapprove their statement by actually achieving many Official Guinness World Record titles related to speedcubing.
Entry 2
"I LIKE TO SING"
The second data entry showcases my identity as someone who likes to sing. Not the typical or ordinary form of singing though, but rather operatic singing to be exact.
I enjoy classical music. A lot. So much that I literally tend to convert all of my singing into operatic singing all the time. However, I am not the kind of person to make up statements without concrete proof, like how the videos above serve as evidence that I could in fact sing, and that I do take operatic singing seriously.
The clip on the left features me hitting a High C or C5 note in chest voice as part of the climax for the French operatic piece "Ah! mes amis", which is no easy task even after years of professional vocal training. The fact that I am a bass singer also means that it is a lot more difficult to pull of such an execution.
The clip in the middle shows me singing the pre-chorus for the Italian classic "Nessun Dorma", which requires vocalists to hit constant Bb4s or Tenor High B-Flats with projection and resonance, again far from an easy feat to pull off.
The clip on the right shows my take at modern music, wherein I attempt to replicate the climax for the song "Ocean", a Taiwanese hit in the 90s, meaning I had to perform an operatic execution reaching up to yet again another High C or C5 note in chest voice, with full vibrato as well.
Simply put, all of the aforementioned performance are no easy task even for trained vocalists, since operatic singing is very different compared to modern music. A plethora of skills would be needed for betterment or improvement in this field, and the fact that I have never been professionally trained just makes it seem even more unbelievable.
Which is where the main focus of this data entry comes in, being to speak against another harmful story which I have experienced as a child. I was a lively soul who loved to sing back then, but my inability to execute sequences well led to the condemnation by others, since I was told that I had a terrible voice and would never be able to sing well. Puberty hit slightly after, and my range dropped drastically from that of a countertenor to a literal bass, which only made it harder for me to sing, let along excel in operatic singing.
Still, I never gave up hope. I began to do my own research 0n how to improve my singing, and after putting in countless hours of hard work as well as unfathomable amounts of blood, sweat and tears; I finally managed to put the piece together, eventually expanding my vocal range to cover that of a bass till that of a tenor; which has allowed me to become very versatile in singing. Being self-taught also credited me with the ability to constantly pursue self-improvement, which propels me further into the enhancement of my abilities, making those who criticized me to eat their own words.
As a result, I have managed to accumulate a reasonable amount of titles at singing competitions locally, which serves as the ultimate proof that I am not only one who likes to sing; but that I in fact CAN sing. This thus resonates with the "Contextualization cue" concept of the course, as contextualization cues are defined as "signaling mechanisms used by speakers to indicate how they mean what they say".
In this case, being able to sing would qualify as my contextualization cue, given that quite a number of people around me know me best for my operatic singing, such as at church. My ability to sing has not only in someway exceeded itself as a form of enthusiasm; but that it has also evolved into a trademark of mine, following me wherever I go. Hence, my contextualization cue of singing functions to convey the message that I am someone who is capable of taking things to the next level; and that I am decent at slapping haters in the face with superior achievements.
Entry 3
"I AM AN OFFICIAL GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER"
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The third data entry showcases me as an Official Guinness World Record Holder. A 134-time Official Guinness World Record Holder, in fact, since that is the amount of titles which I have achieved in total as of 2025, whereby I also currently hold 66 unbroken titles.
The video on the left is the footage of my Official Guinness World Record Attempt for the "Fastest Time to Complete a Soma Cube" event at 1.250 seconds, whereas the photo in the middle would be the certificate for my former achievement of the same record at 1.36 seconds, since the newest certificate for the 1.250-second attempt has yet to be delivered to my doorstep as of the date of publication for this article.
Which brings us to the harmful story to be spoken against for this entry, being that I have been in feud with a fellow rival from China for over 3 years as a result of this record title. It started off with me breaking the person's former record at 2.643 seconds with a 2.458-second attempt in 2021; followed by him snatching the title away with a 1.40-second solve in 2022; again with me returning the favor with a 1.36-second attempt to regain the title the same year; however in late 2023 his apprentice managed to steal the title away from me with a 1.295-second attempt; wherein I finally managed to break the record again with the 1.250-second solve as shown above.
Throughout the course of the 3 years of us battling for the sacred record title, I have been verbally abused by the opposition countless times, since the Chinese rival was unrelenting and very much unwilling to accept the fact that someone across the globe was better than him at what he does best. The guy basically runs a chain of tuition classes for learners to study puzzle-speedsolving, wherein he manages to make millions off this business every year since 2008; my presence however has posed as a major threat to him, since my achievement of the aforementioned record title also meant that he could no longer advertise himself as the infamous multi-Guinness World Record-holder.
Thus, the person in question would at often times throw out negative comments on social media towards me, like how I am a potential cheater, and that I do not deserve to hold the said record title just because I am not from China, since I am perceived as a "foreigner" and thus someone underserving of success, which very well demonstrates elements of racism and xenophobia; but more prominently, arrogance and utter ignorance. I had to deal with waves of verbal abuse from not only the guy, but also from other users of Chinese social media like DouYin, BiliBili, KuaiShou, XiaoHongShu etc., just because he had misled his audience into believing that I actually played foul; and that I am in fact the main antagonist of the tale.
I would see this story as a harmful cultural and national perception to me, since not only have I been insulted, so has shame been brought upon to my country as well. This is due to the fact that more and more users of the said Chinese social media platforms have began to use my nationality as an excuse when it comes to insulting my country for my achievements. They kept on mentioning the fact that all Malaysians are cheaters, and that we should have never been allowed by Guinness World Records' to receive recognition etc.
This data entry thus strongly resonates with the "Verbal and non-verbal communicative acts" concept from the Introduction to Ethnography and Communication Course (SE103) at the UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus in Malaysia. A communicative act is defined as "a communicative unit with a single interactional function", wherein verbal forms could be like to request or to command; and non-verbal ones are such as to wave. Communicative acts are also categorized as representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations.
The frequent negative statements made by my Chinese rival as well as by his audience 0n social media could be considered as expressives, since expressives express some sort of psychological state, such as the complaining by the Chinese in this case. I have received literal insults from them like "There's nothing decent from Malaysia", or even something as absurd as "Malaysians are awfully disgusting", which goes on to show just how much do the aforementioned demographics hate me for my achievements.
And that's where the photo on the right comes in; which would be a screenshot of Guinness World Records' official website, which features a list of some of the record titles which I currently still hold. As previously mentioned, I still hold 51 unbroken titles as of early 2024; whereas the mentioned Chinese rival only holds 4 at the moment. Hence, this shows that I really am largely unaffected by his insults and threats, since such negatives only contribute to the stronger development of my capabilities as well as towards my mentality. His expressives only make me stronger, and I will only continue to flourish despite his constant efforts to bring me down.
Entry 4
"I LIKE TO PLAY FOOTBALL"
This data entry accounts for the fourth day of the research, which shows my love for the sport of football, wherein I will attempt to speak against the cultural stereotype that Asians or the Chinese in particular can't play football for God's sake; as well as the perception that top scholars are terrible at sports.
The clip on the left shows me foot-juggling a football, which serves as a reminder that I can still play even with very limited equipment like a deflated ball, as well as the fact that I am literally wearing $1 sandals. This is to revoke the statement that fancy or decent equipment is necessary for excellence in playing sports, to which I can confidently rebuke, since I play barefoot most of the time, and still end up winning.
The photo in the middle shows a gold medal of mine from an interclass football tournament in 2018, wherein our team won the competition by margins, securing the title with a 2-0 victory in the final, whereby I was the one who scored the winning goal. The photo on the right would thus be a group photo of our team members with our coach, which serves a commemoration of our achievement.
And since our high school was indeed one of the most academically-prestigious institutions in Northern Malaysia, we as students were at often times regarded as those who are terrible at sports, since we were only expected to excel academically. The same can be said for the entirety of Asia, specifically for the Chinese, since our continental level of success in the sport of football has in fact been quite discouraging compared to the rest of the world. However, that does not mean that all Asians, that all Chinese people, or that all top scholars are essentially bad at sports, and our achievement in the said discipline has very much spoken for itself. As a matter of fact, I would have been recruited by the U-16 football team for the state of Penang if it wasn't for the interruption of the pandemic.
Actions speak louder than words, which is why I believe that the tale above perfectly relates to the "Non-verbal communicative act" concept of this course. This is because the communicative act of kicking the ball around or to score goals would function to convey the message that I, an Asian; a Chinese person; a top scholar, am not weak when it comes to sports, and that I enjoying allowing my skills to do the talking.
Entry 5
"I LIKE TO ASSEMBLE LOCKS"
Entry number five is titled "I like to assemble locks", which indexes my love for speed assemblies of lock puzzles, also known as "Wisdom Locks", "Burr Puzzles", "Luban Locks", "Kongming Locks" etc. This data entry basically stresses the fact that I am very much decorated with achievements in the field of lock puzzle-speedsolving, since I currently hold the Official Record Setter World Record for the "Fastest Time to Assemble a Six-Piece Burr Puzzle" event at 3.98 seconds as shown through the clip on the left; as well as the Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Assemble a Burr Puzzle (Luban Lock)" event at 4.59 seconds as demonstrated through the clip in the middle and by the photo on the right, which is a certificate of the said title.
But with all glory so comes the aftermath, which would be how I was again insulted and verbally attacked by the Chinese rival as mentioned in Entry 3, being Ye Jiaxi from China. As previously stated, I snatched a considerable amount of Official Guinness World Record titles from him, which has criticially impacted his business in the puzzle tuition industry, since he was no longer eligible of advertising himself as the current Official World Record holder for many events, with this Burr puzzle event being no exception.
Hence, he had boldly stated that I am a thief of Chinese culture since I as a foreigner have broken this Official Guinness World Record title, which is related to a traditional Chinese Puzzle, being the infamous Luban Lock. They even criticized me as a robber, going on to unjustly accuse me of stealing their record title through potential cheating, which is definitely untrue. My Malaysian background was once again brought into light, since Ye Jiaxi has publicly commented on this issue across many news articles, with several of them being mainstream sources of information in Mainland China.
Regardless, I was never really bothered by such harmful acts towards my reputation, since I simply allowed my record-breaking to do the talking, as I proceeded to again break one after another record title of his, leaving the Chinese rival with no effective outcome of trying to destroy my fame. I am an expert at silencing both my haters and my rivals, which once again shows just how exactly am I built different.
Thus, this entry shows an obvious connection with the "Language and Culture" concept of this course, since Ye Jiaxi's rather conservative cultural background has heavily influenced his form of language. This has been made apparent when he decided to publicly criticize me for taking his records since I'm not from China; and that his ignorance for international culture largely arises from his deep and intertwined love for national pride. Regardless, I still managed to come out on top whenever the two of us battle for record titles, which again demonstrates how winners train, and how losers complain.
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Entry 6
"I BELIEVE HARDWORK
LEADS TO SUCCESS"
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Entry six goes by the title of "I believe hardwork leads to success", which pretty much is straightforward and self-explanatory. The way I would consider success is quite simple in fact, which could take the form of instances as shown in the one clip and two photos above, being a video of my 0.71-second Official Record Setter World Record solve for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Soma Cube" event; as well as a screenshots showing how I have officially surpassed 100 titles at Record Setter World Records' respectively, currently totaling at 113 World Record Titles as of early April.
Exceeding 100 Official World Record titles might sound like the norm to me, but it still clearly requires a ton of effort and hard work. I have put in countless hours of work and determination to reach where I am today, and I will not allow anyone to disregard my astonishing pieces of success as the product of sheer luck, which brings us to the part where I address harmful episodes that I have previously experienced regarding the matter at hand.
Every time I achieve a new record title, there would always be those who would consider my achievements as the product of simply having very good luck, since they would refuse to at any point acknowledge the fact that I am just that good, let along mentioning if they would ever admire me for my lasting efforts and optimism. It does seem funny when you consider the fact that I have achieved over 100 Official World Record titles across the span of three short years, and yet there still will always be haters who somehow think 100 consecutive successful episodes are always the result of good luck. Haters will always be haters, I suppose, though that does not alter the fact that I will continue to excel with or without their presence.
As such, the mentioned scenario strongly corresponds to the "Communicative competence" concept of this Introduction to Ethnography and Communication course, given that communicative competence is the ability to achieve communicative goals in a socially appropriate manner, which is something that my haters have always lacked in. They have always failed to bring me down in an effective manner through their delivery of words, since I am in fact a strong person with a solid character, and their mission to destroy me has essentially failed all the way. Even if they were to verbally abuse someone, they should have not targeted someone as successful as me, given how I will always make my haters eat their own words through my justified achievements.
Entry 7
"I LIKE TO CHALLENGE
MY GRIP STRENGTH"
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Being a grip sport enthusiast has led to many adventures throughout my life, and this entry perfectly transcribes it. The clip on the left shows me fully closing a 200lb / 90kg steel hand gripper one-handed, which is rather superhuman considering I only weigh 120lbs / 55kg; the clip on the left shows a hand gripper-closing compilation which I have uploaded to my second YouTube channel with 113,000+ subscribers; whereas the photo in the middle is a screenshot on YouTube, showing how the said video has gained nearly 30,000 views, which is a lot since grip sport content falls under a very small niche online.
All of the aforementioned statistics point towards the conclusion that my grip strength is not what the ordinary person could achieve, as the average male is only capable of reaching a grip strength equivalent to approximately 88lbs or 40kg; whereas mine peaks at an average of 287lbs or 130kg. Considering that I am a superlight-weight athlete, such numbers could be said to be astronomical, given that such figures are basically world-class. I might not be 7 feet tall, nor do I have mountains of skeletal muscles, but I sure can crush skulls with ease, which again shows just how exactly am I built different.
Even though I have reached phenomenal milestones in the sport of grip, there still are many doubters and haters out there, who constantly think that my videos are fake, and that I am nowhere as strong as I claim to be. Some even go as far as taunting me for being a so-called "liar", which brings us to the part where I will be speaking out against harmful stories in the past concerning this particular subject.
To prove my haters wrong, I will often arm-wrestle them, and I ended up nearly breaking some of my opponents' wrists in the process, also being able to switch seamlessly between both arms given that I am ambidextrous. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case that statement is very much true, like literally. I'm no Samson from the Holy Bible when it comes to strength sports, but I am at the very least strong enough to make my haters shut their mouths.
This entry thus involves the "Communicative Event" concept of the course, since a Communicative Event is defined as "a single event with unified major components, such as a purpose, topic, participants, linguistic codes, tones, rules, settings etc. The aforementioned scenario of arm-wrestling would thus qualify as a setting being a communicative event, as components like efforts to win, physical battling, mental endeavors etc. can all be categorized under the theme of sports, again making the setting a legitimate communicative event.
Entry 8
"I AM A PRODUCT TESTER"
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Whenever I came across advertisements of ambassadors promoting products for companies or businesses, I always dreamt of reciprocating similar feats, and now, I have finally made that dream a reality. I have been a sponsored athlete for the Chinese puzzle-manufacturing company DianSheng since 2022, as I broke the Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Rubik's Snake into a Ball" event at 2.67 seconds using their product.
Hence, the clip on the left shows me breaking the Official Record Setter World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Rubik's Snake into a Ball" event at 1.96 seconds, done using DianSheng's pink and white 24-segment Rubik's Snake puzzle. The photo on the left would be a screenshot of the mentioned record title on Record Setter World Record's official site, whereas the photo in the middle shows my product testing video being uploaded to DianSheng's socials.
DianSheng would use me as their main human resource representative whenever they send me new products for testing, like how they would get me to film speedsolving videos of me using their products as a form of product promotion and advertising. As of 2023, I have received over $1,000 worth of their products being their main product tester, wherein I continue to generate revenue for the company alongside getting to achieve greater results in terms of breaking more official world record titles.
Still, jealousy accounts for the rise of sinister intentions, and that perfectly explains the harmful stories which I am about to tell, particularly those related to this data entry. Ever since I opened up my idea of wanting to be a brand spokesperson or ambassador as a kid, I have been laughed at and constantly taunted for my so-called "innocence" and "naivety", as no one believed that I would ever succeed. Hence, I managed to prove them wrong, as I am now the brand ambassador for DianSheng, wherein I get to make money, receive free products, as well as gain recognition just by providing simple product testing.
This entry would hence resonate strongly with the "Language and Class" concept of this course, since people have been shown to treat me very differently in terms of their language use before and after I became a brand ambassador. Me as an ordinary kid before I managed to secure a spot as the brand spokesperson for DianSheng was considered to be someone from the middle or even lower class, hence people often looked down on me or even made fun of me verbally; after I became the brand ambassador for DianSheng, people started to take me seriously, and they would often apply rather appropriate language for they now see me as someone from the potential upper class due to my distinguished status.
Entry 9
"I AM A YOUTUBER"
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Entry number nine showcases my identity as a YouTuber, like how the photo on the left shows my fourth YouTube channel, being ASMR Cuber with 256,000+ subscribers and 160,000,000+ views. The photo on the right shows my first, second and third YouTube channels, being Frozen Cuber with 62,300+ subscribers and 11,000,000+ views; Disney Cuber with 113,000+ subscribers and 3,800,000+ views; as well as Amogus Cuber with 79,800+ subscribers and 56,000,000+ views respectively. The clip in the middle would be one of the videos I have posted on ASMR Cuber's channel, which has gained 17,000,000+ views and almost 270,000 likes on YouTube.
In total, I have accumulated approximately 550,000+ subscribers and 300,000,000+ views on YouTube across the span of fours years taking my other channels into account, which for a random university student is nothing short of a miracle. I do not have any fancy equipment, since I only use my $100 phone to film, and I do not use any editing software either. Pure skill, raw results. That's how hardcore I am whe it comes to inducing online success.
However, it is understandable that successful individuals would usually bring upon the jealousy and hate of others, and my run on YouTube has been no different. I get comments which state that my content is low-effort and undeserving 0f such magnitudes of success on a daily basis, with some even cursing me just because I was successful on the platform. Regardless, as someone suffering from success, I would usually take such comments with a grain of salt, and even though these harmful stories sound awful, they actually contribute to the expansion of my career in an unexpected way.
With every negative comment and dislike I receive, the amount of engagements and impressions on my channel would skyrocket, which brings me more and more views, meaning that it also converts to more attention and fame. Basically speaking, my haters are literally making me more money as they hate me more, which on its own is extremely funny to even ponder over.
This data entry would thus strongly resonate with the concept of "Speech Communities" as included within the syllabus of this course. Since a speech community is defined as "a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect", my haters on YouTube do in fact automatically qualify as a legitimate speech community. Their common goal of speech would be to attack me and to bring me down, plus they share similar ways of communicating, such as how most of them would use foul language like curse words or profanity to insult me. Regardless, I am built different, and simple language is not enough to defeat me as an online genius.
Entry 10
"I AM A SPEEDSTACKER"
Entry number ten shows my identity as a speedstacker, which is basically someone who is capable of stacking cups really fast, essentially an individual who is decent at the sport of speedstacking. The clip on the left shows me in action, as I execute the 1-10-1 downstack very quickly, being the final phase of the "Cycle" event in sportstacking. The clip in the middle would be the footage of my Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Build a 15 Cup Pyramid" event at 2.40 seconds, which was shared publicly on Guinness World Records' official socials. The photo on the right would thus be the certificate for the aforementioned title.
I was introduced to the sport at the early age of eleven, but even back then, I already have haters who would criticize me for being too ambitious when I claimed that I would be world champion one day. They urged me to quit since according to them I was "not g0od enough", but funny how I later proved them wrong by achieving three official Guinness World Record titles related to speedstacking.
The aforementioned harmful story would in this context be related to the "Verbal and non-verbal communicative acts" concept from the Introduction to Ethnography and Communication Course (SE103) at the UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus in Malaysia. This is simply because the haters' negative comments like "You're not good enough" would qualify as an expressive, being one of the many forms of verbal communicative acts.
Entry 11
"I LIKE TO CHALLENGE
THE LIMITS OF SPORTS"
Entry number eleven is titled "I like to challenge the limits of sports", which means that I am always looking to improve when it comes to sports, often breaking what were thought to be impossible barriers.
The clip on the left shows me scoring a futsal goal from a negative-angle direct corner kick, which is extremely difficult to pull off, let along the fact that I was literally wearing slippers. The clip in the middle shows my expertise in calisthenics, as I performed 10 clean muscle-ups consecutively with perfect form when filming a YouTube video back in 2021. The clip on the right would be the footage for my Official Super Human World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Solve a 4x5 Klotski Puzzle" event at 4.159 seconds, which demonstrates pinnacle performance for hand sports.
The main condition or eligibility for challenging the limits of anything would be to at least show expertise or decency in doing it, which is unquestionably something that I have managed to pull off. However, haters would seem to disagree, which brings us to the part where I will speak against harmful cultural stereotypes in this context.
"You're just a weak ass Asian kid who's underweight". That's the kind of comment I would receive whenever I claim to be a calisthenic athlete. My physique may not be of top form, but my physical strength would say otherwise. The clip in the middle serves as absolute evidence for my capabilities, which has silenced a lot of my haters, since the vast majority of them cannot even perform a single pull-up, let along completing 10 clean muscle-ups consecutively with perfect form.
As such, I believe that my actions would involve the "Non-verbal communicative act" concept of this course, since me performing muscle-ups for the YouTube video serves to fortify that fact that I am indeed strong, and that I am truly worthy of the title as a calisthenic athlete. The non-verbal communicative act of doing muscle-ups also revokes the haters' statement that I am weak, since I have managed to prove them wrong in a positive manner, again showing how exactly am I built different.
Entry 12
"I REMEMBER BEING ON
A TELEVISED INTERVIEW"
Watching others on TV has always been an entertaining sight for most people, and when I got to be on a televised interview, it was literally a huge understatement to say that I was only slightly excited.
Entry twelve thus shows extracts from Guinness World Records' interview with me on the set of Lo Show dei Records in 2023 in Milan, Italy, which would be the Italian version of the Official Guinness World Records show. I was interviewed by officials such as the head adjudicator at Guinness World Records', Alan, wherein I was asked about my tips and tricks behind my massive success in the record-breaking field, as well as my future plans at Guinness World Records' etc. I was also invited to showcase my unique skills through attempting events live on set, which all happen to be Official Guinness World Record titles that I currently hold. The interview was later broadcasted as part of the show "The One Thing" on British television, specifically 0n a channel by the name of "DaVinci".
Surely, many people still regard me as a "one-trick-pony", and they refuse to acknowledge my expertise even till this very day. Even when I was a little kid, I would at often times get discouraged by those surrounding me whenever I decided to attempt something which I believe that I will eventually excel in. "It's impossible", "You're not the chosen one", "Just give up", they say. All of the comments surrounding me only had one thing in common, which would be to drive me away from success. All of these gradually formed the harmful stereotypes I experienced since childhood, forming the focus of this data entry.
Nevertheless, I still made it onto live TV at the age of 18, and it still is something which I would proudly slap in the face of my haters whenever possible. I am built different, and there is a perfect reason for why I succeed and why others don't. I am who I am, and there is no denial to it.
Having said that, it is advocated that this entry relates to the "Communicative Event" concept of the course, since a Communicative Event is defined as "a single event with unified major components, such as a purpose, topic, participants, linguistic codes, tones, rules, settings etc. In this context, the interview counts as a setting, and it qualifies as a communicative event because of that.
Entry 13
"I AM A RUBIK'S CUBE COLLECTOR"
Rubik's Cubes have always fascinated me due to their complexity, as well as the diverse array of rotating puzzles which are commercially available. As this entry suggests, I am indeed a huge Rubik's Cube enthusiast, not only a speedcuber, but also a Rubik's Cube collector with over 2,000 unique rotating puzzles. Thus, it truly is no surprise that people would carry the image of a Rubik's Cube whenever my name comes across their minds, as my identity has been majorly associated with the artistic masterpiece.
Although collecting massive amounts of Rubik's Cubes should sound like something which does not bother others under reasonable circumstances, there still somehow happen to be those who are not quite happy with this identity of mine, which leads to the part where I speak against harmful stories and stereotypes concerning this matter.
"Goddamned rich spoiled brat", "Waste of time and money", "Go get a life". Those are the most common responses I would receive whenever people find out that I have over two thousand Rubik's Cubes in my collection. They think that I am just some randommo who abuses their parents' life savings for the sake of useless enjoyment through bulk-purchasing, and that I am nothing but a dumb, rich, spoiled child. What they do not realize however, would be the fact that I actually make my own money to buy each and every single puzzle which I own, and that I have put in countless amounts of blood, sweat, and tears into achieving such a milestone. I am in fact approaching the achievement of the Official Guinness World Record Title for the "Largest Collection of Rotating Puzzles", which currently stands at a total of 1,519. Hence, it is no question that this collection of mine is an indication of pure hardwork and determination; a sign which exhibits my dedication towards achieving success; as well as one which symbolizes my fighting spirit, never willing to succumb to the depths of failure.
As such, this entry can be considered as one which involves the "Contextualization Cue" concept of this course, since contextualization cues are defined as "signaling mechanisms used by speakers to indicate how they mean what they say". In this context, my contextualization cue would be Rubik's Cubes, as that is in fact what people would first think of whenever they see me.
Entry 14
"I AM A 134-TIME OFFICIAL
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD HOLDER"
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Being an Official Guinness World Record title holder is something that most people could only dream of, and if anyone was to ever achieve such a monumental feat, that would have already been beyond sufficient to fill up their bucket lists to the brim. However, achieving Official Guinness World Record titles not once, not twice, but 88 separate times, is another completely different story, and it should be safe to say that calling such a feat as "superhuman" is quite a massive understatement.
That's me, however; and that shows just how exactly am I, LIM KAI YI from Malaysia, an individual who is built different. I'm not the average Joe, not even close. As of the publication of this article, I have achieved Official Guinness World Record titles 134 times from 84 different events in total across the span of five years from 2021 till 2025, also currently holding 66 unbroken titles. The photo on the left and clip in the middle thus showcases one of the titles which I have recently achieved, being the "Most Jenga Giant Blocks Removed in One Minute" event at 23, which has been uploaded to Guinness World Records' official socials. The photo on the right would be a screenshot on Guinness' official site, which showcases some of the record titles that I still currently hold, as a reminder for the 134 titles I claim to have achieved within the autoethnographic data collection.
These statistics would thus make me the most decorated Official Guinness World Record Holder in Asia, also ranked 5th in the world as of early 2025. However, there still are people who are not convinced that I am as good as I have proven to be, even when concrete evidence and global recognition have been provided as proof. Haters will always remain as haters, and that is precisely why I get to yet again speak against harmful stories which I have formerly went through in relation to this entry.
I have been regarded as a "notorious liar" and "shame towards the community" due to my claims as a 124-time Official Guinness World Record Holder, since most people just refuse to believe that a living legend was indeed standing amongst them, and that they thought what I had presented was straight up gibberish. Truth is, I feel sorry for their pathetic lives, as they have most likely achieved nothing significant throughout the entirety of their existence, yet they still have the audacity to step up and criticize me for something they know will not happen towards them for all of eternity. Jealousy fuels their journey towards failure; while optimism and positivity drives me towards constant success. I suppose that alone is enough to justify the fact of how only those who are n0t good enough would stay stuck in place.
Hence, the anecdote above would relate to the "Language and Culture" concept of this Introduction to Ethnography and Communication course. Since culture is defined as "Socially Acquired Knowledge", it can be clearly seen just how cultural limitations have prevented the aforesaid haters to think out of the box, let along to accept the fact that someone as skilled as me actually exists. Their conservative and rather backwards backgrounds have to a large extent shaped the way they perceive reality, and since no one has ever introduced the concept of multi-record holders to them, it would be normal for them to reject my authority, which eventually led to the hateful comments by them towards my achievements. These haters are not uncultured swines in my opinion; but rather just misled minds in the pursuit of knowledge.
Entry 15
"I LIKE HULA-HOOPING"
Entry number fifteen goes by the title of "I like hula-hooping", which can be easily inferred from that I am someone who does in fact indulge in the act of having a hula hoop to revolve around my body for the sake of fun, as shown in the clip on the left. I can also escalate things to the next level, such as partaking in rather competitive and serious levels of hula-hooping. Examples would be how I am the current Official Guinness World Record Holder for two events related to hula-hooping, with the clip in the middle and the photo on the right showing one of them, being the "Fastest Time to Solve a Rotating Puzzle Cube while Hula-Hooping" event at 8.60 seconds, which was also featured on Guinness World Records' official socials.
Taking things seriously does not necessarily mean that I would automatically ruin the fun in things, but some people seem to disagree, which once again brings us to the part where I will speak against harmful stories related to this subject that I have previously experienced.
When I first picked up a hula-hoop at the age of 18, I had literally zero idea of how to use it. I was laughed at a ton by my peers who knew how to hula-hoop, thus I was motivated by anger to eventually pick up the skill within the next 24 hours. Upon succeeding in achieving the said accomplishment, I decided to enhance my skills and take them to the next level, which would be to break Official Guinness World Record titles associated with hula-hooping. I eventually made that dream a reality, but my haters would then accuse me of ruining the entire point of hula-hooping, which would be to simply have fun. At this point, I am simply bamboozled, confused without words. It's as if having someone to tell you that excelling in academics is bad since you are putting others out of a job, which is complete nonsense. Just salty haters being salty, I suppose.
Which is why I strongly suggest that this entry involves the "Speech Community" concept of this course, which is defined as "a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect". As my haters were in fact individuals who can all hula-hoop, they do automatically qualify as members of the Hula-Hooping speech community, given that they do indeed communicate revolving the central theme of hula-hooping as a sport on a daily basis. I was unfortunately considered by them to be an outcast in this context, since I was unable to hula-hoop in the beginning, and was thus automatically regarded as an individual outside this speech circle, which explains why they alienated and threw verbal attacks at me despite the fact that I eventually excelled in hula-hooping.
Entry 16
"I AM AN INSTAGRAMMER"
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Scrolling on Instagram is the norm for modern society, but amassing a total of nearly 200,000+ followers and 200,000,000+ views in total is certainly not. That's the case for me however, which is a feat that I have achieved through running a few Instagram pages across the span of four years on the platform.
Four of the pages as shown above would be @frozencuber with 55,600+ followers, @frozen2cuber with 60,700+ followers, @frozen3cuber with 27,800+ followers, as well as @asmrcuber with 6000+ followers. As previously stated, I am the type of person to seize available opportunities whenever possible, and my accomplishments in online content creation is concrete proof that I never lie regarding my capabilities.
Similar to my experience on YouTube, I too have been criticized heavily and hated upon by many for my seemingly "undeserving" success. Many claimed that my content was "underwhelming" and "cringe", so as to advocate that I am in fact not worthy of the title of a successful Instagrammer. I however like to let my statistics speak for themselves, since they can laugh at me for my so-called "low-effort" content; but guess who's laughing when he manages to generate more than enough to pay for all of my expenses and tuition fees at university simply by uploading these so-called "pointless" content?
As harmful and hurtful these stories might sound, I really do not bother to give a damn. I am still as successful as can be till this very day, and I genuinely thank my haters for morphing me into a stronger person with enhanced overall development.
Because of that, it can be assumed that this entry correlates to the "Communicative Situation" concept of this course, since a communicative situation is defined as "the context within which communication occurs", and because Instagram qualifies as a social media platform with which users use to conduct communication, it does in fact qualify as a communicative situation.
Entry 17
"I BELIEVE DETERMINATION
INDUCES SUCCESS"
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"I believe determination induces success". Not much to be spoken about for the title of this entry, since it should be of general consensus that the said statement is a fact, and that staying determined and dedicated would in most cases lead to successful outcomes.
Same goes for the entirety of my record-breaking career, since I owe much of my success to my everlasting will t0 never give up, and to always push on until I eventually achieve my goals. Because of that, I have been featured on a number of recognized news articles, such as those by BOL, UPI, Borneo Bulletin, Thaiger etc., as shown in the photo on the left. The photo on the right tells a similar story, since it is a screenshot of an article on the official Chess.com site, titled "Every Guinness Chess Record". My Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Arrange a Chess Set with the Mouth" event at 1 minute and 37.25 seconds was featured within the article, and needless to say it certainly helped in terms of b0osting my publicity.
I believe determination induces success, seriously. Somehow, not every0ne would agree with that, which has been the norm for the majority of my haters in everything I do. Quite a few people have speculated that I paid new outlets to feature me in their articles, whereas some even went as far as to call me out for being "useless", "stupid", "irrelevant" etc., just because I achieved multiple Official Guinness World Record titles related to chess, since they assumed that I was no grandmaster in playing chess, and have thus ruined the point of chess, given that I have achieved greatness in a rather unconventional way.
Because of that, I will be providing some alternatives to handling harmful stories such as the ones stated above. What I did in this context would be how I addressed my haters by achieving more titles, wherein I was eventually featured in more news articles, even till the point where I managed to make a considerable sum of money off record-breaking. That alone should be enough to infuriate my haters, since not only did they fail in terms of breaking me down; but they also made it more likely for me to remain successful.
As such, it is advocated that this entry relates to the "Speech Community" concept of this course, which is defined as "a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect". Since my haters as shown above were primarily groups of chess enthusiasts, they would indeed qualify as the chess speech community. As I was no chess expert, they most likely perceived me as an outsider, which partially explains why they refused to acknowledge my achievements.
Entry 18
"I LIKE PLAYING GAMES"
Gaming is something that a huge portion of the global population views as a favorable pastime, or an activity which people enjoy to be competitive in. The same could also be said for me, but with a mini twist.
I am a gamer, and I enjoy playing games. Not the typical FPS or RPG games though, but rather something most people would not manage to fathom. Simplicity is what I perceive to be of pinnacle significance, which is why I am a huge fan of simplistic and offline, one-player games like Flappy Bird as sh0wn in the clip on the left. If anyone has ever tried this seemingly easy game, they would soon regret it, as the game is in fact not as simple as it looks. Most people average a pathetically-low score of 0 to 1 per game, but I average around 500 each round, which again shows just how exactly am I built different.
The clip in the middle also speaks a lot about me as a gamer, since it shows a random 19-move solve at 0.920 seconds for the virtual 8-puzzle (phone-tapping style), which would be the equivalent of solving a sliding puzzle at a speed of 20.652 moves per second using only one finger. I am at a world-class level of mastery for this game, wherein I compete in global competitions related to the game from time to time.
The clip on the right tells a similar tale, since it showcases the furthest jump ever achieved in the "Triple Jump" event within the physics game "Ragdoll Runners". The jump was estimated to be at 32+ meters long, which was so distanced that the game literally crashed, and was unable to record the score due to in-game bugs and system errors.
All of these demonstrations simply point towards the indication that I am able to get more than just good for the things I enjoying doing, since I am built different, and I am not the average Joe, not even close.
Again, with success so will there be haters, and this entry is no exception. I would often get comments like "You're not a real gamer", "Your records are worthless", "You suck" etc., which is funny since the one who keeps on achieving still would be me, and those pathetic haters have yet to even reach any significant heights in gaming, let along in the real world.
Having said that, it can be easily seen that the harmful stories above hint at an obvious connection between the mentioned haters and the concept of "Speech communities" as encapsulated within the syllabus of this Introduction to Ethnography and Communication" course. A speech community is referred to as ""a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect", which is a perfect description of the haters in question, since they do in fact belong to the gaming speech community, given that their daily conversations would most likely constitute of elements or themes revolving around the topic of gaming.
Entry 19
"I BELIEVE PERSISTENCE IS THE KEY TOWARDS ACHIEVING SUCCESS"
"I believe persistence is the key towards achieving success". It's true, I mean, and it is not difficult to visualize the rationale for me to select this statement as the title for this entry. I am a man of unimaginable patience, they say; since I would at often times succeed in exceeding expectations through sheer will and superhuman perseverance.
The photo and clips above would be decent evidence to back up my statements in this case. For instance, the photo on the left shows my victory as the champion of the GAN Swift Block Klotski Classic Layout Head-to-Head World Championship 2024 with a 3.73-second solve, wherein I was awarded $666 by the officials for my win. The clip in the middle would be a 9.82-second solve on the Mini 4x5 Klotski Puzzle using only one finger, which was part of a product-testing video that I filmed for the GAN Swift Block puzzle-producing company, since they had sponsored me with their latest equipment. The clip on the right would be a 13.300-second solve on the 4x5 Klotski Puzzle using only my feet, an event for which I also currently hold the Official Guinness World Record title in.
As such, it is not hard to see that I have in fact put in an unimaginable amount of effort int0 improving my skills, since I had to progress day by day in order to stay in the top spot within the record-breaking field. The fact that I still managed to maintain my pinnacle performance and remain dominant in this industry across the years as shown above is simply the result of never-ending persistence, which perfectly corresponds to the title of this entry once again.
Once again, it is not surprising to discover that there still will be lines of people who will always oppose my claims, as there have always been and will still always be voices of criticism towards whatever I am involved in, which again brings us to the part where I speak against harmful cultural stereotypes related to the topic in question.
"Nothing good ever comes from Malaysia", "Thief of Chinese culture", "Undeserving robber of titles". That's what I would get called at on a daily basis as a result of my achievements along the path, since there are again crowds who refuse to believe that I really trained hard for my deserved success, thus I have regularly been accused of cheating my way towards success, which on its own just sounds like complete absurdity. It is, in fact.
I work my way through oceans of blood, tears, and sweat to achieve greatness, only to be called out by random jealous haters as a notorious liar. All good though, since I still am thriving, and I incur no losses arising from negative comments. I have in many instances thought of giving up due to building pressure, but deep down inside I am fully aware that prices are to be paid in exchange for success, which perfectly explains why am I still here; as well as how exactly am I, LIM KAI YI, someone who is built different.
That brings us to the conclusion that this data entry inculcates elements of the "Communicative Event" concept of the course, since a Communicative Event is a single event with unified major components such as a purpose, topic, participants, linguistic codes, tones, rules, settings etc. And because this entry mainly revolves around the focus of competitions, such events do indeed qualify as settings in a linguistic framework, also indicating that such competitions are legitimate communicative events.
Entry 20
"I LIKE WEIGHTLIFITNG"
Ah, yes, weightlifting. One of the most prominent forms of strength indication; as well as being amongst the most significant ways used to segregate people by power, authority, as well as by status in terms of physical capabilities. I too indulge myself in the sport of weightlifting, as suggested via the clips above.
Playing around with 88lb/ 40kg dumbbells or barbells is in fact the norm for me. Though it might not sound as impressive as my other world record-level achievements, it still is worth mentioning that I only weigh a mere 120lbs / 55kg, and that only makes it seem impossible for me to complete full one-arm 88lb / 40kg curls as shown in the clip on the right. The lift to bodyweight ratio here is basically world-class according to scale, and even though I am no professional weightlifting athlete, I still do consider myself as someone who not only is a weightlifting enthusiast; but also someone who is capable of reaching distances in this particular discipline should I ever wish to.
However, people still remain unconvinced by my feats of strength, since I have often been the target of false allegations. "He's definitely roided up", "Nah ain't no way he's natty", "Fake weights", "Damned Asian cheater". As early as the age of 15 when I started weightlifting, I have never ceased to receive such comments regarding my abilities in the sport. A huge number 0f people somehow believed that I took anabolic steroids or Performance-Enhancement Drugs to achieve my remarkable feats of strength at such an unbelievably low bodyweight, for which I simply have zero words to respond towards, since I have never cheated in any ways, and I have full rights to deny such allegations. Being accused of using fake weights to fake my numbers has also been the norm, and it even gotten so bad that at one point I had to use actual scales to prove that my weight plates were indeed of legitimate measurements.
As horrible as these stories may appear to be, I still am LIM KAI YI, and I still remain to be the wunderkind who is built different. I still am as indestructible and invincible as can be, still on my constant pursuit for improvement as usual. Hurtful words are not enough to tear me down, since that's just me. I am who I am.
Having said that, I do believe that this entry involves the concept of "Non-verbal communicative acts" from this course, since me partaking in weightlifting qualifies as a non-verbal communicative act which aims to silence my haters; and to show the world that I am in fact strong. Not only physically, but also mentally.
Entry 21
"I BELIEVE THAT SUCCESS IS THE PRODUCT OF OPTIMISM"
"Smile!" I assume that's what most people would think of when they come across the ideology of optimism or positivity, but regardless of the complexity attached with the definition of the concept, one thing will forever remain to be accurate; which is that success is the product of optimism, hence justifying the rationale for me to choose the said statement as the entry title.
No one likes a whiney face, and certainly no one will ever support the opinion that negativity induces success, which goes on to rectify and amplify the fact that success does indeed come from being optimistic. I myself can also serve as a piece of living testimony, since I do really owe much of my achievements to being mindful and staying positive in whatever I do, as I truly believe that possessing the right mindset is the key to achieving great heights.
As it turns out, I was right, and the photos and video clip above would do the talking for me. The two photos are screenshots of Clive Gifford's "The Book of Time", wherein my Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Sort a Deck of Playing Cards" event at 35.20 seconds was featured within one of the pages. The clip on the right also shows the footage for the mentioned record title, wherein I currently hold the same title at 31.74 seconds as of 2024.
Staying optimistic has been the secret to my success along the way, as it has prevented me from giving up countless of times, thus it can basically be presumed that without optimism, there would have been no glorious and prolific careers of mine today. It is safe to say that optimism is crucial in terms of ensuring that someone is always motivated and aspired to complete things, wherein it can also be utilized as a tool towards the achievement of success in many contexts.
Similarly, my haters would again get in the way, and this time it is no different. In contrast to the nature of this entry, the negative comments from my haters would understandably contribute to the exact opposite cause of optimism; meaning that they would always attempt to spread negativity through their hurtful words, aimed at breaking me down, and to halt my journey towards success.
Regardless, their assassination attempts towards my career failed to ever work, since they forgot that I am built different, and that I refuse to ever give up. That also explains why I never backed down or surrendered to failure, like how I managed to reclaim my title for the Official Guinness World Record event mentioned ab0ve after it was taken away from me, again fortifying my capabilities and my beliefs.
With that, it is not difficult to see how this entry is related to the "Communicative Functions of Language", concept, which was encapsulated within the Introduction to Ethnography and Communication Course (SE103) at the UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus. Communicative functions refer to the purpose of gestural, vocal, and verbal acts intended to convey information to others, and some communicative functions include commenting, requesting, protesting, directing attention, showing, and rejecting.
In this case, the negative commenting by the haters as previously stated would qualify as legitimate communicative functions of language, since they do intend to inject me with negativity for the purpose of inducing failure as a result of a broken mentality.
Entry 22
"I LIKE TO CHALLENGE
MY STRENGTH LIMITS"
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"Limits" has never been a word which I found to be comprehensive, since most of my achievements point towards the conclusion that I am an individual who is not bound to barriers or limitations. I am the type of person who will always attempt to seek improvement; and I am not the kind of human being to be satisfied with what I have; whereas I will always try to approach the limits of whatever I engage in.
The same could be said for my involvement in strength sports, which has been made clear throughout this autoethnographic research, and the materials above speak for themselves regarding this matter as well.
The clip on the left shows me fully closing a 220lb / 100kg electroplated steel power twister using a reverse grip, which makes it twice as hard to close a power twister using the normal grip, let along the fact that fully closing a 220lb / 100kg power twister is something that you would usually expect world-class strongmen to pull off, and not someone tiny like me.
The clip on the right would be a compilation of me fully-bending steel power twisters which I had uploaded to YouTube back in 2021, and the photo in the middle shows how the video in question has garnered nearly 10,000 views. This not only proves that I am more than physically strong, but that I have what it takes to convert a random hobby into a side hustle.
Being physically strong does not fully define me however, as it has been previously brought up that I have the mentality of a killer as well. That is also why I never got defeated by the harmful stories or cultural stereotypes which I had to experience as a consequence of my achievements.
"You're just a little fragile Asian fella". That's the type of comments I would receive whenever I post anything related to my feats in strength. I even got kicked out of a gym once since I managed to outlift a 6 ' 3 / 192cm tall and 200lb / 90kg Caucasian man, which is yet ironic and pathetically funny, since I'm the kind of person to always confront trouble even when I never asked for it. Being Asian doesn't mean I am weak as frick, but as always, I am built different, and I am an expert at making my haters shut up through exercising realistic and practical action.
Given all of that, I would suggest that this entry strongly resonates with the "Language and Culture" concept of this course, since racism has infiltrated the nature of this entry, and some haters would use my racial identity as an excuse to launch attacks towards my supposed weaknesses. Their perception of Asians as physically weak due to cultural stereotyping has led to hurtful comments as advocated above, which is unfortunately the norm of modern society. Regardless, I still am built different, and words will never succeed in obstructing my path towards achieving success.
Entry 23
"I AM A SPEEDSLIDER"
The term "Speedsliding" refers to the act of solving sliding puzzles such as 15-puzzles or klotski puzzles in extremely short durations, which is one of the things that I am best known for. Being a speedslider, I have achieved double-digit Official Guinness World Record titles in this discipline; as well as having won numerous titles related to solving sliding puzzles as shown in the material above.
The clip on the left is my 0.334-second Unofficial Malaysian Record solve for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Virtual 8-Puzzle (Phone-Tapping Style) Using only One Finger" event, which was basically executed at a speed of 27+ moves per second using only one finger.
The clip in the middle would be the footage of my 2.31-second winning solve for the "Fastest Time to Solve a 15-Puzzle" event at Кубим дома - Кубер весна 2020/ Cube at Home - Cuber's Spring 2020, which was an international puzzle-solving championship, wherein I won 4 events and came in second for 1 event out of all 5 available events.
The photo on the right would be the certificate for another Official Guinness World Record title of mine, being the "Fastest Time to Solve a 4x4 Klotski Puzzle using One Hand" event at 8.27 seconds, which shows that I am not only capable of getting good at random hobbies; but that I am also an expert at transforming my pastimes into world-class achievements, since I am indeed built different after all.
The list goes on and on, as in my abilities in terms of speedsliding are not only bound to traditional two-handed solving, but that I am also capable of breaking records using one hand, one finger, feet, one foot, or even going as far as being blindfolded. The message to be conveyed here would have been rather obvious by now, but some people just unfortunately are unable to catch the cue, who would yet again be my innocent and lovely haters, thus bringing us to the part where I will speak against harmful stories that I have experienced in the past concerning this issue.
Ever since I was introduced to the sport of speedsliding, I have always been sharpening my skills in terms of solving the physical puzzle. I rarely touched on virtual events, as I felt that virtual disciplines qualify as games, and that such expertise would most likely not benefit me as much compared to excelling in speedsolving physical puzzles. Because of that, I was often looked down upon by the virtual speedsliding community, since they saw me as an absolute outcast, and they were largely unhappy with the fact that I had garnered a plethora of official titles and international victories even though I was not at all invested in virtual-solving. They called me out and refused to acknowledge the fact that I was actually the best speedslider in existence, even though I had concrete evidence and statistics to prove it. Losers will always search for an excuse towards their weaknesses, hence what can I really say.
I am no stranger to voices of criticism, yet I still stand strong amidst all of the turbulence and threats which I have experienced throughout the course of my career. I am just starting out, and the best is yet to come. That's exactly why I am LIM KAI YI, the chosen one who is built different.
With that being said, it can be assumed that this data entry corresponds to the "Speech Community" concept of this Introduction to Ethnography and Communication course, wherein a speech community is referred to as ""a group of people who share rules for conducting and interpreting at least one variety of a language or dialect". The haters as demonstrated above do in fact qualify as members of the virtual speedsliding speech community, since their center of communication lies within the topic of virtual speedsliding. And since I am mainly an athlete who prioritizes physical speedsliding, I was thus treated as an outsider by the community, which led to their hurtful comments towards me.
Entry 24
"I AM A BASS VOCALIST"
Low notes and bass singing have always intrigued me deeply ever since I started to sing, and never would I have ever imagined that I would become an actual bass singer in the future. Apparently that is the case for me, since I am in fact capable of projecting low notes at a relatively loud amplitude as demonstrated above, which qualifies me as a legitimate bass vocalist in a choir setting.
The clip on the left shows me singing a line from the track "Friends in Low Places", wherein I managed to hit a melodic subharmonic E1 or double-low E note. For comparison, the average male is capable of hitting a G2 as their lowest note, whereas I literally sung 9 whole tones below that note for this clip.
The clip on the right would be me chanting a B1 or low B note with full power and resonance, which is very difficult to pull off as someone who is not trained professionally. The projection power of the note also allowed me to perform it in a choir setting at church, which explains why I have managed to hit a personal lowest of the same note in a live performance.
The clip in the middle would be me again using my bass singing skills in a melodic manner, since that would be me singing a line from the piece "Stranger" by Kazakh superstar Dimash Qudaibergenov, wherein I was able to replicate the track by hitting a C2 or low C note with ease, since I am built different.
Although I am no oktavist or contrabass, I still am at the very least capable of projecting low notes with full power and resonance, which should say a lot about itself. I'm no fake 12-year-old kid claiming to be a "bass" when he can't even hit a low F / F2 note, but I am really a man of my word, since I am LIM KAI YI, and I am built different.
However, not everyone has a legit sense of music, and I too have been the victim of false accusations. "You can't possibly sing that low", "must've been pitch editing", "Fake asf", "Liar". I have heard all of these negative comments way too much, and it sure is unsurprising to say that I really don't care. I just don't. I still am in the course of exploring the limits of my voice, and I continue to thrive every single day, regardless if the haters decide to attack me or not. Haters will keep on hating, and that's just who they are I guess.
As such, I would say that the harmful stories above correlate to the "Contextualization Cue" concept of the course, since contextualization cues are defined as "signaling mechanisms used by speakers to indicate how they mean what they say". In this context, I give off the impression of a singer with a godly low voice, which means that my contextualization cue can in fact be the bass singing.
Entry 25
"I BELIEVE THAT CREATIVITY
BRINGS SUCCESS"
At the age of six, I received the "Most Creative Scholar" award from the preschool which I had attended to. This milestone thus marked the commencement of my creative career, where I would go on to achieve greatness with that beneficial trait of mine.
I believe that creativity brings success. I really do. Which is why I had selected this statement to be the title for this entry, given that creativity has indeed assisted me in the achievement of many heights throughout my life, with a few decent instances being showcased through the material above.
The photo on the left shows the result announcement for Кубим дома - Кубер весна 2020/ Cube at Home - Cuber's Spring 2020, which was an international puzzle-solving championship, wherein I won 4 events and came in second for 1 event out of all 5 available events. The photo on the right would be the official certificate for the said tournament. The clip in the middle would be the footage for my 2.33-second winning solve for the "Fastest Time to Solve a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube" event, which till this present day still is sub-world record for some reference.
My creative mindset has allowed me to constantly find better and more optimized solutions for my solves, which is directly contributed to massive improvements in my results. As such, I had managed to win a ton of competitions before I even knew it, all thanks to rapid improvisation resulting from creativity.
Still, my nemesis will never cease to hunt me down, again being the haters who are unwilling to let me off the hook for winning, and that brings us to the section where I will be speaking against harmful cultural stereotypes as part of the research.
Since I had entered a competition based in Russia, the organizers had zero idea that a random foreigner would even join the tournament. What they did not realize is that I also speak fluent Russian, which had allowed me to excel in the contest without any issues arising from the language barrier. As such, many Russian competitors were unhappy that a random wildcard from Malaysia had beaten them by miles, thus they decided to verbally attack me for what they did not manage to achieve. I still find it funny to this day that losers would somehow apply irrational excuses for their inabilities, but still that does not alter the fact that I won 4 international events on Russian soil, which only makes it even more ironic.
With that, it can be seen that this entry relates to the "Language and Culture" concept of this course, since the Russians as mentioned have been brought up in a linguistic environment where they would usually opt for rather straightforward and precise tones of speaking, which led them to speak in a manner that users of other languages would perceive as rather rude and inappropriate. I do not personally mind though, since words have never posed a threat towards my achievement of success, given that I am built different.
Entry 26
"I REMEMBER BEING ON A TV SHOW"
As a child, I have been deeply fascinated by the Official Guinness World Record TV shows, and I was always blown away by the superhuman feats broadcasted on the big screen. Never would I have ever imagined that I would at one point in the future be on that very program, which became a reality for me at the age 0f 18.
In 2023, I was invited to be on the set of Lo Show dei Records 2023, which was basically the Italian version of the Official Guinness World Record show based in Milan, Italy, where I was to attempt to break my own title for the "Fastest Time to Solve 10 Fifteen Puzzles" event at 1 minute and 37.97 seconds, which I eventually managed to beat with a result of 1 minute and 23.97 seconds live on Italian TV.
My appearance was broadcasted on Channel 5 of Mediaset Infinity, which was the largest TV channel in Italy. Needless to say, it was a massive honor for me to finally be part of something significant, and having a childhood dream to come true surely was an unbelievable feeling.
This experience had given me the privilege and qualifications to provide alternatives to the previously mentioned harmful stories and cultural stereotypes, wherein it was stated in the last few entries that I was verbally abused by haters since I made bold claims regarding my abilities. They had zero trust in me, and had deemed every initiative of mine to be the result of failure, Nevertheless, I eventually managed to prove them wrong, since I had finally succeeded by being on an official TV show, and that I managed to silence their voices of doubt and criticism.
Having said that, it can be assumed that this data entry is related to the "Communicative Situation" concept of this course, since a communicative situation is defined as "the context within which communication occurs". And because the TV Show that I was on, being Lo Show dei Records 2023 was in fact a platform used for in-show communication between me, the adjudicators, the TV host, as well as the audience, the show does in fact qualify as a communicative situation.
Entry 27
"I BELIEVE NOT GIVING UP WILL
DRIVE ME TOWARDS SUCCESS"
I believe not giving up will drive me towards success. That has been the motto which I have stood with for over a whole decade, and I doubt if it will ever be proven to be wrong. Persistence and determination is the key elements towards unlocking greatness, which are words that can't be any truer. My massive pieces of success would qualify as the best evidence to back up the aforementioned statement, since I owe much of my abilities to the spirit of not giving up, which is again well-demonstrated through the material above.
The data above shows my Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Assemble A Mr. Potato Head" event at 5.43 seconds, which was also recognized by the Asia Book of Records. This achievement was also shared widely on the Internet, being the most well-known record of mine as of the date of publishing this article.
Again, with massive recognition will certainly come the haters, and I had unsurprisingly experienced it the hard way. I was recognized as the "meme guy" owning a world record associated with toys, to which I found to be extremely hilarious, since this "meme guy" is actually making optimistic amounts solely through 5 seconds of random "memeing"; whereas them haters are probably unemployed with nothing significant to present on their résumé.
I simply have no regard for these harmful stories, as I am LIM KAI YI, and I am built different. Hate speech will not be in the way when it comes to me pursuing success, which is why I would usually utilize discouragement as fuel for motivation and thus greater levels of success.
Because of that, I would state that this entry relates to the "Contextualization Cue" concept of the course, since contextualization cues are defined as "signaling mechanisms used by speakers to indicate how they mean what they say". And since I have been widely known as the "Mr. Potato Head guy" due to my aforementioned achievement, it is no surprise that the Mr. Potato Head toy has become one of my most prominent online contextualization cues.
Entry 28
"I AM A SPONSORED ATHLETE"
Being sponsored is never a bad thing. At least in my experience, that is. I was privileged enough to become the brand ambassador for DianSheng, a puzzle-manufacturing company based in China, since I broke the Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Rubik's Snake into a Ball" event at 2.67 seconds. Because of that, I would receive monetary rewards and freebies from time to time, in exchange for my promotion of the company's products online, such as through product-testing and advertisements.
Sure is great to always get free stuff for little to no cost, since record-breaking is the norm for me, and I am essentially receiving tons of advantages for absolutely free. It's the dream job, as some of my haters previously told me, which sort of commences the part where I will be speaking against harmful cultural stereotypes and stories related to this matter that I have experienced beforehand.
I have at often times been the victim jealousy in this context, since my haters were so envious of my success, that they were on the verge of lashing out at me with sinister intentions and extreme vulgarity. They simply did not understand how someone they envied this much would eventually achieve great things thought to be impossible and distant; but I did prove them wrong anyways, with the sole rationale being that I am the one-and-only LIM KAI YI; I am who I am; and that is exactly why I am built different.
As such, we will now proceed with the section where a concept from the syllabus of this Introduction to Ethnography and Communication course will be related with this entry, which would be the "Language and Class" concept. It should be assumed that people would view me as someone from the upper class due to my distinguished status as a brand ambassador at this point, but somehow my haters have regarded me as someone from the lower class in this scenario.
As obnoxiously weird as it sound, there still is a fine explanation accounting for the aforesaid phenomenon. Since most of my haters prioritize events related to solving normal Rubik's Cubes, the fact that I was promoting rather unconventional puzzles like Rubik's Snakes certainly did not leave a positive impression. This is because the cubing community unfortunately despises whoever invests in so-called "Non-Official" or "alternate" events like solving the Rubik's Snake, owing to the fact that less competitions involve such events, and thus the competitiveness for such events would understandably be a lot lower. Though it still should be worth noting that I also hold Official Guinness World Record titles for official events with conventional puzzles, and it's most likely just haters being haters in this case.
Entry 29
"I BELIEVE THAT POSITIVITY
CREATES SUCCESS"
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Being on TikTok is something which the average person would deem as an act of fun, and I would agree with that statement, but simply till a different extent and point of view. I was in fact also under the spotlight of the platform's algorithm, since my Official Guinness World Record title for the "Fastest Time to Build a Cup Pyramid (One Hand)" event at 10.90 seconds was also featured on Guinness' page at one point. The video surpassed 1,000,000 views within a short timeframe of posting, and needless to say this certainly boosted my publicity by relatively visible standards.
Enjoying popularity and fame on the Internet sure is an excellent thing, but the presence and involvement of my haters would once again take things for a negative turn. The more exposure I received, the more frequently I got regarded as a "useless figure" and "stupid representation of human decency". Things even escalated so badly till a point where famous YouTubers with millions of subscribers and billions of views on their channels made videos directed towards shaming my efforts for achieving Official Guinness World Record titles, since they saw my efforts as "dumb" and "a complete waste of time".
For the average person, it is not difficult to see why a lot of individuals would quit upon being largely discouraged, since they lack an element which I have long possessed, being none other than positivity. A positive mindset is what motivates me towards the realization of success; and it is the driving force accounting for my glory and deserved pride along the way. Without my positive spirit, it is beyond the shadow of a doubt that I would have succumbed to the abyss of depression years ago, and that there would have never been the prolific career which I own today.
Thus, it can be seen that the harmful stories above would correspond to the "Communicative Situation" concept of this course, since a communicative situation is defined as "the context within which communication occurs", and because TikTok qualifies as a social media platform with which users use to conduct communication, it does in fact qualify as a communicative situation.
Entry 30
"I AM HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS"
If success was a delicacy up for grabs at a buffet, I would have been the first one to fill up my plate with loads of it; difference being that I do not pay for my rewarding meal with money; but that I have in fact poured in countless hours of effort across the years to earn what I deserved the most.
I am hungry for success. So much so that I wished to be the embodiment of a beast, munching towards whatever I can gather from my efforts of hardwork like a huge feast. The materials above would thus correspond to my strong desire for achieving success, demonstrated through a collection of ways.
The clip on the left shows me breaking the unofficial world record title for the "Fastest Time to Solve a Mini 4x5 Klotski Puzzle (with the "Thinking Out of the Box" layout)" event at 0.82 seconds as part of a product testing session for GAN Swift Block, a puzzle-producing company based in China.
The photo in the middle shows the results for the GAN Swift Block Klotski Classic Layout Head-to-Head World Championships 2023 (Overseas Region), wherein I emerged as the international champion with a result of 1.81 seconds in the "Fastest Time to Solve a Mini 4x5 Klotski Puzzle (with the "Three Brothers Swear Brotherhood in the Peach Garden) layout" event, leading the first-runner-up by more than a whole second. As a result, the mentioned company had sponsored me by giving me both monetary rewards as well as new products for testing, which again adds to the list of achievements that I have accumulated.
The photo in the right is a screenshot of an article titled "Did you know these unusual talents can earn you GWR glory?" on Guinness World Records' Official site, wherein I was featured as the man who currently holds 49 concurrent titles as of March 2024 (now 51). The fact that I have appeared in multiple articles by authorized sources across the web says a lot about how hungry am I for more and more achievements; since eyeing for success every day has become a lifestyle for me; being something I cannot live without.
Though it is quite unfortunate to say that even till the end of this study, there still is a need to bring up the harmful stories which I have experienced regarding this matter; since them haters just would not seem to give up. As stated before, a lot of people got jealous of my achievements, and they would usually throw negative comments at me for what they envy. It has gotten so bad that at 0ne point I was accused of bullying teens and the disabled, since the former Official Guinness World Record title holder for the "Fastest Time to Assemble a Mr. Potato Head" event was a 13-year-old British girl with dyslexia, and the fact that I broke her record is somehow the direct equivalent of "discriminating against the disabled" and "a deliberate act of promoting gender inequality and ageism".
All of the aforementioned experiences might sound like something straight out of a satire sitcom, but they are unfortunately very real and vivid occurrences. Terrible and unpleasant episodes of life to say the least, and I sure am thankful that my strong character has pulled me through all of the hardships throughout my career. I am LIM KAI YI, and I am built different. I am a survivor, and that is who I am.
Having said that, it can be concluded that the experiences above correlate to the "Verbal and non-verbal communicative acts" concept fromf the Introduction to Ethnography and Communication Course (SE103) at the UCSI University Kuala Lumpur Campus in Malaysia. A communicative act is defined as "a communicative unit with a single interactional function", wherein verbal forms could be like to request or to command; and non-verbal ones are such as to wave. Communicative acts are also categorized as representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations.
The hurtful comments and the false allegations from the haters would in this case qualify as forms of verbal communicative acts, since they fall under the category of expressives, given that they are in fact comments or condemnation after all.
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CONCLUSION
If I were to describe my entire career with a move title, it wouldn't be hard to see why "Mission Impossible" is a perfect fit. Throughout all the ups and downs which I had experienced along the path towards success, I have learnt many valuable lessons; and I have gradually evolved into a stronger version of myself, since I am the one-and-only LIM KAI YI, and I am built different.
Thus, it should no longer be hard to visualize the answer for the central question of "Who Am I?", since:
- I am a 124-time Official Guinness World Record title holder.
- I am a 6-time International Puzzle-Solving Champion.
- I am a hyperpolyglot who speaks 10 languages fluently.
- I am an online content creator with 700,000+ subscribers / followers and 500,000,000+ views in total.
- I am an operatic bass vocalist who has a functional 4-octave range.
- I am the brand ambassador and product tester for several big names in the cubing industry.
- I was on live TV across several occasions, both internationally and locally.
- I am a Rubik's Cube collector with over 2,000 puzzles in my collection.
- I am an athlete who has made his home country of Malaysia proud by making it onto the global stage.
And most importantly of all,
I'M NOT THE AVERAGE JOE, NOT EVEN CLOSE.
I'M THE ONE-AND-ONLY; THE CHOSEN ONE.
I AM LIM KAI YI.
I AM BUILT DIFFERENT.
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