another one bites the dust
From the BBC:
"A snake charmer who made a name for himself as Malaysia's Snake King has died after being bitten by a king cobra. Ali Khan Samsudin, 48, had entered the record books for locking himself in small spaces with hundreds of snakes or scorpions for days at a time.
The old adage "once bitten twice shy" simply did not apply to Mr Ali Khan. According to local press reports, he had his first altercation with a king cobra 27 years ago. So when, on Tuesday, one of his subjects inflicted what was just the latest of many bites, he had not been unduly worried. However, two days later, his condition worsened suddenly and his family rushed him to hospital. He died before he could receive treatment.
Ali Khan Samsudin found fame in the early 1990s when he lived for 12 hours a day for 40 days in a small room with 400 cobras. That earned him the title of Snake King."
Among this guy's other exploits, apparently, is having been shut in a box with 6,000 scorpions for several weeks on end.
As was the case with Steve Irwin, I'm not sure what to think about something like this - to be sympathetic, to be smug that he got his inevitable comeuppance for sensational risktaking, or to be happy that he died doing what he loved (although it's frankly hard to imagine that anyone finds the company of snakes and scorpions intrinsically enjoyable, apart from the celebrity that accompanies the risk). 'Snake king' or 'crocodile hunter', the brand names these entertainers make for themselves is obviously their reward for getting in harm's way - so should we empathize?
Does anyone have thoughts? And Yiwen, have you heard of this guy? The article says he was Malaysian.
"A snake charmer who made a name for himself as Malaysia's Snake King has died after being bitten by a king cobra. Ali Khan Samsudin, 48, had entered the record books for locking himself in small spaces with hundreds of snakes or scorpions for days at a time.
The old adage "once bitten twice shy" simply did not apply to Mr Ali Khan. According to local press reports, he had his first altercation with a king cobra 27 years ago. So when, on Tuesday, one of his subjects inflicted what was just the latest of many bites, he had not been unduly worried. However, two days later, his condition worsened suddenly and his family rushed him to hospital. He died before he could receive treatment.
Ali Khan Samsudin found fame in the early 1990s when he lived for 12 hours a day for 40 days in a small room with 400 cobras. That earned him the title of Snake King."
Among this guy's other exploits, apparently, is having been shut in a box with 6,000 scorpions for several weeks on end.
As was the case with Steve Irwin, I'm not sure what to think about something like this - to be sympathetic, to be smug that he got his inevitable comeuppance for sensational risktaking, or to be happy that he died doing what he loved (although it's frankly hard to imagine that anyone finds the company of snakes and scorpions intrinsically enjoyable, apart from the celebrity that accompanies the risk). 'Snake king' or 'crocodile hunter', the brand names these entertainers make for themselves is obviously their reward for getting in harm's way - so should we empathize?
Does anyone have thoughts? And Yiwen, have you heard of this guy? The article says he was Malaysian.
posted by David at 12:33 PM
1 Comments:
interesting post david
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