A Malaysian man allowed himself to be "cooked" for half an hour in a huge wok of steaming dumplings and corn in an offering to Chinese deities during a Taoist festival. A giant steamer cover was placed over temple caretaker Lim Boon Hwa, 56, as he sat cross-legged on a wooden board atop a steaming giant wok yesterday in a temple in northern Kedah state.


This was the fourth time Lim was "cooked" to mark the festival, known as the Nine Emperor Gods, the newspaper said.

The longest he had been on the wok was 45 minutes.

"Lim's performance shows the greatness of the Taoist deities in protecting their devotees from harm," temple spokesman Goon Fook Theong was quoted as saying.

About 1000 people turned up to watch Lim, and the cooked dumplings and corn were later distributed to the spectators, the newspaper said.

Ten other devotees also performed stunts, including walking and throwing themselves on glass shards, it said.

Ethnic Chinese make up a quarter of Malaysia's 25 million population, with most of them being Taoist or Buddhist.