Assiri became the first Saudi to enter the Guinness book of world records Monday night for the largest collection of handmade prayer beads and old car plates. Assiri will not only go down in history as the first Saudi to break the record, he will also be the first in the Middle East to break two Guinness records. “I am flying from happiness,” said an excited Assiri after receiving his certificates. “I have finally made my dream come true.” Assiri's collection of 3,220 of handmade prayer beads at his personal museum in Dammam broke a Kuwaiti's record of 1,020. A prayer-bead maker by hobby, Assiri made all the prayer beads himself. “Those I didn't thread initially, I rethreaded and knotted,” said Assiri. Assiri's second record was for having the largest collection of old car plates. Over the years, Assiri has collected 80 rare and historical car plates as old as 65 years, including the first car plates issued during the era of King Abdul Aziz, the first Saudi king. “I am very proud to be the first Saudi to enter, I wasn't aware that I was in,” said Assiri. “I would like to dedicate this achievement to Abu Mutib (King Abdullah).” The ceremony of handing the certificates to Assiri by the Guinness book of record organization was held at the Janadriyah where Assiri has been exhibiting his handicraft and collections every year at the Festival. “I chose to have the ceremony at Janadriyah to honor a Saudi craft of prayer-bead making at a festival that celebrates Saudi heritage.” Assiri's children were so thrilled of their father's achievement that they all went to school on Tuesday with boxes of chocolate to celebrate with their schoolmates. Breaking Guinness records is considerably new to the Arab world, and especially to the Kingdom, with only 200 records broken by Arabs and less than 20 by Saudi organizations and companies. “We are trying to inform the public of our existence in the Kingdom and let them know that it is free, so they should just contact us and we will guide them through,” said Mohammed Sharif, Saudi representative of the Guinness Organization. “We are the sole sponsor of the Arabic Guinness World Record in the Kingdom,” said Sharif from Al-Waseelah Company. Since Guinness has entered the Kingdom a year ago, there has been some interest by Saudis. “We already have around 20 Saudi companies and organizations that have broken records, but Assiri is the first individual,” explained Sharif. Currently there are around five individuals and four companies registered to break a record. “One Saudi ate 22 scorpions and left them in his mouth for two minutes before swallowing them, he broke the record of an American who ate 19 scorpions and held them in his mouth for 19 seconds,” said Sharif. __
