By Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

FOR two years, she kept her unusual ability a secret.
Her worry was that people might regard her as a freak.

You see, Ms Rina T has an ability to make metallic objects stick to her body.

By her own count, only 10 people close to her know this.

And they are mostly kids - her nephews, nieces, and cousins who, when they see objects like spoons, tin cans and knives stuck on her body, view the spectacle in wonderment, not distaste.

The only adults who are privy to her secret are her friend, Lola, her brother, and her 40-year-old businessman husband, who teasingly calls her 'a freak'.

Even her parents don't know.

'I just don't want people to laugh at me and call me strange,' said Ms Rina, who teaches in a child-care centre.

But lately, she has had second thoughts about keeping things under wraps.

She has been wondering if her 'magnetism' is a symptom of a health problem.

'After living with this unusual condition for so long, I want to know if there's any scientific explanation. I hope it has got nothing to do with my part-time job because I work with lead,' said Ms Rina, 36, who is also a part-time stained-glass artist.

'I'm a little worried it would lead to complications should I get pregnant one day.'

Ms Rina says she sometimes uses lead to make frames for her artwork.

She won't say where she works because she is worried people would recognise her.

Ms Rina intends to go for a blood test later this month .

She demonstrated her unusual condition by sticking metallic objects such as forks, spoons, knives, an iron, a small pot, keys, spanners and padlocks on her body.

But objects with very small surface areas will not stick to her body. And the part of her body which is 'magnetised' is limited to the area from below her neck to her chest.

Ms Rina is still mystified about her condition but has not sought answers so far as she is shy.

The New Paper On Sunday had to convince her to meet us after Lola, who is also a child-care teacher, told us about her.

Ms Rina said she discovered her ability two years ago.

She was watching a Discovery Channel documentary with her brother.

The programme was Xtra-ordinary People, and one of the people featured was Mr Liew Thow Lin, Ipoh's 'human magnet'.

He is able to make metal objects up to 2kg stick to his skin.

The New Paper published a story about the documentary back in May 2003.

Said Rina's brother, a 34-year-old businessman: 'After the documentary, we decided to experiment. My sister placed a fork and spoon onto my body. It all fell to the ground.

'But when I placed the cutlery on the upper part of her body, it didn't fall off. I was shocked and surprised. Why was it possible for the cutlery to stick onto her and not me?'

PARTY TRICKS

Since then, Ms Rina has became a 'celebrity' of sorts among her nephews, nieces and cousins.

They stick things on her 'like a Christmas tree', she said. The handful of close relatives love her party tricks.

Ms Rina also enjoys occasionally entertaining children who sit beside her in an airplane.

She added: 'I don't set off shop alarms, metal detectors, or find myself stuck to metal railings. But I have a problem with static electricity. I get zapped frequently.

'Kids love it when onboard an airplane I can make my hair 'float' simply by putting my hands close to my head. And once I get the kid's attention, I show them a little of my human magnet act.'

Ms Rina said her unusual skill has not given her any major problems.

But her brother disagrees.

He said: 'For some reason our TV and computer at home behaves strangely when she stands near it. It's as though there is a virus in the computer. Sometimes, the computer would hang and I would have to restart it again.'

One frustration Ms Rina remembers was when she was at an MRT station and had to top-up her ez-link card.

Both machines she used appeared to be out of order.

But when the person behind her used the same machine, it worked fine.

She found it odd that when she tried the same machine after this person had left, it was again not operating.

Was it pure coincidence, or did she have a faulty ez-link card? Or could it be something else...

Local scientist keen on studying human magnet

A SERIES of tests would have to be carried out on Ms Rina before any answers are found about her ability, a scientist said.

Said Associate Professor Alfred Huan from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at Nanyang Technological University: 'I'm quite intrigued by her capabilities. From a scientific viewpoint, I would like to see what kinds of material she attracts.

'I have read about human magnets in the news but have never come across one.

'I would volunteer to study Ms Rina before coming up with a scientific explanation.'

The tests can confirm if she has magnetic or electrostatic fields around her.

Some tests would be as simple as using a compass and magnet placed near her body.

Materials like different types of metals, plastics, polymers and talcum powder can also be used.

A voltmeter could be used to measure voltage changes around her body.

Another test would involve placing Ms Rina in different environments like dry or humid air, or even wetting her skin.

LIKE SUCTION CUP?

But a Singapore dermatologist was sceptical.

Said Dr Greaves Malcolm Watson: 'I think it's possible for a person to have a magnet-like effect.

'It works like a suction cup. If the gap between your skin and the object is slightly moist and airtight, the object will stick.

'At the end of the day, if the woman (Ms Rina) wants to investigate her condition, she should just see a doctor.'

Some scientists from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) who studied Malaysian human 'magnets', such as Mr Tan Kok Thai and Mr Liew Thow Lin, believe the men's skin might be responsible for the 'magnetic' effect.

Last year, UTM lecturer Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood told the media that tests should be done to confirm his theory that Mr Tan's ability was derived from the 'suction properties' of his skin.

Scientists who examined Mr Liew found he had no magnetic and electrical fields.

A UTM professor Mohamed Amin Alias told The Star: 'His (Mr Liew's) skin has a special suction effect that can help metal stick to it.'

WE PUT COMPASS NEAR HER AS TEST

SEEING is believing.

So we had to meet Ms Rina T in person and test her claims.

What we saw was quite amazing.

We placed a compass near her chest to see if there was a magnetic field.

Nope. The compass needle didn't go crazy.

So we started sticking an assortment of things on her: Forks, spoons, a key and even a padlock.

They all stuck to her, even as she paced up and down, with as many as 10 items stuck to her body.

Nothing fell.

But here's the strange part.

Ms Rina has no control over the things on her body.

If an object fell, all the other items would fall at the same time.

We left still puzzled over this phenomenon.