Singaporean student Ang Chuang Yang.

A Singaporean student broke the Guinness World Record for the shortest time needed to type a 160-character SMS (short message service) message on Sunday after whizzing through the task in less than 42 seconds in a competition.

Sixteen-year-old Ang Chuang Yang typed the SMS message in 41.52 seconds, beating the previous record of 42.22 seconds set by American Ben Cook in July, according to Singapore Telecommunications, organisers of the competition.

In a statement after breaking the record, the 16-year old boy said, "I will try for 39 seconds next year."

Ang said that the trick to speedy text messaging was to use a mobile¹ phone with larger keys on the dial pad².

SMS messaging competitions around the world use the same SMS text provided³ by the Guinness organization.

The record-breaking message is as follows: "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious⁴ freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human."