sub handler {
     my $r    = shift;
     my $my_r = My::Apache::Request->new($r);
     # do interesting things with $my_r
  }

##</code><code>##

   # somewhere in your code...
   my $r = My::Apache::Request->instance;

   # in My::Apache::Request;
   package My::Apache::Request;
   use base qw(Apache::Singleton); # or something like it 

   sub _new_instance {
      my $class = shift;
      return $class->new(r => Apache::Request->instance);
   }