sOleiLian

I was in Kuala Lumpur during the weekend to attend the 10th Malaysia Architecture, Interior Design & Building Exhibition (ARCHIDEX 09) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre which saw the presence of more than 800 booths by over 300 local and foreign companies that graced the annual event. This visit to the national capital marked my 1st trip there in nearly 6 years. What made this trip extra special was that I opted for air travel, a mode of transport that I haven’t had the chance to use for nearly 2 decades. Yes, it was that long.

And no, I’m not gonna bore you guys with my reports on the event. Besides attending ARCHIDEX 09, I wanted to immerse myself in the pulsating energy of KL and see with my own eyes the elements that made this sprawling metropolis the heart and soul of Malaysia. Being the primate city and the only global city (an alpha one at that) in the country, it’s no doubt that most of Malaysia’s most ambitious and expensive construction projects call this very city home.

Of course, no trips to KL would be complete if one were to give the famous twins a miss. Since I had the whole afternoon to spare after attending ARCHIDEX 09, I took the time to stroll around the vicinity of KLCC which featured the soaring Petronas Twin Towers as its centrepiece. Even though the sun was radiating scorching heat and blinding rays in every possible direction, swarms of tourists were practically undeterred by its commanding presence in the sky. I was one of them.

Standing tall at 451.9m, these identical giants are still the world’s tallest twin towers. A national icon, the completion of the Petronas Twin Towers in 1998 heralded a brand new era in the history of architecture where the title-holders of the world’s tallest buildings have become an exclusively Asian agenda ever since.

I asked my cousin who went to further her studies in Taiwan whether the Taipei 101 was more impressive than our very own Petronas Twin Towers. Surprisingly, the answer was no. Although the former is currently the world’s tallest completed building, it lacks the latter’s doubly WOW effects. Sounds pretty logical, if you ask me.

The Petronas Twin Towers are already an inseparable component of Malaysian identity and national pride. I really can’t imagine how Kuala Lumpur would look like today if these towers never existed in the first place. Every major city or country in this world is in need of a symbol or icon that well represents it, no?

After all, it was these towers that helped to put Malaysia on the map.

c a t e g o r y | passport to nowhere
f l u f f e r p u f f | kuala lumpur . malaysia . travel

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