Last January 2013 during our honeymoon vacation, my husband and I visited our sister country, Malaysia. Flying from Medan, the flight to Kuala Lumpur or most famous known as KL, only took around 45 minutes. Though it was my second visit to the country, my journey this time brought back the old memory. However, I was somewhat disappointed to notice not much was changed about the city since my last visit around 10 years ago. The capital city remained the same as in the past and as far as I recalled I did not see any major changes in the city plan, transportation system, etc. We decided to stay in one of the hotels in Bukit Bintang for one night only because we planned to spend longer time in Singapore. After putting our luggage in the hotel, we went to visit the most iconic landmark of the city, Petronas Twin Towers. We took Putra Jaya LRT and stopped at KLCC station. After around ten-minutes walk we finally arrived at the site. Located at Kuala Lumpur Central Business District, the towers along dominate the skyline and are the most photographed buildings in the city and even in the country. So if anyone ever travels to the city without taking picture with the towers as the background, they could not really prove that they have been to the city. Whenever people hear the name Kuala Lumpur, they will surely link it to the twin towers.
The idea of constructing the tower came from the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohammad who became prime minister in 1981. As a young nation just liberated from colonial rule in 1957, the minister had an ambition to make the country known worldwide. One of the ways to achieve this purpose was by creating a typically Malaysian image through iconic landmark. Therefore, he decided to hold a contest to choose the best design for the Malaysia’s new figurehead. The winner was a famous Argentinean-American architect called César Pelli. The architect based the design of the towers on the Islamic principles. As a result, the towers have a postmodern design with a strong Islamic influence and successfully represent the true identity of Malaysia’s culture and Islamic heritage. Each building is shaped as eight-pointed star which is one of important symbols in Islamic culture. It is also built based on the five pillars of Islam, which can be seen in the round shapes of the towers that represent Islamic integrity principle of interrelated unity, harmony, stability and rationalization.
Together with the architect and the country’s oil tycoon, Petronas, the prime minister managed to realize his vision to make Malaysia a global player. Petronas oil company supported the competition of the towers’ construction. The competition was held between two companies from two countries, Japan and Korea. Tower 1 was built by a Japanese company, Hazama Corporation, while Tower 2 was built by a Korean company, Samsung C&T and Kukdong Engineering & Construction. The competition was looking for the one who could finish the construction the fastest. They were only given two years to finish the whole thing. In case any of them failed to fulfill the deadline, they had to pay a delay cost of roughly US$700,000 per day. Finally, it was the Korean company who finished one month earlier than the Japanese company thus won the competition.
Constructed in 1982 and completed in 1988, the towers that stand majestically at the height of 452 meters above the ground ever gained reputation of being the tallest buildings in the world before they were surpassed by Taipei 101 in 2004. They successfully maintained their position as the tallest skyscrapers in the world from 1998 to 2004. Nowadays, the towers are the fourth tallest buildings in the world after Burj Dubai (828 m), Taipei 101 (509 m), and Shanghai World Financial Center (492m). However, as of 2010, they remained the tallest twin buildings in the world. Built on the site of Kuala Lumpur’s race track in an area of 40 hectares, the towers feature a diamond-faceted facade consisting of 83,500 square meters of stainless steel extrusions. The towers consist of 88 floors and are constructed with a steel and glass facade that symbolize motifs in Islamic art. The height of the tower is measured from the base to the top of the building excluding the antennas. Each tower is surmounted by a pinnacle of 73.5 meters tall that consists of spire, mast ball and ring ball which altogether weigh 176 tons. The pinnacles serve as an aesthetic feature as well as aircraft warning lights. They also symbolize minaret in Islamic religion.
The towers are equipped with double-decker skybridge (the world’s highest 2-storey bridge) that connect the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors. However, the skybridge is not attached to the towers but designed to slide in and out to prevent it from breaking and to sustain strong wind. It also functions as a safety device during emergency like fire, in which people can transfer easily from tower one to tower two and vice versa. Standing 170 m above the ground, the bridge measures 58 meters long and weighs 750 tons. The skybridge is open for public visit but limited tickets are available daily. So if you want to view the city from the bridge, you must come early in the morning to get the ticket. At first, the admission was free but in 2010 Petronas decided to sell the tickets. The towers are open daily from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 9 pm. The ticket booth is open from 8.30 am – 6 pm with the ticket price 80 MYR for adults and 30 MYR for children. The tickets include access the observation deck on floor 86 in tower 2 and a tour to the skybridge on floor 41.
The twin towers are basically home to companies’ offices. The first tower is fully occupied by Petronas, the Malay oil tycoon and the owner of the twin towers, while the other tower is used by other companies.
Look at the skybridge that connects the two spires. If seen from afar, the outline of the towers looks like letter “M” which is the initial letter of Malaysia. Unfortunately we did not visit the skybridge because of limited time.
A picture of me and my beloved husband. This is the view of the towers during the day. However, the towers are most spectacular in the evening when they are beautifully lit every midnight. They look like rockets ready to launch and very impressive. I regretted that we did not come back to take the midnight view of the towers.
At the base of the towers is located one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia, Suria KLCC, which is open from 10 am – 10 pm. Here you can shop for luxury goods and branded materials.
Besides the towers and the shopping mall, you can also relax yourself in the KLCC park that is located outside the towers. Covering an area of 17 acres, the park is a pleasant spot to jog, stroll around and enjoy the city’s view. It has a fountain with light show, wading pools and children’s playground. However, we did not spend much time exploring the whole park for the weather was very hot and the sweat made me feel sticky.
As nothing much could be done there, we did not spend a long time in the towers and continued our exploration to another part of the city. However, I regretted that we did not take the pictures of the dazzling towers in the evening. Maybe one day I will come back, photograph the towers at night and update this article.
Sources:
Personal experience and additional information from other online articles
In front of the building at the front courtyard stands the sculpture comprising three men, Sun Yat Sen in the middle and behind him are two his most faithful supporters, the first chairman and vice chairman of the PPU, Goh Say Eng and Ooi Kim Kheng. The statue portrays the undying spirit and commitment of the overseas Chinese communities to fight for justice and revolution. 
At the back of the statue is a room where visitors can sit and relax while enjoying the serenity of the memorial center 
