We have Filipinos living in any part of the globe. In this episode we will feature Malaysia’s superstructure and landmark, the Petronas Towers. These are the twin skyscrapers of Kuala Lumpur and is considered as its crown jewel. Menara Berkembar Petronas or Petronas Twin Towers was the tallest building in the world built on a former horse-racing track, from 1998-2006, with its 88 floors, spanning 1,482.9 feet in height. It may not be the tallest building now, but it is still considered the tallest twin buildings in the world.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
While JR Langit and I, along with the Kasangga Team, was in Malaysia, we found out that the Petronas Towers was built in 1992. They created 29 double-decker, high speed passenger elevators for both towers. What is not common knowledge is that there were two Filipinos behind the creation of these towers. These were Engineer Deejay Cerico, a Filipino-Malaysian and Architect Dominic Saibo. They designed the towers along with an Argentine-American architect, Cesar Pelli.
UNIQUELY MALAYSIAN
The structure was said to symbolize Malaysia’s economic strength. It is also a tourist destination. As the story goes, Cesar Pelli’s first design was rejected by Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia. He wanted a building that imbued “world class” and was uniquely Malaysian in design. This was until he played with cultural symbols, consulted with our Filipino engineers and integrated an “eight-pointed star” symbol of Islam which could be seen from the top of the building.
This Islamic star symbolizes unity, harmony, stability, and rationality.
The Malaysian government specified that the buildings be completed in six years. As a result, construction on the building ran 24/7. It costs approximately $ 1.8 billion USD. Money that was taken from profits oil businesses in Malaysia.
The towers became famous when French urban climber Alain “Spiderman” Robert climbed its heights with no safety devices. He was arrested on his first try in 1997, on the 60th floor and again on 2007. He tried once more and succeeded in scaling the building under 7 hours.
This was also the building where Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones filmed their scenes in “Entrapment” back in 1999.