For booming Malaysia, the sky's the limit<\/p>\n
By Ong Saw Lay<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): If height is any symbol of success,
\nMalaysia will soon, at least fancifully, be the pinnacle of
\nachievement as home to Asia's tallest tower and, by year-end, to
\nthe world's tallest building.<\/p>\n
Crowning Kuala Lumpur's rapidly-changing skyline at 421 metres
\n(1,263 feet), Menara Kuala Lumpur last week began its reign as
\nthe tallest tower in Asia and the third-tallest in the world.<\/p>\n
\"We want Menara Kuala Lumpur to be to Malaysia what the Eiffel
\nTower is to France,\" said Nasir Ithnin, general manager of Menara
\nKuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd.<\/p>\n
Menara in 1991 was awarded a 15-year government concession to
\nbuild and manage the telecommunications tower.<\/p>\n
The 270 million-ringgit (108 million-dollar) structure is a
\n90-10 joint venture between the national telephone company,
\nTelekom Malaysia Bhd, and Germany's Wayss and Freytag AG, the
\nturnkey contractor.<\/p>\n
Designed by local architecture firm Kumpulan Senireka Sdn Bhd,
\nit features a glass dome within the tower designed to reflect
\nMalaysia's Islamic heritage.<\/p>\n
A stone's throw from the Menara, what will be the world's
\ntallest building is already reaching for the sky.<\/p>\n
At 451.9 metres, the 2.3-billion-ringgit (920-million-dollar)
\ntwin tower owned by state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd
\n(Petronas) should top record-holder Chicago's Sears Towers by 8.9
\nmetres when it opens by year-end.<\/p>\n
But its reign as the world's tallest is expected to end when
\nChina's 457-metre Chongqing Tower is completed next year.<\/p>\n
The 88-storey twin towers, designed by U.S.-based architect
\nCesar Pelli, is seen not only as a flashy new address for
\nPetronas, but also as a status symbol for fast-developing
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
\"It's an achievement,\" said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
Government officials last week cut into a special cake baked
\nin the shape of the structure to celebrate Mahathir's 15th year
\nin office.<\/p>\n
New monuments and hotels have mushroomed in the capital in the
\nlast two years as Malaysia moves toward the prime minister's goal
\nof joining the world's fully industrialized nations by 2020.<\/p>\n
Despite a burgeoning deficit in its trade and current account
\nbalances, Malaysia is pushing ahead with huge projects, some
\ntagged as extravagant and wasteful by Mahathir's critics.<\/p>\n
About 64 kilometers (40 miles) south of the capital, the
\ngovernment is spending 20.09 billion ringgit (8.0 billion
\ndollars) on a federal administrative metropolis for the
\nrelocation of state ministries.<\/p>\n
Due for completion in 2005, the so-called Putrajaya project is
\nlocated not far from Kuala Lumpur's new nine-billion-dollar
\ninternational airport.<\/p>\n
Builders are rushing to meet the airport's completion deadline
\nin 1998, when Malaysia hosts the Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n
Big projects are still the way of the future, the 71-year-old
\nMahathir recently declared.<\/p>\n
Economists say the mega projects will further strain
\nMalaysia's current account deficit, tipped to remain at 15
\nbillion ringgit this year, only a slight improvement from last
\nyear's 18 billion ringgit shortfall.<\/p>\n
Mahathir sees the projects as necessary to ease bottlenecks
\nand continue attracting inflows of the foreign funds that have
\nhelped fuel Malaysia's economic growth, which has stayed above
\neight percent annually since 1987.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, now grappling with rising worker shortage and labor
\ncosts, needs at least 450 billion ringgit (180 billion dollars)
\nto fund projects and sustain its robust growth for the next five
\nyears.<\/p>",
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