If you want to learn about the facts of large scale projects it always helps to know someone in the industry and luckily Mr Krishnasamy, the Project Manager of construction of the Petronas Twin Towers agreed to be our speaker today. Who better to speak of the building of these massive towers than he? We met downstairs near the MPO office, and were led by security to the 83rd floor, where you can view the whole of the city from Tower Two. After seeking our respective homes across the horizon, we moved to the video room, to listen to Krish and watch the video of the construction of the twin towers, before asking questions.

The Petronas Twin Towers were designed by Argentinian architect Cesar Pelli. A large group of American engineers and designers spent five years in Malaysia working with the construction companies and Malaysian architects, creating the towers, from May 1992 to May 1997. The two towers were constructed by two different companies - one from Korea and one from Japan, so the competition was fierce, even down to the last few days of final erection. The foundation under each tower is a 4.5 metre thick raft which containing 13,200 cubic metres of grade 60 reinforced concrete weighing around 32,550 tonnes and supported by 104 barette piles varying from 60 to 115 metres in length.

The floor plate design was based on geometric patterns common in architecture of Islamic heritage. There are: 65,000 square metres of stainless steel cladding in 33,000 panels; 77,000 square metres of vision glass in 32,000 windows; 160,000 cubic metres of concrete in the super structures; and 36,910 tonnes of steel in the beams, trusses and reinforcement.

There were over 7,000 men at work during the peak of the construction and over 1,000 on each tower.

The towers stand at 451.9 metres high, with 88 storeys in each tower, and 3.7 million square feet of office space. The pinnacles on each tower are 73.5 metres tall. There is a 58.4 metre double-decker skybridge linking the twin towers at the 41st and 42nd floor (170 metres above the ground level), weighing 750 tonnes. There are 29 double-decker high speed lifts in each tower, six heavy duty service lifts and four executive lifts. There are also ten escalators in each tower.

It cost 1.8 billion to build, and was officially opened on August 31, 1999. Tower One is occupied by Petronas (Petroleum Nasional Berhad), while Tower Two is occupied by Petronas' associate companies with any excess space leased out to multi nationals. There are many floors left not leased for future Petronas use, and in Tower Two, there are four floors near the skybridge, for the Petronas Club, housing four separate restaurants. The Petronas Twin Tower also houses an 864-seat acoustic distinction concert hall - the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas.

Next to the Twin tower is the premier shopping mall of Kuala Lumpur City Centre - Suria KLCC. The design of the mall utilizes maximum skylight from the spacious centre court for natural lighting, to befit the name Suria KLCC - "Suria" meaning sunshine. At the ground floor there are several cafes facing the beautiful KLCC Park. Outside Suria KLCC is the 20-hectare KLCC Park, part of the KLCC project designed by the late Brazilian landscapist Roberto Burle Marx. The park includes a Symphony Lake with two playful musical fountains at the esplanade just outside Suria KLCC, a two-acre kiddie playground with colourful child-safe play equipment, a public wading pool, patterned footpaths and a soft jogging track. Close to 2000 indigenous trees from 74 species are planted in the park with about 40 trees preserved and replanted from the former Selangor Turf Club.

Following the movie presentation we moved back down to the 42nd floor and were taken across the skybridge to view the landscape and gardens. We then enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Dualang Suite in the Petronas Club.
- Jenny Savage

Reporters without Borders has recently released its third annual worldwide index of press freedom which measures the state of press freedom in the world and reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organizations enjoy in each country, plus the efforts made by each state to respect this freedom In 2003, Malaysia was ranked 104. In 2004, Malaysia ranked 122 out of 167. What happened? Can a free press mean the same thing in every society? What about in our multi-racial and multi-religious society? Must 'unity and harmony' be protected even if it threatens press freedom? These are just a few of the subjects we will be covering.

Our speaker this morning, Sonia Randhawa is the co-ordinator of SEAPA KL, an advocacy project aiming to deepen knowledge about issues surrounding media freedom in Malaysia. She is also director of the Centre for Independent Journalism. Outside media advocacy, Sonia is broadly interested in human rights and the environment, having volunteered with various NGO's. She has written or worked for AgendaMalaysia/AgendaSeni.com, The Sun, TravelAsiaNet.com, The Edge, Marie Claire, Men's Review, New Straits Times, Malaysiakini.com, just to name a few! Some of you may know Sonia from her work with SOS Selangor where she helped raise issues including the alienation of the rights of indigenous people.

Join us for what will without a doubt be a fascinating talk and a lively discussion!

In Malaysia, where natural resources are in abundance, Jurema Baker takes what is 'leftover' from the bountiful Malaysian rainforests, recycles and transforms them into unique works of art. Using coconut and palm trees, bamboo, tree bark, durian and more, she has created lacquered pieces that are all one of a kind. The method she uses is extremely laborious and has taken many years to refine. The process is completely manual, recycling the natural materials and treating them to ensure their preservation.

Jurema has a background in antique restoration and has diplomas in Chinese and Islamic Art from the University of London, but has found her love in the tropical forests of Malaysia. Join us as we visit this creative and imaginative Brazilian artist.