(AFP) feature

The novelty of working in the world's tallest building was short-lived for 23-year-old Kenny Chin.

Just hours after the devastating September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre skyscrapers in New York, a bomb threat saw Chin and 10,000 frightened fellow office workers out on the street.

Chin, who has worked on the 56th floor of the 452-metre Petronas Twin Towers for just five months, said the breathtaking view of the city skyline now evoked more anxiety than awe.

"The bomb scare made me realise that this problem wasn't just affecting the United States - whatever steps they take next are going to affect all of us, and that's the scary part," he said.

Chin said security has been tight since the incident, with the management installing a metal detector and x-ray machine to screen workers and visitors to the towers.

"It's more annoying, the hoax, but I do take it seriously and it's making me nervous," he said.

Normal reaction

The Petronas Twin Towers' spokesman told AFP that security measures had been introduced after the bomb scare, but declined to comment on how long they would be in place.

"It's a very normal reaction because we don't want to take risks," he said.

Close to 10,000 people work at the towers, Asia's answer to the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, which were the tallest in the world when they were completed 30 years ago.

The Guinness Book of World Records now gives that tag to Malaysia's twin towers, soaring examples of Islamic-inspired architecture, which were completed in 1997.

The spokesman said he was confident the towers were safe and would continue to be an attraction. Visitors can view the city from a "skybridge" between the two buildings, 41 storeys up.

But the old desire to host the highest buildings in the world may no longer hold the same appeal.

"The higher a building is, the more dangerous it becomes and you must remember that the twin towers are the tallest in the world," an architect told AFP . He did not want to be named for professional reasons.

"People said the World Trade Centre was safe, was built to withstand earthquakes even, but we all saw what happened.

"When a building is that high, it is very difficult to be confident of its safety anymore, both due to architectural weaknesses and also because it attracts a lot of unwanted attention."

Trademark

He said the towers were seen as a symbol of strength and development which locals could identify with and use as a trademark.

"But there should be a limit to how much higher, how much bigger, because it now poses a safety risk."

However, in a record-mad country that boasts world titles for, among other things, non-stop juggling and pulling a Boeing 747 with hair, pride in having the world's tallest office building is strong.

"Everyday that I come to work, I look up and feel a sense of pride in what I see and what my country is able to do," said Abdullah Ali, 47, who has worked on the 33rd floor of the towers for five years.

Another Malaysian record-setting building is the nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower, the tallest concrete tower in the world, standing at 421 metres high.

"They are all symbols of our strength, a way to show the world that we are the best," said Abdullah, just before he passed under the metal detector into the twin towers.

K. Maneemaran, 17, a student visiting the twin towers for the first time on a field trip with 80 students and teachers from a town more than 200 kilometres away, said he was impressed by the towers.

The "bigger is better" fever isn't just confined to Kuala Lumpur. China and India both have plans in the works to take over Malaysia's mantle.

Or did have, before September 11.