Mooncake going for world record

BY PARVEEN GILL AND CECIL FUNG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Twin Towers Mooncake, standing at 6.17m in front of the Sungei Wang Plaza here is an attempt to get recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest mooncake twin towers in the world. 

Weighing 3,083kg and costing RM60,000, the mooncake has already been acknowledged by the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) as the tallest of its kind in the country.  

The towers which are made up of 128 layers of mooncake, with each layer measuring up to 12.7cm in height and 60.9cm in diameter, are made up of eight types of flavours: red lotus, green tea, durian, pandan, red bean, coffee, chocolate and mixed nuts.  

Master chef Kong Tong Wah with his latest record breaking creation, the Tallest Twin Towers Mooncake at Sungei Wang Plaza.

The towers took eight hours to make and were completed by a 50-member team led by master chef Kong Tong Wah at 4am yesterday. 

MBR representative Chery Heng said that the towers stood a good chance of creating a new world record. She said the current record for the tallest mooncake was 2.1m high.  

Transport Minister Datuk Chan Kong Choy, who inspected the completed towers yesterday, said they were another creative effort by the Bukit Bintang MCA division, which had broken the record for the longest and largest mooncakes in the past two years. 

“These towers not only symbolise the country’s development, but also its diverse traditions with the Lantern Festival being an important festival that brings people together as well as attracts tourists to the country,” he said. 

Deputy Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said on Wednesday that the Twin Towers Mooncake was also a tribute to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. 

“As Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir has contributed immensely to the development of the country and it was his vision to build the tallest buildings in the world – The Petronas Twin Towers. 

“When tourists come to the country or when they hear the word ‘Malaysia’, the first thing that comes to their mind is our twin towers,” he said. 

Today’s Lantern Festival 2003, themed “Unity Towards Nation-Building,” will start at 5pm with entertainment and will be followed by a procession at 8pm from KL Plaza to Century Hotel via Jalan Alor and end at a stage set up in front of Sungei Wang Plaza. 

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to join the procession from the halfway point at Federal Hotel. 

Tomorrow morning, the mooncake towers will be cut into about 16,000 pieces and sold for RM5 per piece, and the proceeds will go to St John Ambulance Selangor (South Central) and the Pemegang Amanah Yayasan Kebajikan SSL Haemodialysis Berdaftar. 

The festival is organised by the Bukit Bintang MCA division and co-organised by the National MCA Youth Social Development Bureau. 

The Star is the event's media sponsor. 

The stretch of Jalan Sultan Ismail directly in front of Sungei Wang Plaza will be closed to traffic today until 6am tomorrow.