The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- Morning surprise for employees of mall outlets
- Mall closed after gas blast
- Go for technical education, Indian youths told
| Morning surprise for employees of mall outlets Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:21 PM PDT SUBANG JAYA: Employees who work at Empire Shopping Gallery had a shock when they arrived for work and found the place teeming with uniformed personnel and curious onlookers. Sales personnel Ida Rahim, 20, thought a crime had taken place. "I saw the police do-not-cross lines and a crowd of curious onlookers outside the mall when I arrived at 8am. I thought someone got murdered!" said Ida, who works at a department store. "I only found out an explosion had occurred earlier in the morning after asking around." Hundreds of shopping mall staff like Ida were left stranded outside the mall as they showed up to work without any knowledge of the pre-dawn blast. Ida said her employer told her and her colleagues to go home as business would be closed indefinitely. A bakery manager, who only wanted to be identified as Rusli, said he was told by fire department officials he was not allowed to enter the mall to retrieve money from his shop. "I was told no one is allowed to enter the mall until the fire department finishes its investigation and gives clearance," said the 38-year-old. On Twitter THE gas explosion which rocked Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya created a frenzy of tweets and re-tweets on Twitter under the hashtag #empiregallery. Others commented on #empiresubangexplode and #empiregallery. Many of those living in the vicinity of the gallery and heard the blast said they were up watching the early morning Champions League games at the time. Here are some of the tweets: @stellaLexy > experienced something like erthquake, scary. read twitter, #empiregallery had explosion. i don't know what happened! > #empiregalle y is blown up aka. explosion an hour ago, I think block A is the one AND WEA RES TILLH EREI N BLOCK B! AARGGHH*!p! anic* @hannahyeoh> > I thank God it did not happen during business hours, otherwise casualty would have been severe. @feistyflo > View from Federal Highway, note right of image. Parking area affected. http://yf rog. com/ke53oqlj @haniehidayah >If you have no business or reason to be at #EmpireGallery please don't clog the area & cause traffic, let officials do their work. @Chrisjunkie >Woke up to the news that #empiregalle ry #subang had an explosion last night. Thank God it didn't happen during the day @Ernadia >Front door shook a little, with her father wondering why the cats were pushing at the door around 4am. Related Stories: |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2011 04:06 PM PDT SUBANG JAYA: Empire Shopping Gallery has been closed as the authorities scrambled to determine the cause of a gas explosion which rocked the building, injuring four people. The closure, which covers the entire complex that houses a hotel, commercial and residential units, is effective until the structures are declared safe by the authorities. Empire Shopping Gallery is one of the most frequented and popular shopping malls here, attracting thousands of shoppers daily. The explosion, which occurred at the ground floor of the five-storey mall at about 3.45am yesterday, also tore into the adjoining office block and studio apartments. Two other floors in the shopping complex were also damaged. Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said: "For the time being, the complex will be closed pending investigations by the Fire Department and police." "Then, engineers, consultants, property owners and the local council will be allowed in to inspect the building before it is declared safe," he told reporters after visiting the scene yesterday. It is learnt that Energy Commission investigations will take several days to ensure the gas piping system is safe for operation. Initial inspection by the owners' engineers and architects revealed the building's main structure was not affected by the explosion. "I was given the assurance by the owners' professional teams of engineers and architects that the structure of the building is not affected," Khalid said, adding that this would have to be verified by local council engineers. He said public safety was the main concern and the complex would be temporarily closed. To speed up the safety verification process, Khalid said local council engineers would work closely with consultant engineers to give on-the-spot decisions during inspections. Mall management company Mammoth Empire Holdings Sdn Bhd's group chief director Datuk Danny J.Y. Cheah confirmed that the building's main structure was still intact, noting that the damage was confined to glass panels, ceiling boards and several brick walls "mainly due to the rapid expansion of air during the explosion". About 300 people were rescued and evacuated, including some 170 hotel guests who were relocated to nearby hotels for safety reasons, he said. The effects of the explosion reached both ends of the mall, and all five levels recorded some form of damage. Several windows as high up as the eighth floor of the 12-storey office tower were also shattered. "We are not able to ascertain losses at this point in time," Cheah said, adding that the mall was occupied by 180 tenants. Mall general manager May Woo said all operations had been halted until further notice in the interest of public safety. A preliminary report on the investigations is expected to be released by the fire forensics team within the next 48 hours, she said in a statement last night. "We have taken the decision to halt operations as safety is our highest priority. We assure our tenants that this decision has been made after carefully considering all factors and advice from the authorities. "I urge all parties to refrain from speculation and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations. We are also anxious to find out what caused this incident," she said. The public can get updates via various channels, including the mall's website (www.esg.com.my), Facebook (www.facebook/esg.com.my) and Twitter (Empire SHGallery.com). Alternatively, they can call 018-701 2880. Malaysian Association for Shopping and Highrise Complex Management president H.C. Chan recommended regular maintenance of gas supply systems in shopping malls. Related Stories: |
| Go for technical education, Indian youths told Posted: 28 Sep 2011 03:53 PM PDT INDIAN youths who failed to pursue higher education have been urged to take up opportunities in technical education and vocational training, reported Malaysia Nanban. MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel told reporters this after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between MIC's social arm Social Strategic Foundation and the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's Department. He said the MoU was aimed at building skills among Indian youths and improving their chances of employment. He called upon the youths to grab the opportunities in line with the Government's aspiration to produce highly skilled and semi-skilled workers to reduce dependency on foreign workers. > A woman who had been staying in a Kampong Setiawan house for the past 40 years got a shock when the neighbouring SK Kampong Setiawan management told her to vacate the house by Sept 30 as the land belonged to the school, reported Malaysia Nanban. However, widow P. Krishnammal said the land belonged to her father-in-law A. Muniandy and they had been staying in the house since 1972. She said that quit rent for the land had been paid till 1993. She said that she was currently living in the house with her two children but the school claimed the land had been transferred to it in 1976. They have given her a week to vacate, failing which the house would be demolished. She said she had approached Pasir Panjang state assemblyman Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin for help. >Makkal Osai reported that a woman who immolated her daughter-in-law was convicted of murder charges and sentenced to life imprisonment by Chennai sessions court judge R. Sethumadhavan on Monday. The judge, in passing sentence, said that the court was not inclined to show any leniency because this kind of offence must be dealt with seriously. Kaniammal was also fined Rs15,000 (RM1,000) and her son was sentenced to three years' jail and fined Rs500 (RM35). Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item. |
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