Hong Kong mall operator Sun Hung Kai Properties to hire extra security and train staff ahead of Saturday protests in Yuen Long after earlier mob violence
- SHKP has taken unprecedented arrangement after armed mobs infiltrated MTR station through its Yoho Mall on Sunday
- The city’s largest property developer also owns New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, which was the scene of clashes between police and protesters on July 14
Hong Kong’s largest property developer is hiring extra security guards, training its staff and setting up “safe spaces” in its shopping malls ahead of the protests in Yuen Long on Saturday, as it fears there could be more violence.
The unprecedented arrangement by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP), the biggest private owner and operator of shopping malls in the city, came days after the horrifying attacks in Yuen Long MTR station where dozens of white-clad men indiscriminately assaulted commuters and protesters returning home from a massive march against the now-suspended extradition bill.
The men with sticks and metal rods were seen entering the station through the adjacent Yoho Mall owned by SHKP on Sunday night, and subsequently attacking civilians in the station and the shopping centre.
It was the second time SHKP had been caught in the middle of extradition bill protests in recent weeks, after the New Town Plaza shopping centre in Sha Tin, which it owns, became a battlefield between police officers and protesters on July 14.
With another major protest expected in Yuen Long this Saturday against the vicious attacks, SHKP management said they are pulling out all the stops to bolster security.
“We have invited a professional consultancy firm to provide extra training to our frontline staff of different levels and roles so they can better cope with emergency incidents,” a SHKP spokesman said on Wednesday.
Security guards from properties in other districts would also be assigned to Yuen Long, he said, while refusing to disclose the exact number to be deployed.