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.
“It would be definitely higher than the 50 guards we have in Sha Tin,” he added.
Some areas in the shopping centre would be set aside as ‘safety zones’ for civilians and tenants if things really get out of control, according to SHKP.
The developer is also going to establish an early-warning system. It will have a team of people monitoring the protest outside and alert tenants of the latest situation through text messages. They will evaluate the risks and send warnings if there is an escalation.
The management said the messages would also be broadcast to commuters and shoppers in the shopping centre via loudspeakers and TV screens.
The property developer said it would issue updates and clarify rumours through the mall’s Facebook page.
Signs showing emergency exits had also been placed in the lobby of the Yoho Midtown residential block, which is above the mall, on Wednesday.
SHKP courted controversy after it was blamed for allowing police to enter New Town Plaza to clear protesters on July 14, which resulted in at least 28 injuries following hours of running battles.
Angry residents had since staged nights of protests at the Sha Tin shopping centre, which included besieging the customer service desk.
The developer on Tuesday stressed it was not working with police, but said it would have to call them in if there was any crime committed on its properties.
It will also ask security staff and employees to wear staff cards and uniform to clearly identify themselves, after some guards were mistaken for plain-clothes police officers and surrounded by protesters during the clashes in Sha Tin.
