When protest-linked mall closures leave Hong Kong residents cut off

In many districts, shopping centres serve as essential infrastructure, linking up areas with footbridges and passageways which rarely close

So when their managers pull down the shutters fearing unrest, many end up stranded and angry – with more than 100 complaints to the government this month

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During unrest in September, police were called to Maritime Square mall. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 4:05pm, 27 Oct 2019Updated: 2:50pm, 28 Oct 2019

Getting around Tsing Yi island became difficult for Ah Yim and his 80-year-old mother when the two big shopping malls at the centre of their neighbourhood were closed for three days in early October amid anti-government protests.

“My mother can’t go up and down the long staircase. The footbridges and the passageways inside the malls are important paths for us to go to the clinic at the other end of Tsing Yi,” said the 55-year-old retiree, who lives on a public housing estate in the district.

On October 5 and 6, the first weekend after the introduction of a ban on wearing masks at public gatherings, protesters – whose anti-government actions have rocked the city for nearly five months – took to the streets on Hong Kong Island and in Yuen Long, miles from Tsing Yi, which sits between Kowloon and Lantau Island.

“Tsing Yi was quite peaceful, with no protesters around,” said Yim, who did not want to give his full name, saying even a complaint about mall closures could become a sensitive issue in an increasingly polarised society.

But during the day, the mall’s management announced that, “in view of possible public order events”, the mall would be shut. It came after previous protest actions inside city malls led to major disruption to shops or even violent clashes with police.

Yim was unimpressed, saying: “Closing the malls without any prior notice here was an irresponsible act. We even had to skip a medical appointment for this.”

The two phases of Tsing Yi Maritime Square were among at least 20 Hong Kong malls closed during days of intense protest this month. They also closed on October 1 because of the chance of disturbances. Since early October, the Lands Department has received 120 complaints concerning the sudden closure of public passageways through malls.