Alexandra Central Mall to replace all glass doors after one fell on a woman

SINGAPORE — Three days after a glass door fell on a woman and landed her in hospital, the management of Alexandra Central Mall said that it will be replacing all glass doors on the premises. It will also investigate the leak of the surveillance footage that went viral on Tuesday (Feb 26), adding that it will take "firm action" against the party that leaked the recording on social media.

After the incident, some tenants from the mall have voiced their unhappiness, claiming that the management is slow to act on feedback and complaints. The mall is located next to Park Hotel Alexandra and furniture retailer Ikea on Alexandra Road.

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Philip Pang, the designated spokesperson for the mall’s management, acknowledged that the dislodged glass door was misaligned. The incident happened on Sunday at a car park lift lobby on the fourth floor.

At around 6.30pm, a woman had entered the lift lobby by pushing open one glass door. An adjacent glass door then came off less than 10 seconds later and fell on her while she was standing and waiting for the lift. The impact knocked her to the floor.

The National University Hospital told TODAY that the woman is still hospitalised but did not disclose details about her condition.

In a circular signed by Mr Pang and given to tenants on Wednesday, he said that the response to the incident from the mall’s “security service providers (was) swift”. After its chief security personnel saw what happened on surveillance cameras, officers were despatched to attend to the victim and medical services were called in as well.

The glass door was removed and checks were conducted at the site.

He also said in the circular that all glass doors will be removed and replaced, after a joint inspection with its management team, council members, installation contractor as well its maintenance contractor.

The mall is working with the Building and Construction Authority to ensure that the replaced doors will be certified safe.

Mr Pang told TODAY that “firm action” will be taken on the parties who leaked the video of the incident online and the management is likely to be able to narrow down the source from the video, but did not elaborate.

The video has chalked up more than 200,000 views on Facebook.

The management has not responded to a question on whether its security team is outsourced or in-house.

As for the injured woman, Mr Pang said in the circular that they have made contact with her family members and are aware of her condition.

“We will do our best to assist her and her family.”

OTHER CONCERNS

In interviews with TODAY, tenants at the mall raised other issues that they have with the management, which they said has not been very responsive to their concerns.

A man from a shop unit, who gave his name as only Mr Tan, 47, said: “(One of) the escalators (on the third floor) has not been working for nearly three weeks. Nothing is being done.”

Mr Padyan Chellapandy, 38, who is in charge of eatery Master Prata, said that the way space is managed in the mall has not been satisfactory. The placement of tables and chairs by other food outlets outside the mall has made it difficult for supper patrons to get to his shop via another path after 10pm, when the mall closes its main entrance.

“There was no action taken after two to three complaints, and the last complaint was nearly a month ago,” he added. 

When TODAY was there on Wednesday afternoon, a security officer was stationed at the incident site and did not allow any photos to be taken of the dislodged glass door, which was lying flat by a wall on the ground of its car park area.

Mr Jack Lee, 49, who manages Chinese food shop Juz Eat, said that Sunday’s incident has affected human traffic flow, as he noted a drop in business by about 20 to 30 per cent.

“It was a lot busier during lunch hours before,” he said.

For Madam Jenny Tan, 57, who owns employment agency Recruit Asia, she said that the mall is “quite quiet” in general.

Half of her shop space is used to run her husband’s printing service business. They will be looking to take their operations elsewhere after the lease with the mall ends in six months.

“The printing business depends heavily on walk-ins,” she said, adding that her employment agency now relies mainly on referrals and word of mouth to get clients.

They are planning to move to a retail unit at a housing block along Alexandra Road, which Mdm Tan said is “livelier” than the mall.

Ms Angeline Tan, an employee at bread shop Urban Loaf Factory in Alexandra Central Mall, has no issues with the management because rental charges are “relatively cheap” and the management is not strict on many of the regulations, she said.

“We can close shop whenever we want. It’s not like some places where they dictate that you have to be open for how many days a year.

“There are more people who come here on weekends now. It’s getting better,” she added.