‘Won’t cancel just because of this’: Singapore travellers go ahead with KL trips despite sinkhole concerns

SINGAPORE: The recent sinkhole incidents in Kuala Lumpur have cast a shadow over Mr Zahir’s upcoming trip to the Malaysian capital. 
The 29-year-old Singaporean, who works in communications, said he “can’t really avoid” the trip as he has to attend an event and has already bought his flight tickets.
While the event will be in Petaling Jaya, a satellite city in the state of Selangor west of Kuala Lumpur, Mr Zahir – who goes by one name – had planned to visit the capital for recreational activities such as shopping with his fiance. 
Among the areas the couple had intended to visit was Jalan Masjid India – where a woman had disappeared into a sinkhole last week.
The 48-year-old woman, identified as Indian tourist Ms Vijayaletchumy, was walking along the road when the pavement below her gave way and she fell into the 8m-deep sinkhole.
A search and rescue operation involved inspections of manholes around the area as well as a treatment plant 7km away, where the sewer ends.
Another sinkhole opened up on Wednesday (Aug 28), just 50m away from the one that swallowed Ms Vijayaletchumy.
Authorities have since closed off Jalan Masjid India entirely, and said they will conduct an “integrity audit” of the sewerage system along the road. 
Mr Zahir said Jalan Masjid India is popular for shopping and he would have liked to visit. “But after this incident, we will probably avoid that area,” he added.
“If it was just one sinkhole, we would have been fine. But the fact that there were two sinkholes that opened in close proximity in such a short period of time just shows that there’s a bigger underlying (safety) issue.” 
The situation with the sinkholes was unlike other structural issues, he said. “If you see a broken pavement, you can just skip over it or avoid it. 
“But with a sinkhole, you can’t. You don’t know what to expect and you can’t prepare for it.”
These worries were shared by another traveller, Mr Syed Nasir. He was waiting for his overnight bus to Kuala Lumpur at a bus parking area next to Boon Lay Shopping Centre on Thursday evening when CNA spoke to him.
The 68-year-old retiree said he was travelling to the capital to join his family who had left earlier in the day. From there, they will be going to Penang.
When asked about the sinkholes, Mr Syed said: “I am concerned so I will avoid going to those areas.”
At the same time, he noted that authorities have already taken action by cordoning off the road. This has helped to allay some of his worries, he added.
Like Mr Zahir and Mr Syed, many from Singapore continue to travel to Kuala Lumpur despite the recent events. 
Two bus companies with offices in Boon Lay Shopping Centre that CNA visited said they have had no booking cancellations so far.
Checks on ticketing platforms such as BusOnlineTicket and Easybook also showed that most buses to the city departing on Thursday and Friday were almost completely filled up.
Kuala Lumpur Tourism Association president Syed Azhar Syed Nadzir told CNA that it has not seen any effect on tourism in the city, although he expected that fewer visitors would go to the Jalan Masjid India area.
“We don’t see any cancellations on our booking platforms. Now is the summer holidays and is considered to be the high season. We are confident that all these bookings will materialise,” he said.     
“I believe that tourists won’t cancel their booking just because of this incident. We do have incidents such as landslides occurring once in a while for example but that doesn’t turn tourists away.” 
Likewise, president of Malaysia’s tourism council and inbound travel association Uzaidi Udanis said bookings have not decreased in the aftermath of the incident.
“I engage with my foreign counterparts every day and there hasn’t been much said about the particular incident,” he said
Tourists would still go to other parts of the city, said Mr PT Hariyadurai, a licensed tour guide.
“The area is for tourists from the Indian and Indonesian markets mainly because there are a lot of items for them to purchase there. 
“Of course there will be an impact on the area for now, and it will take time for it to recover,” said Mr Hariyadurai, whose firm Skyrise Travel and Tours deals mainly with the international market.
“We are not encouraging our clients to go to the area for now and divert them to other areas of the city such as Bukit Bintang.” 
But hotels in the area have been badly affected by the incident. 
Palace Hotel, a three-star hotel located near the sinkhole, has seen cancellations from both local and international clients. Its occupancy for weekdays has dropped by about 20 per cent. 
“Business isn’t good because there have been a lot of cancellations especially during the weekend which was a public holiday,” said a staff member who did not want to be named.
“We are not sure until when this situation will continue.” 
MK Inn, a budget hotel in the area, said it was still too early to know the impact of the incident, but had seen some cancellations of bookings.
A staff member told CNA that the hotel relied a lot on walk-ins, but not many people were coming to the area.   
“This situation is bad for business. Not only for us but everyone here. It hasn’t hit us so bad yet, but it looks like it’s moving towards that direction,” she said.