The morning after: MCT Tower bears scars of riot aftermath

Wooden boards stand in place of glass doors. A mangled billboard can be seen through the smashed window panes, shards from which remain scattered on the ground. 

The open-air parking lot of the MCT Tower was closed, with Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) vehicles and personnel standing by at the adjacent One City Mall, still bearing scars of the aftermath of the Seafield temple riots.

Those returning to MCT for work attempt to carry on as usual around the wreckage, entering their offices from the adjacent One City Mall.

On her lunch break, IT engineer Tan Seo Kun told Malaysiakini that she saw the cars torched during the first day of riots the when she was stuck in traffic on Monday morning. 

Tan had no idea what took place just hours before, until she read the news of the riot that broke out over the proposed relocation of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple, located just 2km away.

“After another riot broke out in the early hours of yesterday, the management of our company sent us a notice asking all the employees to work from home. 

"So, all of us didn’t come to the office yesterday, we come back this morning.”

Apart from the FRU personnel, security guards in white uniforms and red berets dot every entrance to the MCT tower. 

“The management of our company said that it is safe now, but I feel that there is still some atmosphere of tension, as there are so many FRU personnel here. 

"Maybe the situation now is actually okay, but when we see that they (security personnel) are standing by, people still feel worried,” Tan added.

Wrong building

The MCT Tower is owned by One City Properties Sdn Bhd, while the Seafield temple land developer is One City Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of MCT Bhd.

According to news reports, MCT sold One City Properties to Bras Ventures Sdn Bhd last year. Earlier this year, MCT was itself acquired by the Philippines-based Ayala Corporation conglomerate.

This means that rioters picked the wrong target, with the MCT Tower owned by neither MCT nor One City Development, and the former only renting space in the building. 

The land on which the Seafield temple sits was bought over by One City Development in 2007. 

A nearby plot of land in USJ23 had been allocated to relocate the temple, with One City agreeing to give RM1.5 million for its construction.

In a 2014 consent judgment, all stakeholders had agreed for the temple to be relocated, but disputes over the matter remain.

Thousands of supporters turned up at the temple on Monday night in a show of support. 

However, this degenerated into a second round of rioting hours later, with the wreckage of vehicles torched the night before set alight again, the MCT Tower ransacked, and Fire and Rescue Department personnel assaulted. 

'Told to stay home'

Holding a paper box with her belongings, Aisha (not her real name), an employee of One City Development, said she and her colleagues were told not to come into the office for safety reasons.

“As company employees, coming here to work is a risk, so the company has instructed us not to come into the office for our safety. Therefore, there is no one in our office now.”

Aisha said that some of the employees are now working from home, and others on site visits to monitor ongoing development projects.

The management of One City also advised its employees not to wear any name tags or uniforms bearing the company logo, she added.

Aisha also clarified that she has no inside knowledge of what transpired on those fateful nights, only learning of the riots from the news.

Restaurant business affected

The adjacent One City Mall looks devoid of life a day after the riots.

A restaurant employee, identifying himself only as James, told Malaysiakini that business has been affected since most customers comprise office workers from the MCT Tower and the One City Mall.

"The customers here are mostly the office workers from the nearby companies. 

"As the riot happened, many companies asked their employees to work from home and our business is affected."

However, James added, that business was not exactly booming, even before the riots.

He turns and points to two other shops, claiming that even these outlets have already planned their exits despite just being months into operations.

Tuan Rohayu Tuan Ismail (photo), the supervisor of a well-known chain restaurant, told Malaysiakini that most of the shops closed early yesterday because people are worried that turbulence may happen again.

“Normally, we close our shop at about 10.30pm, but yesterday every shop closed very early, and we closed at about 6pm. 

"Even the convenience stores that open 24 hours a day also closed early.”

Rohayu also admitted that business has been sluggish of late, but expressed her hope that things would go back to the way they were before the chaos. 

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