A recent visit to a mall made me realise how efficient the building management was in implementing safe entry measures.

The majority of entries/exits were closed with perhaps only one or two doorways left open for access.

After I had completed running my errands, I tried to exit the mall but found one exit after another closed with no security personnel from whom I could seek help. I literally felt trapped.

This led me to wonder what would happen in the event of a fire.

Perhaps the building management had already thought this through.

But I would feel reassured if it or the authorities were to shed light on how all of these locked exits would be opened safely and, more importantly, quickly in the event of a fire.

If there is no plan yet, it would certainly be a case of a tragedy waiting to happen in trying to prevent another.

Jason Toh Su Jin