Studying the Moribundity Index

Some of you may have seen these pictures before.

About a month or so ago, I took my friend, a veteran journalist in business and finance, for a tour of the mall in Millennium Square in Section 14, Petaling  Jaya and he was taken aback at seeing for himself, the number of empty and shuttered shop lots, deeper in from the seemingly vibrant restaurants overlooking Section 14 and the occasional stench of the smelly river (more like a glorified sewer) flowing by in front. I'd sent him pictures of these shuttered shows in Millennium Square but he said that he thought that I was exagerating in the pictures and that the reality which he sees is even more shocking.

I then asked whether he'd like to go to SStwo Mall nearby but he said another time, or the shock would be too much for his heart.

Anyway, below are some pictures I took in SStwo Mall in late November last year (2013).




What do you think is behind those fancy colourful billboards?



Real vibrant and happening place I must say.



This Thai restaurant was not open whenever I was there. Dunno, maybe it opens at night or on weekends or on certain days only but it was not open whenever I passed by.




This upmarket pub, the e-Library in the mall's courtyard has a sign saying "renovation in progress" but it still displayed a local authority license for 2012, so must have been under renovation for almost a year or even longer.





Now why does this happen to certain malls whilst others thrive?

It could be the location but SStwo mall is surrounded by high-rise flats and apartments.

It could also be due to competition nearby from Tropicana City Mall, the Jaya 33 mall cum office complex, the Jaya One office cum entertainment complex with supermarket.

OR is it a sign of an economic recession, as people spend less as prices rise?

Anyway, Malaysia isn't that badly off as far as moribund malls go. Here are 84 pictures of dead malls in the good ole' US of A - the "land of the free and the home of the brave" and also home of the Silly Con Valley.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/completely-surreal-pictures-of-americas-abandoned-malls

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/187511/84-pictures-of-dead-malls/?-0

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB124294047987244803

Well, if you think IT.Scheiss is crazy and obsessed, there are whole websites dedicated to dead malls in the U.S., for example:-
http://deadmalls.com/

They even have a You Tube channel dedicated to dead malls.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DeadMalls

Even Wikipedia has an entry on dead malls

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_mall

Of course the term moribund means neither alive nor dead or you could say half-dead, as opposed to completely dead.

So a moribind mall is neither alive nor dead or as the Chinese would say "um sang, um sei".

IT.Scheiss