BUSINESS UNUSUAL AFTER 9/11: GISBH SHOPS CLOSED WITHOUT NOTICE IN FIVE STATES

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- The unravelling of child abuse and religious deviation in welfare homes linked to GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISBH), including charges of sodomy which shocked the nation last week, has to an extent affected the chain's business with some outlets ceasing operations.

This could be seen when several businesses believed to be associated with GISBH such as restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores and laundromat face a lack of customers following the expose.

A Bernama survey in several states today found that most premises were not operating without even issuing a notifice or post a notification on the closure of its operation to customers.

A regular customer of one such restaurant at Jalan Rapat Bistari 1, Taman Rapat in Ipoh, Perak, Izzuan Ishak, 42, said it has become common for him to buy lunch at the restaurant almost daily but since yesterday, the shop has been closed.

Another customer, Firdaus Hashim, 37, expressed surprise because all GISBH business shops in the area were closed without any notice.

"I think maybe they are starting to feel the whiplash from the issues that are plaguing the company now and people have started to shy away from their businesses," he told Bernama.

The situation is the same in Selangor, as a survey in Section 13 of Shah Alam found GISBH-linked restaurants and grocery stores now closed and based on information from the public, the shops are no longer open after being instructed to do so by the authorities three days ago.

A woman known only as 'Suri' said she often visited the company's restaurant (branch) and according to her, the shop was often filled with people, crowded especially at breakfast and lunch time.

"After the news about them came out, I was really horrified because I didn't know it was such a big case because when I was going there, nothing was amiss or felt strange, I just noticed that the men would work in the front and the women would cook in the kitchen," she said.

A restaurant believed to be associated with the company located in Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, also stopped operating since yesterday, but equipment such as chairs, tables and iron shelves are still stacked in front of the shop.

A worker at a nearby shop, who wanted to be known as Nora, said the restaurant has been quiet since the news broke out about GISBH being allegedly involved in child exploitation and sexual crimes (sodomy), a news that has since become a hot topic among the public.

"This GISBH restaurant is usually open every day including Friday and Saturday, from morning to evening. In Kuala Terengganu it is really hard to find a restaurant that is open on Fridays. If it's Friday, there will be many people at this GISBH restaurant," she said.

A nearby resident, Mohd Nazri Ghani, 50, said the restaurant had been operating for more than 10 years and most of its employees were young men in early teens and early 20s.

Meanwhile, a survey found a restaurant believed to be linked to GISBH in Kota Bharu, Kelantan was also chained and padlocked, while the bakery and supermarket operated by the company, respectively in Gua Musang and Tumpat, were also shuttered.

GISBH business premises such as a bakery, laundromat and restaurant in Kuantan, Pahang have also stopped operating although a search on the Google site shows that the shop were open for customers, while a villa belonging to the company located in Beserah also looks deserted with the entrance closed.

Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said his officers also monitored the (GISBH) companies that were carrying out activities at business premises in the state.

On Sept 11, police launched Op Global to rescue 402 children from 20 welfare homes run by GISBH around Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

Health screening tests on 392 children and teenagers rescued in Op Global found that they suffered physical and emotional abuse as well as exploitation of child labour, even teenagers being forced to work selling goods.

-- BERNAMA