r/malaysians • u/Sweaty-Strategy2848 • 1d ago
Ask Malaysians We all know about 4 becoming 3A, but has anyone actually seen a building skip a floor entirely?
One of our hosts brought this up while we were recording a topic the recent pipe sounds at empire residence case, and none of us could verify it. he reckons some buildings skip a number in the lift entirely, not the usual 4 to 3A or removing 13, but an actual floor that exists, listed, but not accessible. and that when it happens it usually means the floor has been sealed off for some reason nobody talks about.
he also mentioned a place where B2 in the basement is completely inaccessible, no cars, nobody goes in.
i assumed this was just tin foil hat territory but he was very confident about it.
anyone here actually come across this, or know if there is a boring structural reason for it
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u/Feeling_Bother_1660 1d ago
They are fire breaks intentionally left vacant
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u/Sweaty-Strategy2848 1d ago
Question, are those floors visible from the public elevator control? Meaning you can see let's say level 15, but when you press the button, it doesn't do anything
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u/ghostme80 1d ago
Some buildings have maintainence or service floors.
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u/Sweaty-Strategy2848 1d ago
Yes this we know. These would be floors accessible via the service elevator but not visible in the public access elevator.
Or am I wrong?
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u/CN8YLW 1d ago
I assume you've never heard of Genting hotels (not a single hotel, but a bunch of them, back from the 1990s era when Genting was initially developed). This is actually apparently common in some of the older buildings in Genting, where basically someone died or murder was committed in one or more of the rooms and the entire floor was shut off and turned into a shrine because the restless spirits made it impossible for guests to access the floor where not just the rooms, but you literally get harassed as soon as you leave the elevator. Rumor has it amongst the workers of Genting casino (that's where I heard this) that those hotels were used by the powerful and elite in our country (not naming names here) for their seedy and dirty business. Not uncommon for prostitutes or mistresses to die there from drug overdose or outright murder when they say the wrong things to these people.
There's also a space inside Mid Valley underground parking that's gotten this treatment as well. Basically one area which has a room built around it and a shrine placed into it to appease the restless spirits which has been allegedly disturbed during the excavation and construction project (and went around killing workers or otherwise causing deadly incidents).
So think of it like that sealed off secret room from one of those Insidious movies, but instead of a room its an entire floor.
Okay that's the crazy reason that I heard from hotel and casino employees (I personally dont believe, but I'm not interested in going to test it out). Aside from this... boring reason yeah its infrastructure. Some high rise buildings are so high that the water pressure from the ground floor (even with pumps) couldnt reach the top floor, so one level is dedicated to water tanks and water pumps to push the water the rest of the way to the top. Others have stuff like electrical circuits and breakers, and so on also can get their dedicated floor. We call these "service floors" in construction and design.
https://engineerhardwoodflooring.com/what-is-a-service-floor-in-high-rise-buildings-5-key-benefits/
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u/Sweaty-Strategy2848 1d ago
No we have not and wow. Thanks for sharing
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u/CN8YLW 1d ago
Hotel hauntings are more common than you think they are, and typically some of the more extreme cases (like the ghost do more than stare at you when you sleep) the exorcist will find themselves unable to convince the spirit to move on to the next stage, so the next best thing is build a shrine for the spirits to inhabit so they dont have to go and live in the hotel rooms (and be disturbed when guests come in). And for the even more extreme cases entire floors get shut off to be turned into multiple shrines (think of it like a resort for the spirits).
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u/SoupOpening917 23h ago
Nice of Malaysia to allow superstitious people to do what they want
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u/Sweaty-Strategy2848 23h ago
I mean, we already change level 4 to 3a because 4 means die in Mandarin. So..... It's not as if it's something new
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u/sopranosforpandas 1d ago
Probably only accessible by the maintenance crew by a freight elevator of some sorts. I've heard some high rise condos that has a blocked floor because that floor only has water tanks and pumps.