SINGAPORE: The recent sinkhole incidents in Kuala Lumpur have cast a shadow over Mr Zahir's upcoming trip to the Malaysian capital. 

The 29-year-old Singaporean, who works in communications, said he "can't really avoid" the trip as he has to attend an event and has already bought his flight tickets.

While the event will be in Petaling Jaya, a satellite city in the state of Selangor west of Kuala Lumpur, Mr Zahir – who goes by one name – had planned to visit the capital for recreational activities such as shopping with his fiancee. 

Among the areas the couple had intended to visit was Jalan Masjid India – where a woman had disappeared into a sinkhole last week.

The 48-year-old woman, identified as Indian tourist Ms Vijayaletchumy, was walking along the road when the pavement below her gave way and she fell into the 8m-deep sinkhole.

A search and rescue operation involved inspections of manholes around the area as well as a treatment plant 7km away, where the sewer ends.

Another sinkhole opened up on Wednesday (Aug 28), just 50m away from the one that swallowed Ms Vijayaletchumy.

Authorities have since closed off Jalan Masjid India entirely, and said they will conduct an "integrity audit" of the sewerage system along the road. 

Mr Zahir said Jalan Masjid India is popular for shopping and he would have liked to visit. "But after this incident, we will probably avoid that area," he added.

"If it was just one sinkhole, we would have been fine. But the fact that there were two sinkholes that opened in close proximity in such a short period of time just shows that there's a bigger underlying (safety) issue." 

The situation with the sinkholes was unlike other structural issues, he said. "If you see a broken pavement, you can just skip over it or avoid it. 

"But with a sinkhole, you can't. You don't know what to expect and you can't prepare for it."