The Mall That Was Built On a Cemetery

​Confession by P and various confessors

I used to work in a building with a mix of office and a shopping mall. My office is on level 8. In order to go to the toilet, we needed a key. If you were in the cubicle, you would definitely hear the sound of the door being unlocked, because the office toilets aren't very large. There were only three cubicles and you could hear the sound of the door opening very clearly.
 
This incident happened during the 7th lunar month - or more popularly called the Hungry Ghost Month. The mall management would invite the business owners to burn joss paper and incense. It was the first day of the hungry ghost month and we were at the area downstairs doing the prayers and offering. I needed to use the toilet so I went back upstairs where the toilet was cleaner compared to the one open to the public in the mall.
 
I was the only one in the toilet and I welcomed that privacy. The toilet was designed in such a way that when you stepped in you could see three sinks. On the right side was a row of cubicles. I remember all the of sinks were dry.
 
I went into one of the cubicles to do my business and heard water running from the tap. That got me thinking: I didn’t hear anyone coming in and the cubicle doors were all opened. So who could it be? I thought that maybe it was someone else in the other cubicle that I didn’t notice earlier.
 
The sound of running water stopped, and I waited for the sound of footsteps and the opening of the door, but there was nothing.
 
“Wah, ta ma de,” I cursed under my breath. “Eh, now is not the time to play me leh.”
 
But I was in the middle of doing my business so I couldn't really run away. No choice, I stayed there and finished what I needed to do. All the while I was listening for sounds of another person in the toilet. The tap turned on and off a few more times, as if the thing could read my thoughts.
 
When I got out, I saw one of the sinks was wet. It even had soap suds around the basin. I washed my hands, didn’t even dare look into the mirror, and ran out of the toilet. When I told my colleagues about the incident, she said maybe it was the sensor “pai already” - faulty. I said, “ok lah, the tap can be sensor spoil, but what about the soap? That one is not sensor what?”

To date, I never got a plausible explanation. I had to use that toilet many more times over the years, but not once did a similar incident occur again.
 
But that wasn't the only toilet in the building that’s haunted. This incident was related to me by one of the tenants. It also took place during the 7th lunar month.
 
She was working late doing stock take; the mall was already closed to the public by this time. She went to the toilet at basement two to wash her hands and when she looked up at the mirror, she saw a black shadowy figure that stayed behind her for a few seconds before zooming away and out of the toilet in a flash.
In her mind, she tried to rationalize that maybe it was someone who was also working late. She went back to the work area and asked if anyone else had gone into the toilet after her but no one did.
 
Th next story was told to me by the security guard on duty. When they were. A3 doing their rounds, it is common for them to have sightings at the basement levels. Old guards will tell the 3new guards to just ignore the spirits. There was a story that one new guard who was very on the ball, decided to chase what he thought he saw was a young girl walking around the mall after hours. He ran after her and saw her standing at one of the closed shutters of the shop. She turned to look at him, smiled, and walked right through the shutters. He quit that very day.
 
According to the popular belief amongst people working in that building is that the mall was built atop a large cemetery and that even though the building management tried their best to appease the spirits, they still cannot clear everything. Over time, the living found ways to co-exist with the spirits. For the office buildings, it isn’t so bad because most people would leave in the evening. Most of the tales are just hearing sounds in the toilet.