Reader's Response #draft 1

In the article, “Hotel New World Collapse,” Kayat (2012) unfolded the theories and reasoning of this catastrophe. The author discusses about the history, chronology of events and various theories. According to “Chronology of events,” (1987, as cited in Kayat, 2012), Kayat mentioned that various theories like internal explosions resulted by gas leakage or terrorism, defective building materials, poor soil foundation and additional live load were made. However, they were not the causes to the failure after further examination. Kayat also stressed that the failure was progressive and was due to initial inferior structure design and insufficient maintenance. As this was further mentioned by Neale (2001, as cited in Kayat, 2012), the building self-weight was overlooked in the calculations done by the engineers and draughtsman. Neale (2001, as cited in Kayat, 2012) also stated that the calculations should be checked by a different professional engineer before submission. The article addressed the causes of the catastrophe in a well-descripted manner. However, it failed to further elaborate the reasons behind improper drafting during the design phase, the methods of construction and improper maintenance which led to the change in legislation of building plans due to the building’s collapse.

First of all, the author should have stated the reason behind the errors in the design of the building. Based on the article, it stated the designers lacked the attention when noting the dimensions of the individual pillars. In my opinion, these errors were caused during design phase because the building was designed by unqualified draftsman rather than a specialised structural engineer.  Architect’s draughtsman Leong Shui Lung, had no formal licence but was yet hired without any external engineers to design the building.

Secondly, the author did not include the lack of supervision during the construction of the building which further aggravated the situation. During the construction, managing director of the building, Mr Ng Khong Lim did not employ any personnel to supervise the site. This meant that during construction, many of the specifications did not match the actual plan of the building. In the report “COLLAPSE OF HOTEL NEW WORLD,” which was presented to the president, it stated that the construction falls short from the drawings which “compounded the inadequacy of the structural design.” Such example is during the construction, the positioning of the supports was misaligned and reinforcements provided in members were inadequate then specified in drawings. Furthermore, there had been a frequent change in sub-contractors due to verbal abuse on workers by Mr Ng. The workers were also poorly paid with their payments late leaving them unsatisfied which may result in unsatisfactory means of construction.

Lastly, the author could have elaborated on the maintenance procedures that was not done correctly which could have provided clear indicators and warnings of the building’s structure. In the report “COLLAPSE OF HOTEL NEW WORLD,” it mentioned that there were signs of cracks and weaknesses that were found either in the walls, floors or supports. However, they were simply ignored or superficially patched up and no professional opinion was sought after. This meant that cracks proliferate which results in structure degradation. In my opinion, Mr Ng Khong Lim was ignorant about the impending dangers and did little to none to the maintenance of the building.

In conclusion, even though the main author mentioned the main reasons for collapse, further emphasis could be done to explain the backstory that would lead to improper design and construction of the building. Maintenance was also important to note as it served warnings of an impending collapse and/or could have prevented the disaster. 

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Revolvy, L. (n.d.). "Hotel New World disaster".  Revolvy. Retrieved February 03, 2018, from https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Hotel New World disaster&item_type=topic

Alvin, T. (2013). RESILIENCE THROUGH HERITAGE 1: HOTEL NEW WORLD. National Heritage Board’s E-books Collection. Retrieved February 03, 2018, from nhb_ebook_hotel_new_world.pdf

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