MH17: Cinemas to observe day of mourning

PUTRAJAYA: Two major cinema chains in the country, TGV Cinemas Sdn Bhd (TGV) and Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), will also observe the Day of National Mourning tomorrow for victims of the MH17 tragedy.
TGV chief executive officer Gerald V. Dibbayawan said the chain would issue a reminder to patrons to be ready for a minute's silence during the simultaneous time set for the whole country, expected to be anytime from 10.30am.
"All day Friday, we will be asking patrons in 22 TGV cinemas throughout the country to observe a minute's silence according to their religious beliefs," he told Bernama today.
TGV normally screens its first movie for the day after 10am. Dibbayawan said as a mark of mourning, all TGV employees would wear dark clothes to work tomorrow, while the front office staff such as those at the counters would wear black.
Meanwhile, a GSC spokesman said its staff would also wear dark or black clothes while the National Day decorations in the chain's cinemas would be taken down for a day.
"As a mark of solidarity, advertisements screened on the plasma televisions in all 28 cinemas in the country would be in black and white," he told Bernama.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had said that the nation would observe a minute's silence simultaneously tomorrow, during the ceremony honouring the victims of the MH17 tragedy.
Ahmad Shabery was reported to have asked all television and radio stations to not screen excessive entertainment on Friday while cinemas were asked to cooperate in honouring the ceremony.
Flight MH17 with 298 passengers and crew was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on July 17. It is believed that the plane was shot down. – Bernama