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A shopping mall in Malaysia has grabbed online attention over its unique social distancing strategy that aims to keep people apart but feel less lonely at the same time. That’s if you consider dolls as companions. 

The mall in question is Sunway Pyramid. On Tuesday, it shared photos of dolled-up mannequins sitting on its benches with a sign beside each of them saying: “Come closer, there’s no need for social distancing with me.”

The mannequins were placed in such a way that only one person could sit on each bench, the mall explained in the caption, noting that the human-size figures would be frequently disinfected.

The mannequins were also dressed in outfits by some of the retail outlets the mall houses, like Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, and Uniqlo.

Not surprisingly, people were delighted by the move. 

“OMG BEST SOLUTION!! Now there is no such thing as forever-alone anymore!!! Everyone can have a date now!!! Single, cannot find anyone to go out with, Sunway, the only way that got you covered,” Facebook user Ann Wong said in the comments.

“Please keep this around after lockdown so i dont feel lonely when i take a break from shopping alone.#foreveralone,” another named Darwin chimed in. 

Meanwhile, others had some concerns. 

“Apart frm being scary, what if an asymptomatic person touched the mannequin n a kid touched the same mannequin later on?” Kathryn Waldorf asked.

“We dont want another new cluster aka cluster mannequins,” said AhJen Chan.

Located at Bandar Sunway, Sunway Pyramid opened its doors in 1997 and is well-known for its Egyptian-inspired architecture. 

It is also one of the biggest malls in the country, measuring 4.3 million square feet of just retail space.

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