KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 -- Lotus's Malaysia has apologised over the viral incident involving a heavily pregnant customer at its Selayang store, saying its internal investigation found the matter was not handled to the standard shoppers should expect.

The hypermarket chain also said it has taken disciplinary action against those involved, tightened its procedures and stepped up staff training to prevent a repeat of the incident.

"We have completed our investigation into the incident at our Selayang store and have concluded that the handling of the situation fell short of the standards our customers rightly expect of Lotus's, and those we expect of ourselves," it said in a statement on Facebook yesterday.

Lotus's also issued a direct apolo...