[jQuery] problem or unable to understand html(val) & empty() function

[jQuery] problem or unable to understand html(val) & empty() function


hi,
I have something like this ..
<p id="similar_employees">
                Theare are 2 similar employee(s).
                <ul>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl</li>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl</li>
                </ul>
        jquery

when I execute
$('p[@id=similar_employess]').html(data);
where the data is equal to
*** There are 2 similar employee(s).
                <ul>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                </ul>
I am expecting the whole content inside the <p id="similar_employees">
will be replace with the value inside the data. but the result is only
the sentence "There are 2 similar employees(s)." are replace and the
rest where appended. it looks like this
<p id="similar_employees">
                *** Theare are 2 similar employee(s).
                <ul>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                </ul>
<ul>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                    <li>Bondoc Sheryl ***</li>
                </ul>
        jquery

Then I try ... $('p[@id=similar_employees]').empty() on the original
content, the result is only the "There are 2 similar employee(s)"
where remove and the rest remain...
Could someone point me where did I get wrong or Is there a known bug?
Thanks
james