Mustafa Shopping Center - 24 Hours Non Stop 365 days a year

This photo of Mustafa Centre is courtesy of TripAdvisor

                                                Selling Everything to Everyone


       Located at 145 Syed Alwi Road off Serangoon Road, I took my visitor from India, Sanjeev Kumar to Mustafa's to get a feel of how a Mega Shopping Center is like. 'It' is in fact 2 huge buildings spanning the entire stretch of Syed Alwi Road with shopping from Basement 2 to 2nd floor, so 4 floors in total.

       Owned by Mr. Mohammad Mustafa Shamsuddin, he was a trader who built his business following his father's death when he was just 17 years old. His original shop was at High Street where there are some remaining shops from the old days. The High Street was the place to go for shopping in the 50s and 60s. I was just born then, but I remember my parents brining me to Robinson's Department Store - the only major department store in Raffles Place when I was about 1 and a half years of age. High Street was the neighbouring shoopping place. Things were much simpler then. I will put up some photos of that time in future posts.

      Anyway, during this trip, we checked out the Gold Department (an entire Basement 1 is devoted to this). Many Indians who are working here like to buy gold, at $ 67.20 per gram, and $710 per 10 grams. Bangles, chains, bracelets, pendants, necklaces you name it, Mustafa has them. In addition, according to Sanjeev, the variety and craftsmanship of the gold products are far wider and superior to what many Indians can find at home. Price when converted to rupees is basically the same, however if the Indian family is working here, the earning capacity is far higher than in India, so it makes sense for them to cart some home to give to their families and loved ones.

     So, there is a pharmacy, travel agent, hotel, car showroom ( I heard but didn't see), restaurants, cafes, health food store (GNC), massive supermarket with (for example) 50 brands of perfumes, sports goods, Indian traditional wear (saris), electronics, children's section, electronics, cameras, PCs, laptops, TVs, household goods, you name it, there is some variant of it being sold at Mustafa.

     What I didn't like was the service (in your face take it or leave it), and the prices are practically the same prices one gets from downtown electronics, department stores, and supermarkets. It only offers the convenience and perhaps massive variety of household products and 24 hour shopping. Go during the morning (say 8 - 10 am) when the road is less bustling, car park lots by the roadside are plentiful and the small shops nearby are not blasting one Hindi hit after another.

     I will not fancy shopping there at 3 am in the morning. The area is located near a  notoriously  red light district. So the people milling around will not be the family and business types.