…don’t worry Mustafa. Thus went a song, composed by Oscar-winning A. R. Rahman from a Tamil movie that was extremely popular when I went to college in Tamil Nadu. But there’s a far more renowned Mustafa in Singapore. It is Singapore’s only 24/7/365 shopping destination. And is something of a legend. If you find that incredible, here’s what Lonely Planet says about it,
A Singapore legend, as much cultural rite of passage as shopping experience, Mustafa’s narrow aisles and tiny nooks have everything from electronics, clothing, toiletries, tacky clothes (lurid Bollywood shirts always make great presents), cheap DVDs, gold, money changers, a supermarket (it’s the place to stock up on Indian spices and pickles) and sometimes half the population of Singapore.
All Indians who have ever lived, visited, transited in or through Singapore will probably recall with moist eyes this absoulte shopping heaven. Also for Indians living in Singapore, this is the place to find the Amul milk or the SRK DVD or the Cinthol soap that you can’t live without!
But, truth be told, it is nothing like heaven – it resembles the ultimate retailer’s nightmare – narrow aisles, stocked high and precariously with goods on both sides – if you so much as stop to look at some merchandise on such an aisle, you are going to hold up the traffic until Changi (that’s where the airport is)! But price-wise they are reasonable, variety-wise they are unbeatable and hours-wise they are ‘uncloseable’! So business is good!
Mustafa has an interesting history though. Some salient points gleaned from here and here are:
- Mohamed Mustafa arrived in Muar, Malaysia in 1950 from Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh in India. In 1952, he moved to Singapore.
- He sold tea and snacks from a push-cart along with his brother, Samsuddin.
- In 1956, Mustaq Ahmad, then aged six, joined his father in Singapore, after the death of his mother in India.
- Mustaq started helping his father with the business and soon started on his own next to his father’s stall, selling handkerchiefs at fixed prices bought with his own pocket money. (I had read somewhere else that this was the point when he developed his business philosophy of modest profit margins but fixed prices – he just didn’t believe in the concept of bargaining!)
- Mohamed Mustafa, inspired by his son’s business acumen switched from his tea and snacks business to selling clothes.
- In 1971, Mustaq expanded the family business, setting up a small 500 sq ft shop and the company Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Co. Pte. Ltd. came into being.
- Today, Mustaq Ahmad is ranked #38 by Forbes, amongst Singapore’s 40 richest people.
- On the debate on foreign talent, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech of 2006 said, “You get the right foreigner here, he creates thousands of jobs for Singaporeans, like Mr Mustaq and you need to get more people like him.”
- He became a Singaporean citizen in 1991.
Here’s a video titled ‘A Night Trip to Mustafa Center, Singapore’ from McSilly’s Adventures, (with a very appropriate accompanying soundtrack!), to give you a feel of the place!