The Mustafa Experience
Geographical location - Map
Buffalo Road taken in 1982
Image taken from (Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, 1980)
One might think that Mustafa Centre contributes to Little India, in fact, the characteristics of Little India contributes to the attraction of Mustafa Centre (Bhattacharya, 2011).
In this section of The Mustafa Experience, we will be discussing on how Mustafa Centre has moved around over the years ever since it came into existence. All these years, Mustaq Ahmad had his business set up within the Little India area. He moved from one area to another, but ultimately his business is still around the same vicinity.
In 1985, Mustaq Ahmad had to move away as the government acquire both shops for conservation purposes. Thus, Mustaq Ahmad rented a 12,000 square feet at Serangoon Plaza (above). Their business continued to bloom until this year, when Serangoon Plaza was demolished to make way for an industrial building.
Mohamed Mustafa initially sell food on a makeshift cart in SIngapore in 1952. Mustaq Ahmad subsequently joined his father in Singapore and introduced selling handkerchiefs which then motivated Mohamed Mustafa to set up a clothing retail stall in 1965 (Bhattacharya, 2011). The clothing retail stall is formerly in Buffalo Road (above).
Mohamed Mustafa then bought a 500 square feet shop in Campbell Lane (Bhattacharya, 2011). The picture on the right (above) shows the current shop that replaced the ready-made garment shop at Buffalo Road in 1971 (Ahmad & Aziz, 2016).
As the business grew over the years, Mohamed Mustafa expanded their business and bought 2 retail space, one of which is at Campbell Lane, the other is along Serangoon Road. He then included electronics in the range of goods offered at his new 900 sq ft shop.
By 2014, Mustaq Ahmad decided to convert his hotel into a retail space. (above) Thus, having a total of 280,000 square feet of retail space at Mustafa Centre (Ng, Mustafa gives up hotel, 2004).
Buffalo Road taken in 2017
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Image taken from (V KALYANASUNATARAM & SONS PTE LTD, 1982)
Campbell Lane taken in late 1980s
Campbell Lane taken in 2017
Serangoon Plaza taken using Google Map in 2016
Syed Alwi Road taken in 1982
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New building of Mustafa Centre
The current Mustafa Centre in 2017
Following that move, Mustaq Ahmad decided to then expand have his own building when the rental price in Serangoon Plaza increased by 70%. He manage to bid for 20 shophouses along Syed Alwi Road, where he built Mustafa Centre, a department store with a hotel (Ong, 2009). Thus, in 1995, Mustaq Ahmad finally settled in and set up Mustafa Centre, where it is until today, along Syed Alwi Road.
Image taken from (National Archives Of Singapore, 1982)
On the left are the shophouses that was replaced by the current Mustafa Centre