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V.K. SANTOSH KUMAR
When Mr Vinod Rai Sharma walks from his house in Boon Keng to Mustafa Centre with his wife Hetal, he usually hums the peppy R.D. Burman number "Ek Ladki Ko Dekha" or "Rim Jhim Rim Jhim" from the 1994 Bollywood romance-drama 1942: A Love Story.
He is in a buoyant mood because he is going to shop at his favourite mall on Syed Alwi Road and he has his sweetheart for company.
They talk sweet nothings and shop to their hearts' content - sometimes even exceeding their budget.
On Monday, it was a different story. Mr Rai made the trudge to Mustafa all alone. He knew the mall was closed because some of its staff had contracted the coronavirus, but he still wanted to see what the scene was like.
He was saddened by the sight of the shuttered doors, but felt it was a blessing in disguise as the closure would allow the mall's owners to reorganise and bounce back in style.
"It's a nice place to shop," he said, as he hummed the popular A.R. Rahman song "Mustafa Mustafa, Don't Worry Mustafa" (from the 1996 Tamil movie Kadhal Desam) in support of his favourite mall.
"I sometimes go there in the middle of the night and buy the things I want. It has a wide variety of items.
"But the problem is it is disorganised. There is no space to move around freely with the packed racks and crowds in the aisles. The owners, who are probably losing millions a day, should not feel bad. They should use the opportunity to streamline their operations and make their service more efficient. I'm sure they will reopen again bigger and better."
According to Mr Mohamed Ghouse, Mustafa's human resource manager, the mall will hopefully reopen on April 15.
"Ours is a 24-hour business," he said. "So, the closure is affecting us. People are also hit as many prefer to come to Mustafa to shop for their daily needs."
The Ministry of Health (MOH) identified Mustafa Centre as a new cluster on April 2. As of Wednesday, there were 50 Covid-19 patients linked to the mall, according to daily updates from the MOH.
"We decided to close the moment we were informed that our staff had tested positive," said Mr Ghouse.
"We are now disinfecting and cleaning the mall and carrying out procedures according to the directives from the Ministry of Manpower."
The mall employs about 1,650 people, he said.
Mr Ghouse was not sure if all the departments, ranging from electronics to groceries, in the mall would reopen on April 15.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that most workplaces, with the exception of essential services and key economic sectors, will be closed from April 7 to May 4.
"We will wait and see," said Mr Ghouse. "We expect to receive directives from MOM and will follow what it says."
The closure of Mustafa has affected many people in Singapore - especially members of the Indian community.
Mrs Shalima Motial, founder and CEO of a company which discovers and promotes performing artistes, has been buying groceries from "two Indian shops in the east" since Mustafa closed. She said: "It's a bit more expensive, but I'm able to get what I need, which is a big relief.
"The great thing about Mustafa is that it has so many interesting things. Even in Delhi, you don't get items from Mumbai and Chennai in one shop. Mustafa is a one-stop shop for all the essentials from India. I usually spend an extra $100 every time I shop there as I want to pick up so many different things."
Entrepreneur Manbhir Singh, who lives in Jurong West, makes the trip to Mustafa at least twice a week. "It's a ritual," he said. "I like to have my dinner, relax and shop there. Parking is also easy."
He believes Mustafa's management should have closed most of the sections soon after the epidemic broke out and kept a few like the groceries market open. That would have helped them solve a lot of problems as not so many would have been infected," he said. "When they reopen, they should look into this aspect carefully. A lot of people at Mustafa like to stroll around. The management should limit buying options so that not too many people crowd the place."
Mr Vijay Bharadwaj said that Mustafa's management could have managed the emerging pandemic situation better. "Given what was happening, they should have done additional checking," he said. "They could have collected the travel history of customers. It's a one-stop shopping solution for me and my family. Right now, I have to visit many shops for our needs and I don't want to move around. But I will not rush in when Mustafa reopens. I will check what additional control measures they have put in place."
For Mrs S.J.K. Sharmila, who provides family support services, the closure of Mustafa has been a big blow.
"It's only three minutes away from my house and I shop there every four days," she said. "It is open 24 hours every day and sometimes I make my purchases at 3am. Now I have to hunt for similar shops near my place and it is time-consuming."
She believes it is not the Mustafa management's fault that some of its staff contracted the coronavirus.
"They could have caught it from somewhere else," she said. "My friends and I have no issues going back to Mustafa."
"It's a one-stop shopping solution for me and my family. Right now, I have to visit many shops for our needs and I don't want to move around. But I will not rush in when Mustafa reopens. I will check what additional control measures they have put in place." - Mr Vijay Bharadwaj
