In the post-truth era where fake news reigns supreme and headlines are all people read these days, here's some clarification: No, Mustafa Centre is not closing down come Feb. 1, 2017.

Murmurings of Mustafa Centre's impending closure made the rounds online after it was reported by Today on Jan. 10, 2017, that some parts of the mall was winding up its business, which was also accompanied with a photo essay:

The article said:

By next month, Singapore’s biggest 24-hour mall, Mustafa, will shut its 65,000sqf Serangoon Plaza store, reducing its total retail space by a quarter, due to redevelopment work on the site.

For the past three decades, retailer Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin (MMS) has been leasing space at the plaza in addition to the adjacent Mustafa Centre — which the company owns — on Syed Alwi Road.

Sold in an en bloc deal in November 2013, Serangoon Plaza is slated for demolition next month, before the site is redeveloped into the 19-storey Centrium Square, a mixed-use complex consisting of offices, medical suites and retail stores.

Occupying three floors and about 70 per cent of the total retail space, Mustafa is the largest tenant at the plaza.

The confusion most likely stems from the fact that most people, who are not Mustafa Centre fanatics, are unaware that the mall's entire real estate takes up multiple buildings.

The 65,000sqf Serangoon Plaza store, which is facing Serangoon Road, is but one building.

Mustafa Centre, a retailer also known as Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin (MMS), has a total retail space of more than 200,000 sqf.

The closure of Serangoon Plaza means that all the merchandise there will be moved to the rest of the available space.

The fate of Serangoon Plaza was actually not known until fairly recently. The plaza was fully bought by Feature Development in a S$400 million en bloc deal about three years ago.

It was then decided that it will be demolished immediately after it is vacated by all tenants early February.

Construction for the new complex is expected to be completed in 2019.

Mustafa has been a tenant at Serangoon Plaza since the mid-1980s.

It gradually expanded its retail space in the building to offer money exchange services, selling gold and jewellery, clothes, cosmetics and shoes.

Other articles you might be interested to check out:

Banking things we used to do but not anymore because… innovation

What is sovereign immunity and will it help get our Terrexes back?

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.