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Recent shop closures at The Woodleigh Mall have raised concerns among customers, as employees of remaining stalls flag high rental costs. Simon, a 40-year-old management consultant, told Stomp that the heartland shopping centre started seeing shop closures earlier this year — its third year of operations. After two years of “stable” business, he recalled seeing tenants leave, with replacements moving in quickly. Recently, however, Simon observed “mass vacancy” in the mall, with store units “boarded up with no new takers.” In recent weeks, established brands like Swee Heng Bakery and Fish & Co. have announced the closure of their outlets at The Woodleigh Mall. Burger King, with over 60 outlets islandwide, made headlines when it shuttered its outlet at the mall. Claypot rice restaurant, Gunkee Claypot, is set to move into the space by July. The observation was also shared in a Reddit post, with netizens baffled at the spate of closures at “yet another shopless mall”. Heartland malls should be ‘down to earth’: Visitor When Stomp visited the mall at 11am on May 7, over 10 units on the Basement 1 level were vacant. Despite a steady stream of visitors at the mall, only a handful stopped to patronise food stalls. Simon said he felt “angry and worried” at the closures, adding that shoppers now had fewer choices and could face higher prices if new stores moved in. “There are so many HDBs around here. Woodleigh Mall is the only full-fledged mall serving the Bidadari area and Potong Pasir. “Heartland mall should be down to earth, have more local cuisines,” he added. Stomp has reached out to The Woodleigh Mall for comment. Homegrown brand bemoans 30 per cent rent increase Constance Tan, director of homegrown bubble tea brand No.17 Tea, said the brand had to relocate its Woodleigh Mall outlet to another unit on the same floor, with Luckin Coffee taking over its previous space. “We didn’t manage to renew our existing unit as they quoted a 30 per cent increase in rental and it’s totally unsustainable,” Ms Tan told Stomp, adding that they had to downsize to a smaller kiosk-format unit within the mall instead. The outlet had operated there since May 2023, taking over a “completely bare” unit and “investing quite heavily” in renovations. However, Ms Tan said she and other tenants had observed dwindling footfall on weekdays, especially during non-peak hours. “Honestly quite sad to see more local brands struggling or leaving over time, while many newer Chinese brands are coming in and replacing the spaces quite quickly,” she said. “Retail and operating costs in Singapore have become very tough for homegrown businesses.” ‘We really need rent to be lowered’ A 70-year-old employee at a basement-level store agreed, noting that business fluctuated frequently. “A lot of people said that rental is expensive. When rent increases, businesses will run away,” she said. “If rent didn’t rise, maybe they could have stayed. But once it increases, there’s no need for discussion,” she added. Another part-time worker at Kang Xiao Lu, a fried duck stall, said that business was poor. “We really need rent to be lowered, otherwise we can’t carry on,” she said in Mandarin, stressing that cost of living has become sky-high. Other patrons unfazed However, other mall patrons appeared unbothered by the changes. A 73-year-old Aljunied resident who visits the mall twice a month said she was surprised to find many stores shuttered. But these changes did not stop her from visiting entirely, as it was one of the few malls in the area. Another 75-year-old retiree, Mr Hoe, viewed the closures positively, saying that prices at some of the exiting stores were unaffordable. In contrast, he felt the arrival of new businesses added variety. The Hougang resident said he frequents the mall two or three times a week, saying the mall had a “good atmosphere” and is conveniently located near bus stops and an MRT station. From conversations with tenants, he speculated that rising rental costs would have contributed to the exodus of many stalls. “The market is bad now. There’s a war going on. If price increases, who want to rent?”
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A Thailand-based Chinese national travelled to Singapore, racking up fraudulent transactions amounting to more than S$100,000 on the behest of a man who handed him three tampered bank cards. On May 8, Liu Hesheng, 50, was sentenced to five years and four months' jail after he previously pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating. According to court documents seen by Mothership, Liu committed the crimes in the "short span of four days" from Jan. 18 to 21, 2025. He bought luxury goods, including two Rolex watches, Chanel and Prada bags, Hermès jewellery, and a Cartier bracelet. Knew cards were tampered with According to court documents, Liu resided in Pattaya and had a massage parlour in Thailand. He became acquainted with a regular customer, known as Boss Huang, who gave him three Japanese bank cards to purchase luxury items on his behalf while Liu was in Singapore. In the statement of facts, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yeo Kee Hwan said: "Motivated by greed as it had been intimated to him that he could accrue gains by making these purchases, the accused agreed to act on his instructions." He was given the names of the individuals he should use to sign purchase receipts and a doctored identity document for substantiation if proof was required. DPP Yeo said: "Hence, the accused did not know whom these cards belonged to but suspected that they were stolen". Despite this, Liu nonetheless proceeded with the plan. Embedded chips came from stolen Amex cards According to the court documents, further investigations revealed that the cards were tampered with such that the EMV chips embedded in them belonged to stolen American Express (Amex) cards. The original cards were taken from Yunomori Onsen in Pattaya, Thailand, when the rightful cardmembers visited the establishment between Jan. 13 and 17, 2025. The chips on the Amex cards were swapped with those obtained from other stolen cards. On Jan. 18, Liu arrived in Singapore and started his shopping spree a day later. He made seven fraudulent purchases using the cards at four different retail stores in Singapore, with a total transaction value of S$102,227.68. Liu left Singapore through Changi Airport on Jan. 21, 2025, carrying with him all the items he fraudulently purchased. DPP Yeo said: "He then retained possession of the items and began wearing the Rolex Daytona wristwatch as he liked it, though he initially told the police that he had handed over one watch to Boss Huang and paid him for the remaining one". Owner of shop lodges police report On Jan. 23, 2025, the owner of one of the shops lodged a police report stating that Amex flagged a transaction that took place at his shop as fraudulent. Subsequently, the police received similar reports lodged by the owners of the two other stores and a police gazette was issued for Liu's arrest. According to court documents, Liu was arrested at Changi Airport when he attempted to re-enter Singapore on Feb. 10, 2025. Five cards and the Rolex Daytona wristwatch were seized from him; three of the cards did not belong to him and showed signs of tampering, which suggested chip-swapping was performed. Contradictory accounts According to court documents, Liu provided multiple contradictory accounts as to the preparatory acts. DPP Yeo said: "The facts in contention pertained to whether the accused had personally tampered with the credit cards, or in the alternative, whether he had acted on the instructions of a third party." DPP Yeo added that at one point, Liu misled the police by claiming to have acted alone to avoid allegations of syndicate involvement in hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence. However, in the midst of court proceedings, Liu changed his mind and implicated Boss Huang. DPP Yeo said Liu claimed he did not have the know-how necessary to tamper with the cards despite having provided the police with highly technical information. According to court documents, all items bought in January 2025 have been recovered.
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A 38-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly punched a female barista and attacked a security officer in a mall in Chinatown. The incident took place on May 4 at around 1pm at 18 Cross, Shin Min Daily News reported. Bystanders subdued man Wang Yuan Fa (transliterated), a 48-year-old car salesman, told Shin Min that he was informed of the incident by a female colleague while explaining Certificate of Entitlement (COE) matters to a customer. Wang said the man was initially seated inside the car showroom. A barista from the cafe in the showroom approached the man to ask if he needed assistance. The man allegedly suddenly threw two punches at her. Bystanders intervened By the time Wang got to the man, two or three bystanders were trying to stop the man. Wang stepped in as well, and restrained the man by putting him in a headlock. The man was described to be large-built and had put up a struggle, according to Wang. As he feared the man might break free, Wang intervened and the man was subdued eventually. Wang revealed that he had trained Muay Thai for 32 years and became a coach in 2017. “I’ve had professional training, so I felt it was my responsibility and duty to help,” he said. He apparently used a gentler restraining technique to avoid causing injury. The group then handed him over to security officers. Man put up struggle again However, about 15 minutes later, the man put up a struggle again and attacked the security officers. A passer-by said she saw the man put up a struggle while shouting. Wang said the barista’s injuries appeared serious. “Her face was visibly swollen and red,” he said. Arrested Police and an ambulance arrived shortly after. The man was handcuffed by police officers, who also searched his backpack and belongings. Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel were also seen attending to an injured security officer. In response to queries from Mothership, the police said a 42-year-old man and a 32-year-old female were conveyed conscious to the hospital. A 38-year-old man was arrested for public nuisance and is assisting with investigations for voluntarily causing hurt. Police investigations are ongoing.
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