Thahirah Kazura Pte Ltd

Fragrant Memories

Thahirah Kazura Pte Ltd is a business that specialises in the production of non-alcoholic fragrances and medicated oil. It is managed by Ms Thahirah Kazura, an early childhood educator who switched careers when her father, Mr Mohamed Nazran needed someone to take over the business.

Thahirah Kazura Pte Ltd occupies a quaint shophouse at 705 North Bridge Road. However, its striking storefront will easily grab the attention of any curious passer-by. The sign is custom designed, with the store’s name elegantly displayed in red cursive typography. The storefront is split in half—with its left being a glass wall and its right being the entrance. On the glass wall, shelves are lined with products such as boxes of medicated oils and exquisitely crafted perfume bottles in full display. Inside the shop, pink walls complement glimmering shelves with backs coated with gold wallpaper. Each shelf has its own sign, cut in the shape of a mosque’s pointed dome. On one sign, green letters spell out “Solid Perfume”, while another reads, “Fragrance Oil”, “Aromatherapy”, and more. Permeating the air is a plethora of scents, from the sweet fragrance of flowers to the sharp smell of peppermint. These scents gently beckon visitors to try the shop’s non-alcoholic fragrances and medicated oil for themselves. The shop is managed by Ms Thahirah, an early childhood educator who took over the business from her father in 2020.

The business specialises in attar, which directly translates to “perfume” in Arabic, and specifically refers to oil-based perfumes. They give off varied scents, ranging from woody to floral and fresh. But what may surprise visitors, Ms Thahirah says, “is that we actually produce our own things.” Her voice is tinged with pride as she elaborates, “We create our own scents and fragrances. It’s not like taking somebody else’s products and then copy and paste.”

The business traces its lineage to Kazura Company, which was established by Ms Thahirah’s grandfather, Mr Hanifa Kazura in 1933. “The only thing I knew about him is that he started this business to help other business owners,” she says. “My late grandfather’s idea was, since he has this product and knows how to sell it, it’s like a two-way business. I sell, you buy. And so, if you know how to sell, then the profit is yours.” Following Mr Hanifa’s enterprising approach, Kazura Company started out as a general trade store. Mr Hanifa would source his products from a diverse range of suppliers and sell them at his shop at North Bridge Road.

When Ms Thahirah’s father, Mr Mohamed Nazran started the business in 1979, he named it Kazura Industries Private Limited. Ms Thahirah fondly remembers how her father would teach her the tricks of the trade, even from a young age. “I was about 6 or 7 years old, and he would always bring me to the shop. During every school holiday, I would be in the shop helping my mom with the refilling and production. Yeah, other than that, he’ll bring me to Mustafa, and indirectly show me how he sends his goods, arrange the stock. Most of the time, I was always playing with the machine and everything. It’s the same machine we are using today!” As she reminisces, she gestures to a unique hydraulic machine in the shop, which is used to secure stoppers into perfume and ointment capsules.

Ms Thahirah would never have imagined that she would one day run her father’s business. Even though she spent much of her childhood at her father’s shop, it was not part of her plan to dive into the trade. Running a business was a completely foreign field for her. She was a preschool teacher for 14 years. She enjoyed her job and was used to days of teaching children how to write, reading them stories, and coaxing them whenever the occasional tantrum arose. When her father expressed intentions to retire due to his declining health, there was no one else except Ms Thahirah who could take over the business. So, she told her father, “I can give it a try, but how confident you are in me is entirely up to you, because I have no business background.” Trusting her to continue the family legacy, her father entrusted her with the business during Singapore’s COVID-19 Circuit Breaker period (April to June 2020). What Ms Thahirah lacked in experience, she made up with tenacity and dedication. With the assistance of her mother, her husband, and her business partner, Mr Hayder Al-Gharbawi, she managed the shop meticulously, repainting and rebranding it. The business has since been renamed after her—Thahirah Kazura. 

Ms Thahirah has worked hard to sustain business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she persevered. She turned the business, which initially focused on wholesale supplies to businesses, into a retail store. The shop now focuses on selling products to walk-in customers, catering to the taste of younger customers, who would visit the shop and purchase the perfumes on the spot. Ms Thahirah also delved into social media marketing to extend the business’ reach. “So that’s when I started to boost my confidence, and I moved to who I am today.” The challenges may have been difficult, but they have pushed Ms Thahirah to grow immensely.

Ms Thahirah presses on with her plans and future goals for the business. Currently, she is trying to reach out to a wider audience—specifically the younger generation and customers beyond the Muslim community. She has ambitions of building an international customer base in the next 10 years. No matter how the business develops, one thing she wants the business to be remembered for is for its unique scents and smells. “Smell does bring you memories, right, like whenever you go to a place and you smell something. You go like, ‘Oh, I smelled this before.” Thus, it creates memories.” Ms Thahirah hopes that the shop’s fragrances will bring happy memories of her business to mind, filling customers with nostalgia whenever they get a whiff of a familiar fragrance.

Interviewed by Tommy Yeo and Janice Sim on 20 June 2022.