Bugis History... From Books

About twenty years ago when we lived in Singapore, it was our custom, after a party or an evening at a friends house, to got to Bugis Street for a nightcap. It was a sleazy lane, a few blocks from the Raffles Hotel, frequented for the most part by soldiers on R&R, seamen on shore leave, a few locals and the more adventurous tourists. Tables and chairs were spread on the pavement near stalls serving local varieties of Chinese and Malay food, beer and hard whiskey. Taped music blared from loudspeakers while souvenir salesmen, street musicians and the occasional juggler offered their wares or services to whomever would pay for them. Small boys, with pad and pencil, challenged drinkers to a game or tic-tac-toe for a Singapore dollar, while pimps and prostitutes moved unobtrusively among the tables looking for potential customers. It was a raucous crowd.

The main attraction, however, was an impromptu cabaret show which appeared late each evening. Transvestites in outrageous costume would parade up and down the center of the lane, flaunting their wares, stopping occasionally to flirt with leering young men. They were Chinese, Malays and Indians, some in exaggerated parody of their national dress. There were also a few Caucasians, among whom I was told, were a couple of British servicemen who would sneak off the nearby RAF base, incognito, to join their local colleagues in drag. Following the end of the Vietnam War, the Bugis street scene went into a gradual decline until four years ago it was torn up to make way for a subway system.

Source: The Asian Observer by Leighton Willgerodt

After the Bugis traders who came to Singapore from Celebes in Indonesia, though many had earlier moved to Riau, they origianlly occupied the whole area from Kampong Glam to the mouth of the Rocher River. Bugis Street became a favourite haunt of sailors, particularly in the 1960s and 70s when it was frequented by US sailors on R&R from Vietnam. Transvestites and small boys winning money from the inebriated at naughts and crosses were a feature of the early 1970s.

Source: Street Names of SIN by Who's Who Publications