3D Blog: Bugis Street (People) - Now
In the "Walk the Blog" on Bugis Street in the 1960s "then" photos in black and white, the "Now" walk down a little street in Singapore which once famous tourist attraction at Bugis Street here .In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history. (Source: Wikipedia)
Please visit the Bugis Street creative and innovative portal website.
The Singapore Wiki (sgWiki) more interesting history about Bugis here .
Peter Chan's "Lost Images Of Bugis Street On Film" here , "Peep! Peep! Bugis Street and here .
Where exactly was the Infamous Toilet in Bugis Street? The answer from Icemoon , the observant and resourceful blogger friend discovered from his extensive researches.
Bugis Street is Singapore’s largest street shopping location with about 600 concept stores offering a wide variety of quality trendy selections at competitive prices, a popular hot spot for tourists and locals alike.
This is in line with Bugis Street’s buzzing and eclectic personality, projecting a new “Hip & Trendy Fashion” theme.
Encapsulating the hip, trendy and stylish qualities of Bugis Street, what are the profile of the group of shoppers did you notice from the photos on this blog?
New Bugis Street which can be seen bordering Bugis Street, is a newly created shopping street that was actually developed based on the old Bugis Street. It features a number of narrow alleys lined with stalls selling "pasar malam" or night market goods. This is in fact the only area in Singapore where tourists can experience a bazaar style shopping expedition, bargaining is commonplace here and a number of specialty goods such as traditional clothing, souvenirs and culinary delights can be found.
11 Comments:
Wow a lot of effort you had put into this wonderful post...esp the pictures!
That is one of my favourite places to go to for jalan-jalan, for makan, shopping, buying fruits, souvenir hunting, bak kwa, see my former student of 70's who owns a well known coffee shop there.
There's also a "sexy" shop that sells all sorts of sexy stuff legally. But I did not see the photo here.
Thank you for your encouragement, unk Dicko.
I enjoyed the "walk the blog" Bugis Street whick I tried to track the path of the same place on a little street in Singapore with fond memories in the 1960s.
With over 600 shops at Bugis Street now, there were very few shops then. Formerly a food street mostly patronised by the British servicemen who enjoy Chinese dishes such as "chop suey" and "foo yong hai", their favorites.
"sexy" stuff are just naughty and fun stuff, not "sex" porno stuff sold in the open publicly like Copenhagen and other European countries but still illegal in Singapore.
Hi James,
With so many shops offering so many different items along this street, surely life is not boring for the locals and tourists alike!
hahaha....I can see a fruit stall selling durians in one of the photos! They must have been durians from my country!
Hi Ipohgal, shopping is a favorite hobby of most young Singaporeans to check the latest trendy fashionable designs, updated and the best bargains. The customers have a spoilt for the wide ranges of choices and shopping experiences.
You're right! A majority of the durians are imported from Malaysia. The durian plantation from Segamat and JB are the popular ones transported by lorries daily when in season. Check out the Durian-On-Line website.
James, you must be a professional photographer pretending to be a snapshooting tourist. Your shots are vivid and naturally composed.
Keep up the good work and thanks for sending me the Chinese newspiece about our blogs.
I have used your pics for my computer screen.
Thank you for your nice compliments and encouragement.
I like to capture candid photos of people naturally, especially of children unposed.
The accidental shot of the right moments just happen, and the next second would have been gone!
The professional photographers are the impatient, skills at right moments to wait and a click at the right time. Not easy in a crowded place though.
Cheers!
Dear James
I agree with everyone that you have done a really great job, pretending to be a camera-toting tourist, taking pictures. Your pictures capture the noise, the atmosphere and the variety of goods on sale, ranging from fruit to clothing.
I agree that it is really not easy to take pictures with the crowd constantly on the move. In my carelessness, sometimes I would step back to take a good shot and miss my footings. I fall often from being oblivious of the surrroundings when I take pictures.
I like the rich and authentic colours, in the form of a smogasbord of shops where one can feast his eyes on. Again, I have never been to Bugis Street in the past. Perhaps an interview with a colourful character can whet our appetite, James!
By the way, I would love to have a look at what the sexy shop is selling. Mr Yip is really observant and James, give us a good laugh and let us enjoy some fun pictures too!
Dear James
I agree with everyone that you have done a really great job, pretending to be a camera-toting tourist, taking pictures. Your pictures capture the noise, the atmosphere and the variety of goods on sale, ranging from fruit to clothing.
I agree that it is really not easy to take pictures with the crowd constantly on the move. In my carelessness, sometimes I would step back to take a good shot and miss my footings. I fall often from being oblivious of the surrroundings when I take pictures.
I like the rich and authentic colours, in the form of a smogasbord of shops where one can feast his eyes on. Again, I have never been to Bugis Street in the past. Perhaps an interview with a colourful character can whet our appetite, James!
By the way, I would love to have a look at what the sexy shop is selling. Mr Yip is really observant and James, give us a good laugh and let us enjoy some fun pictures too!
Thank you for prompting and motivating me like your student to cheer me on, Hui Hwang. A profession like you and Unk Dicko as educationists.
As requested and inserted a photo of the ConSEX shop after the CooTime pix. Have a joke and enjoy.
Cheers!
James, in my recent " Look back at Geylang" walk with SittingInPictures filming crew..I had gone a day earlier to explore my old kampong alone. Boy, almost every shop along both sides of Geylang Rd is not of the old days. All new businesses. I cannot find all my familiar shops of the past...provision, photo, bicycle, barber, tv, coffee-shop, doctor, tailor, dress-maker, etc. But I did find a kinky shop # 777 Geylang directly opposite former Queens Theatre.. a sexy shop!
Dear James and Mr Yip
Maybe both of you can organise a walk or learning journey (a term often touted by schools when we conduct any trip anywhere outside the school) to these places. Just a small select group and let us see how changed these places are. Yes, from harmless old dingy shops, we don't know why any modernisation has to do with adding a sexy shop to hype up the place. But let there be entrepreneurs. Surely there is a need for such shops. Sometimes we wonder whether such shops should be out of bounds with teenagers just as we categorise some shows as R-Rated. I wonder can people ever be tired of this oldest occupation. Can there be some better things to whet our appetite other than sexy shops selling sex-enhanced items. When we buy electrical items, we get one year's warranty at least. Do such shops offer warranty for failure to perform? I don't know. My thoughts are quite silly here. Thanks, James, for making an effort to con us into that shop. Didn't it call itself ConSex? Clever play on the word Concept. Con us into Sex? It can be just a no sign board shop. How clever you name it really doesn't matter. If it serves a need, it will sell call it whatever you want. Thanks, Mr Yip. I finally see you coming back to talk to us. Last month you were so involved in assessing the various parties. We wish they could just put on party hats and not sling mud at each other. After the battle and the fray, I see life has come back to normal. I have just made a complaint to my previous Aljunied Town Council to remind the cleaners to sweep the corridors. It all depends on the supervisors. You pay them $70 odd a month and the kit kat wrapper and a ball of fur and hair all intertwined continued to remain an eyesore. I was in a proper pre-workers' party ward and why does my corridor continued to be ignored by the town council? Then of course, the wrapper was scooped away after I had made that call. Come August, I will officially be under AMK GRC.
Does it make any difference? I think basically the same people will be deployed to clean up my block and I might still have a chance to make a call to remind them not to be tardy. After all we pay good money to the town council. Okay, I am finished with Bugis and I shouldn't go off tangent. Good bye, James and Mr Yip! Have a pleasant walk to anywhere today!
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