Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Bugis Street

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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Bugis Street

Singapore is a shopper’s paradise. Its malls are filled with the best brands and latest products and offer much-needed retail pleasure for avid shoppers at premium prices.

The most popular place renowned for its reasonable pricing is known as Bugis Street. It is located near downtown Singapore and is one of the largest and most famous shopping areas in the city. It is a fun and friendly place where you can have a great time shopping to your heart’s content.

The street has seen some major redevelopments which have resulted in its modern-day mall-like structure. It is generally a mecca for millennials and the Gen Z crowd.

This place has numerous shops selling household goods, notepads,  clothes, footwear, souvenirs, accessories, clothes, and cosmetics. It also offers plenty of eating options to keep hungry shoppers satisfied.

Let’s first have a look at the fascinating facts about this street that makes it so popular.

1. It was renowned for its nightlife

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From the 1950s till the 80s, Bugis Street was a red light district and gathering spot for the transgender community. This made it popular with western travelers. Then, it was one of the most visited areas and brought in a lot of revenue.

However, this lifestyle was not sustainable as it brought about indecency and HIV. The original street was brought to the ground and a makeover was done. A modern mix of malls, restaurants, cafes, street food, and nightclubs came up.

Today this street is rejuvenated and home to hundreds of stalls and shops. They sell everything from clothing and accessories to electronics and souvenirs.

2. Bugis Street holds the largest and cheapest market in Singapore

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Bugis Street Market is one of the biggest, cheapest places to come shopping in the whole of Singapore. It is strategically placed at the epicenter of it all. The shops in this street offer various first-copy products at cheaper prices.

Everyone who comes to the market with the mind to do shopping leaves with loads of shopping and beaming with excitement due to the prices of commodities.

Numerous things are sold here right from clothes, shoes, accessories, souvenirs, electronics, knick-knacks, and so on. There are as many as 800 stalls here that offer the latest in fashion at fair prices.

3. It holds one of the coolest lanes in Singapore called Haji Lane

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Haji Lane is a narrow lane situated on a corner of Bugis Street and is a hidden gem. The location is such that you can easily miss entering this cool place.

It is a colorful street lined up with cafes, eateries, bars, and boutiques on both sides. The restaurants here offer irresistible delicacies. There are shops selling fashion clothing, bags, shoes, and purses here.

The best part is that all of them are decorated with painted murals in various hues. This place fills your heart with delight with its cool and hip ambiance and is a treat for sore eyes.

4. Hajjah Fatimah Mosque is on the Bugis Street

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Hajjah Fatimah Mosque was built in the year 1846. It is yet another delightful religious place on Bugis Street. It was named after a woman who arranged the donation for the construction, Hajjah Fatimah.

It has a blend of architectural styles of Europe and Islam. It also features a central prayer hall, a beautiful garden, and an ablution area. A mixture of all these exhibits club to give a distinctive appeal to the mosque.

The mix of so many different styles of construction has given this place its distinctive appeal. One of the minarets has tilted due to the foundation made of sand, and therefore, nowadays locals and tourists have promptly started addressing it as ‘The leaning tower of Singapore’.

5. Malay Heritage Centre is located on the Street

Malay Heritage Centre is an art and culture museum. Here you can learn about the history and heritage of the Malay community in Singapore.

Spanning across a land stretch of around 8000 square feet, Malay Heritage Centre features around six permanent galleries. On the outer grounds, you can see some information on the Bugis people and their trading styles.

You can find a replica of the Prahu boat which was once used by Bugis. To benefit historians and students worldwide, this place schedules various edutainment programs as well.

6. Kuan Yin Thong Hood Cho Temple lies along the Street

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This is a Buddhist temple near Bugis street in Singapore which dates back to 1884. It is built in the typical Chinese style of architecture. One of the most visited temples in the city, it is believed that the wishes of the worshippers are fulfilled after praying at this place.

The main deity is Cundi Bodhisattva meaning the God of Mercy. Every year on the day of Chinese New Year, the temple is open for the whole night and a long queue of people can be seen who come here to pray and start the year.

7. Bugis Street is a haven for food lovers

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Bugis Street has an area wholly dedicated to food from where you can enjoy several local snacks. The restaurants, cafes, and bars here remain live and energetic throughout the night. Small cafes and food trucks are also found here which sell local snacks.

It offers an array of different tasty cuisines, and at the same time, value for money. The options are endless with Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and other Asian delights. The crepes, pancakes, chicken chops, noodle soup, Hakka yam cake, and Kaya balls are some of these mouth-watering delicacies.

8. It was subject to a controversial film made in 1979

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For decades after its disappearance, Bugis Street continued to fascinate novelists, playwrights, and filmmakers. They referenced in their works its raucous streetside dining and boozing along with its other more tawdry offerings.

Perhaps one of the most controversial films ever made about Bugis Street is Saint Jack by the American director Peter Bogdanovich in 1979. It was banned by the authorities for depicting Singapore as a “haven for pimps and whores”, The film became infamous when Bogdanovich later admitted to duping the authorities to secure permission to shoot his film.

Today, there are occasional attempts to revive Bugis Street in novels, plays, and films, as well as in accounts of tourists and locals who remember the area. They reminisce about the sights, sounds, and smells, and the larger-than-life personalities that defined the spectacle known as Bugis Street – the street that never slept.

9. Bugis Street serves as a reminder of the long history and connection between the Bugis community and Singapore

Sketched on the earliest landward map of Singapore drawn between 1819 and 1820 was a “Buggugs Town extending to Eastern Bay” (“Buggugs” is the older spelling of “Bugis”) near the sultan’s palace. The town’s location is the present-day Kampong Glam district.

The Bugis Community, originally from Celebes (now known as Sulawesi) in Indonesia, migrated to various parts of Southeast Asia and rose to become prominent members of the Riau-Johor ruling family through armed action, strategic marriages, and an extensive trading network between the 17th and early 20th centuries.

In February 1820, around 500 Riau-Bugis people fled to Singapore after armed clashes with the Dutch. The first resident of Singapore, William Farquhar, welcomed them, knowing full well that they would attract the lucrative Bugis trade to the fledgling Singapore port.

10. It was not always known as Bugis Street

Bugis Street was formerly known in Hokkien as “Peh Sua Pu” or “whitewash”. It is not known why the street was so named, but it could be attributed to the fact that houses there were once given an extra coat of whitewash.

Older residents in the area believe the name comes from the fine layer of white sand that settled in the area, likely blown in from the sea just beyond Beach Road before land reclamation in subsequent decades pushed the shoreline out.

Interestingly, the Cantonese called the street “Hak Kaai” or “black street”, probably because there were no street lights in the early days and it was pitch dark during nightfall.