There are two Bugis Streets in Singapore. One is a semi-air conditioned shopping paradise with three storeys of bazaar stalls selling clothes, beauty services and food. The other is buried under the concrete blocks of Bugis Junction, erased from our street directory in the late 1980s and almost forgotten today.
This is about the latter – the original Bugis Street. A street that gained international focus from the 1950s to the early 1980s, Bugis Street was well known for its al fresco dining goodness, bazaar atmosphere and most importantly, nightly adult-themed shows performed by transvestites.
TV footage credit to Channel 8
