SMU Publieation: The Straits Times Date: 23 June 2005 Headline: Bugis Street a drag? No, it's buzzing
SINGAPORE Management Uni- v d t y s t u h t SerinaTea adher boyfriend igeatiw Koh, bstb 23, chaseBngisStmetwhentheyde- cided to open a shop selling 'F- shirts and needed a good bcatkm. ah* parents were surprieed.
To man older Singaporeans, the phcedhasatt shabaoffi$old llotoriety.
"I told my parents, Bugis Street may have been the place f ~ ~ ~ q U W I l S a n d ~ , ~ ~ more,' said Ms Teo. "Nbw it is for
ple lookiug for som%
are all a h t . "Besides it looks as if the
whole B r m s B d area is about to e off WMJ my univer- sity and the National Library moving in."
Msre estzlblisbed retailers ape . M r since the U r h Rede- velopment Authority u11vdkd its p h in 2003 tQ tura the area into anartsandlearninghub,activity ha9 'eked up markedly,
&admcnormn. dvate
9 i schools inch the -ton Academy and 3- Sense Media School moved in, joining stab- Wed players such as Stnnsfield and the Auston bthte of Man- agment.
Iast July, the Nanyang Acade- my of Pie Arts' new-campus opened ia Beneoolea Street,
'?#? 4,000 etudenb. er in V k ~ r i a Street, the
new 16-stomy Natioaal Iibrary is openingaextmonthdie tsdrnaupto15m~i day in bumrrn traffic.
SMU staff are mo their city campus in Bras %? and their 3,600 students will ar- rive in August.
Add to that tbe 2,009 StudmQ tbe new LaSalle-SIA Callqe of
Bugis Street a drag? No, it's ' theArtsanlbriagnext
small u t e r i , dE and stationery shop, spas and nail Bars have a k d
up. sensing the mod: # S a m Bugis Junction shopping centre decided three years ago to devote a Boor to fashionable youth.
CalledTheE&e,itwasso popular that last year it was e x p d d and tbe ntamber of sbops doubM to 40.
Centre neral manager ~ m g Ihk b;hl rr. l7-b 25-y~ofddr fonnisg ~ n e of the fast%rt.grow& matkcts.
'"Ihey have money and they have no guilt about spending it. TBey don't have - tssgeharpa x ~ a c a r : . h 3
He has felt a distinct of the pace in re- @&-&
csntman 'vianthebuxz ova SMU .$mo libmy.
$0 kins B* street Dsvd- opment, which is in charge of d e v d o w Bugis Strwt.
d mea an pollqg. It is enpectiDg even mrs
ofthewsboppsrs. To em up, it covered
s* # i t and added &-c00diUoners ovedm% has extended the second flaor to bring in more shops.
Its Bugis Cafe hw set meals at under $6, and any- one who flashes a student pass gets 20 per cent off.
The company has alm gone all out to woo 20-gems- thing entrepreneurs with s h a p s p a c e s , - e ~ w than an HDB runtsas~owas!j '7% ammoath. -*'
A tenant csn move in for ust a month. No need for
Qrmml-t. W& tsamptiRgtemrs, thr? num-
ber of stalls b leapt &om 25Oto690injustovsrayeiw.
NOW the bohemian en- clave is kiq dubbed S i
Ale re owners Adelhe Nah, 28 and SharIn Tan, 30, sell 081ourful bikinii, k c h wear, bags a d shoes, for $29 to $45. Iggi's original T-shirts wsr no more thaa $20,
Over at Pam Bugis June tion, street-wear bouti e Pure Milk boss Tiew $e Ke, 25, caps his fims at $30. Repeat mtomenr are mad h u t the nillr cartorrs
he paeks their purchaees in.
dude Yhrs ore' students at pri- vate SdlX nearby, as well as local yowpterg who have f ~ d P p h -andvF&E=-lhU
tao and Austoa stu- ~ ~ i % psq 19, said: **br b& s M I go to P m . But to stand out from the crowd, Iaa~stheroadto the B* stall€&,'
Sehaolmate Stdank L1, a l s o 1 9 , ~ a i d ~ h e ~ t o s h o p for "uni d' &&ed in B~B& kok andbng Kmg, banm finds them in Bugis.
"C)nceInWedoutosa Ootbic baby doll drese io Bangkok, but fwad it,,% ~ W h e n I g o t b a C k said. 8.mp my &w lead
up to $3 a month an dotha and fashion aecesari~g.
&1 the other side of the new libra build& the fad- ed Bras rd Conpler is stirriry too.
Arts sup her Mark Qng, who heads i%p merchants' as- sociation, said several of its 190 retailen rn spuc'
youngersbogpeas. 7 "* their shops to appea to
He remembers the hey- day of the com?le% wbes it was kwwn as 'book city" and Baew a sk811~1 of custom-
ers from w e n 1 secondary SceoOls in the area. B t h e l 9 9 0 8 , t h e ~ I s
hdhmdfi-CO-- tion arrived in the form of big, air-coaditioned malls like M€b City.
The chan& in the area now are good news for Mr Mohammed S h a d , 44, a mana er with Basheer 0.qlfr Books.
Hesaid:"Uyou~tetbe k i r a a o f p h m t b a t ~ g w & e t o ~ m l a K i a come. That's why we
have dedded to turn m e of our8hoplmitslntoa d & Z Z !E23' wdc:a
Far some the BugidBm ~asakwbw- of a tourist attraction too. British tourist Clara Stewart. 22, said she stumbled on Bu@ S h e t by ehmeg.
"I love the clothes. They ooze attitude and style," she mid.
'"lhispIac4remindemeof Greenwich Village in New York or Camdm Town in Loadan - young, vibrant. energetic and somewhat eountereulhwe. Everything youq travellers like me want. lUBLOABUmrnEH4
