Nightlife & the Arts in Singapore

Nightclubs and discos in Singapore are glitzy and pricey, targeted chiefly at the young or those on the prowl, and are very, very loud, making conversation near impossible. The action stays focused on geographically separated clusters. The more established districts are still going strong: the lively Singapore River quayside scene (Boat, Clarke, and Robertson quays, together with Chinatown's Tanjong Pagar district); the touristy hotel strip of Orchard Road; and the nineteenth-century former convent, the Chijmes complex, near the Singapore History Museum off Stamford and Bras Basah roads.

The sleazier, more colorful action on the east coast—from Kallang to Katong (e.g., the Joo Chiat Road strip around the old Joo Chiat Police Station and Dunman Market food center), and around Serangoon, out to Changi Village—gratifies with its rough-and-ready charms and authentic local food. In recent years, as authorities have eased up on the nightlife scene, so the sleaze quotient has escalated, although once-bawdy Bugis Street is now sanitized as New Bugis Street. Be aware that this underworld still exists in parts of Geylang, around the numbered lorongs (streets or lanes) off Geylang Road, and along Desker Road, off Jalan Besar, Serangoon.

Typically, red-light districts are illuminated by red lanterns and have large, backlit red-on-white house numbers. Soliciting for prostitution is illegal, but the deed itself isn't; it's actually tolerated, monitored, and contained, with most prostitutes registered and subject to regular medical checks. Perhaps uniquely in Southeast Asia, however, this scene doesn't menace visitors who don't want to get involved and it's still closely monitored by the police.

If karaoke is what you seek, beware that it may come with many "extras" in the Singapore context. To some extent, there have always been intensely local (and usually Chinese) bars with "sexual action on the side." In the past, these were merely darkly lit shops where patrons were relieved of large sums of money by obliging hostesses (and there are still some of these venues around). This genre has now been recast in the karaoke bar mold. One bizarre new feature of some bars, including several along the Mohamed Sultan stretch, is the specially widened bar counter, now custom-made for bar-top dancing, a government-sanctioned activity since August 2003.

The gay scene is also increasingly active and out of the closet, though technically illegal (cruisers beware entrapment). The relatively new trend of dedicated gay bars has continued apace and centers particularly on the Chinatown district of Tanjong Pagar.

Ethnic enclave bars are a new trend in Singapore. Indian pubs purvey Bollywood-style music, Hindi pop, hip-hop, and Punjabi-style bhangra dancing and Malay-oriented establishments serve the raw hard rock favored by young Malay Singaporeans. Catch the local band Unwanted playing at O'Reilly's Irish Bar (not very Irish) at 86 East Coast Road, or stop in on a weeknight at the fabled Anywhere bar in Orchard's Tanglin Shopping Centre to hear Malay-style rock music.

Jazz and the blues have always been minority interests in Singapore. With the lamented demise of Somerset's, only a few venues have kept the flag flying: Harry's Quayside Cafe (a.k.a. Harry's Bar) and Jazz@Southbridge on Boat Quay for jazz, Crazy Elephant on Clarke Quay and Roomful of Blues on Prinsep Street for blues.

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