Understand
Bugis has a colorful past. Originally named after the bloodthirsty race of pirates who prowled in the Straits before the arrival of the British, the area where Bugis Junction now stands was the original home of Singapore's small Hainanese community, famous for their large contribution to Singapore's culinary culture, before they moved to Beach Road in the early 20th century to make use of the docks and seafront. The same area was also home to Singapore's Japanese community before World War II, and was originally populated by girls from poorer parts of Japan who came to Singapore to work as prostitutes. The Japanese community then grew and in their heyday just prior to World War II, they were running many businesses and even had their own school and newspaper. However, the British repatriated all ethnic Japanese in Singapore after World War II, and did not allow any ethnic Japanese to enter Singapore for the next few years, thus spelling a temporary end for the Japanese community in Singapore. The Japanese came back eventually, but these days they hang out around Robertson Quay.
For a long time after the war, the area was Singapore's equivalent of Patpong, a red-light district known for its bars and transvestite prostitutes or katies the anglicized version of the Thai kathoey. However, in 1985 the area was redeveloped with a vengeance, turning it into a sanitized shopping experience for the whole family.
Neighboring Kampong Glam, also known by the name of its main thoroughfare Arab Street, was where Singapore's Arab traders settled in the founding days of the colony, and was also the part of town allocated to the Malays when Raffles drew up his town plan. But here too, the original inhabitants fled in the 1920s as real-estate prices drove through the roof, and today the heart of Muslim Singapore beats in Geylang Serai on the East Coast.
So what's left then? A slice of modern Singapore at its most hyperactive: hundreds upon hundreds of shops and restaurants, several attractive promenades and a bazaar selling the cheapest T-shirts in town. Head here on a weekend to experience Singaporean consumerism at its finest.
