not long ago there was a lament for the lack of pics of the bugis area in this forum. well here are three quite new pics.


bugis junction with lantern decorations for mooncake festival

Post: http://files.photojerk.com/sybarite/bugisjunction/bjlantern.jpg





bugis street - under renovation

Post: http://files.photojerk.com/sybarite/bugisjunction/bugisstreetmarket.jpg




view from a shop in bugis junction's Edge area.

Post: http://files.photojerk.com/sybarite/bugisjunction/viewfrombj.jpg

ah! Sheer beauty. I always liked the glass roof idea. Far East Square is better at that, though...

Far East is much better. :yes:

i dont remember much about far east except this little museum like temple thing.. very cute. but i can't find much reason to go there other than to eat and i definitely would not go all the way there for food. nothing special as far as i can remember.

I remember the food is quite okay. I rarely go there too, except when out with my aunt, since she lives in the area.

THANKS for the spread of pics! I like the streetscenes! :applause:

Its also been my desire to capture scenes of Bugis. I think at night it looks very nice with the bright lights there and the classical shophouses also have distinctive lighting.

I like the last pic the Suntec towers look so monolithic.

More pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis.jpg

This cafe goes 24-hours on weekends.

http://tinypic.com/7304ci.jpg
http://tinypic.com/73048y.jpg
http://tinypic.com/7304dw.jpg

i love any building when its golden because of sunshine :)

I would love to see bugis(particularly bugis junction) at night from above. That would be so nice. Like a sparkly jewel...

more Bugis...

http://pro.corbis.com/images/JL001657.jpg?size=67&uid={9e76dc83-e779-49ec-b683-a085b7c352a5}

http://pro.corbis.com/images/JL001665.jpg?size=67&uid={1b0e17d4-192d-45c1-a0ce-0a4857365a3d}

huh? that's bugis? i've never seen that?

must be the olden days :D

So sad....

So many pretty shophouses demolished, replaced by replicas.

even the transvestites are gone...


anyway here are some pics from the street markets....they get very crowded just before Chinese New Year:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bgs3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bgs2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bgs.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bgs4.jpg

well the result is worth it! i love bugis junction!

well the result is worth it! i love bugis junction!

So pro-development....

yep... really can't say i prefer what it was to what it is..

Cheers for honesty. I'm pretty indifferent. In a way, i'm sad that the old charm is gone, but i'm all for development too. The world is changing after all.. resistance is futile...

I'm all for hygiene in the streets!

I like how Chinatown seems livelier now

i dont know if they're livelier, but they're certainly more pleasant for me. i used to detest going there. well i dont go there very often now but i woudlnt mind.

i have to say that i much prefer the old bugis.. the only reason i would go to bugis now is to find cheap cds at bugis village. Speaking of that, any1 noe where to get pirated software in Singapore these days?.. pasar malam seems to no longer have any

i have to say that i much prefer the old bugis.. the only reason i would go to bugis now is to find cheap cds at bugis village. Speaking of that, any1 noe where to get pirated software in Singapore these days?.. pasar malam seems to no longer have any

Quite hard to find now since everyone just downloading it......:eek::lol:

Anyway, can still find some at those pasar malam in the neighbourhood areas like Ang mo kio....

These days the best can be found online... haha...or can consider those opnsource software... openoffice rocks da house man!!!!! And forget windows... use mac!

everytime i go to parkway parade i manage to find one pirated stall... although sometimes its really hard to find (because my eyes are always half closed).

There's a flea market at Bugis, very near to Parkview.

But not Buis Junction. ;)

Bugis is a kind of Malay tribe from the archipelago and Kampong Glam is a historic Malay area? I dunno perhaps someone knows.

Are they marketed together?

Bugis doesn't seem to have a very malay feel, actually. It's sandwiched somewhat in the middle of little india and chinatown and has this really...... dunno how to say.... messy, mixed up atmosphere?

That's just the way i see it. I tend to see things a little off colour. Haha.

I've never really actually checked out Bugis that much. The Bugis I know today is dominated by Parco Bugis junction and SEIYU and thats about it, apart from the fact that it has more interesting architectuer around it...I wanna go there n take pics

True. These days, thinking of Bgis brings to mind only Bugis Junction, and that huge pasar malam thing next to it...

oh i find bugis junction has alot more to do with japanese culture than malay or arab..

http://files.photojerk.com/RafflesCity/bugis.jpg

The tops of those shophouses look so..... clean... sterile.... mechanical...

Parco area seems like a very nice place to hangout. i saw so many teenagers around there at night when i was in Singapore last time.

Some scenes from Bugis

Building that glass roof and airconditioning the walkways is a good idea!

http://img124.exs.cx/img124/269/bugis2lu.jpg
http://img183.exs.cx/img183/4567/bugis24fx.jpg
http://img155.exs.cx/img155/1542/bugis39zd.jpg

ya... especially on a super hot day... :P

haha..yes...thats why we got the drinks at Mujis :D

good thing... me, Pengui and babystan didn't buy... :colgate:

The "jasmine tea" has virtually no jasmine flavour at all! :rant:

The "jasmine tea" has virtually no jasmine flavour at all! :rant:

Good.....save $2.40.......:D

Duplicate shophouses:

http://img33.exs.cx/img33/5682/bj13si.jpg

http://img82.exs.cx/img82/6784/bj25cl.jpg
^Unique design... too bad it's new.... :(

http://img82.exs.cx/img82/277/bj32aa.jpg

http://img111.exs.cx/img111/7708/bj44bt.jpg

http://img111.exs.cx/img111/1763/bj56xc.jpg

http://img111.exs.cx/img111/5974/bj62so.jpg

Was out with my cousin, so I could not take many pics... :(

nice pics redstone

I dont care if the shophouses here are fakes, they look good with that glass canopy!

yeap,the atmosphere with all those shophouses makes it cool:)

nice pics redstone!

Parkview Square looks so powerful over there :yes:

Yes, it looms like a giant, commanding respect.

Business Times - 14 Apr 2005

CapitaLand increases stake in Bugis for $139m

SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Ltd said on Thursday it has raised its stake in Bugis Junction, a retail, office and hotel complex, for $139 million.

It agreed to buy the stakes of Parco (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Seiyu Holdings Pte Ltd in Bugis Junction, increasing its stake in Bugis City Holdings (BCH) to 30 per cent from 20 per cent, CapitaLand said in a statement to the Singapore exchange. BCH owns Bugis Junction.

The transaction increased CapitaLand's stake in Bugis' mall to 44 per cent, office to 47.5 per cent and hotel to 27 per cent, it said.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bugis Street Market :happy:

http://tinypic.com/51y8tt
http://tinypic.com/51y8w0
http://tinypic.com/51y8zq
http://img164.echo.cx/img164/826/bugis44gl.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)
http://img191.echo.cx/img191/6468/bugis59if.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)
http://img217.echo.cx/img217/2764/bugis66lc.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

so pink-ahlian!

Aiyo....the pink so striking......:eek:

Some of the colourful restored shophouses near Bugis Junction:

http://img77.echo.cx/img77/4381/bugissh3vc.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

http://www.pbase.com/image/43752298.jpg

http://tinypic.com/5bxwgo

http://www.pbase.com/image/43752299.jpg

nice and colourful! :)

Thank you :)

Bugis Street a drag? No, it's buzzing

23 Jun 05

By Sandra Davie

SINGAPORE Management University student Serina Teo and her boyfriend Ignatius Koh, both 23, chose Bugis Street when they decided to open a shop selling T-shirts and needed a good location.

Their parents were surprised. To many older Singaporeans, the place still hasn't shaken off its old notoriety.

'I told my parents, Bugis Street may have been the place for drag queens and sailors, but no more,' said Ms Teo. 'Now it is for young people looking for something different, unique, edgy - which is what our T-shirts, Iggi's, are all about.

'Besides it looks as if the whole Bugis/Bras Basah area is about to take off with my university and the National Library moving in.'

More established retailers agree. Ever since the Urban Redevelopment Authority unveiled its plan in 2003 to turn the area into an arts and learning hub, activity has picked up markedly.

First, a dozen or more private schools including the Boston Academy and 3-D Sense Media School moved in, joining established players such as Stansfield and the Auston Institute of Management.

Last July, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts' new campus opened in Bencoolen Street, bringing 4,000 students.

Over in Victoria Street, the new 16-storey National Library is opening next month and is expected to add up to 15,000 people a day in human traffic.

SMU staff are moving into their city campus in Bras Basah, and their 3,600 students will arrive in August.

Add to that the 2,000 students the new LaSalle-SIA College of Arts' will bring next year.

Small eateries, fashion and stationery shops, spas and nail bars have already sprung up. Sensing the trend, the Parco Bugis Junction shopping centre decided three years ago to devote a floor to fashionable youth.

Called The Edge, it was so popular that last year it was expanded and the number of shops doubled to 40.

Centre general manager Tong Kok Wing sees 17-to-25-year-olds forming one of the fastest-growing markets.

'They have money and they have no guilt about spending it. They don't have commitments such as paying for a house or a car,' he said.

He has felt a distinct quickening of the pace in recent months, given the buzz over SMU and the library.

So has Bugis Street Development, which is in charge of developing Bugis Street.

It says an average of about 20,000 shoppers a day visit. On peak days that can hit 50,000, and most are young. It is expecting even more of these shoppers.

To gear up, it covered Bugis Street and added spot air-conditioners overhead. It has extended the second floor to bring in more shops.

Its Bugis Cafe has set meals at under $6, and anyone who flashes a student pass gets 20 per cent off.

The company has also gone all out to woo 20-something entrepreneurs with shop spaces, some no bigger than an HDB utility room, at rents as low as $800 a month.

A tenant can move in for just a month. No need for long-term commitment. With such tempting terms, the number of stalls has leapt from 250 to 600 in just over a year. Now the bohemian enclave is being dubbed Singapore's own Chatuchak, after Bangkok's famed market.

Many of the stallholders are fashionably-dressed 20-somethings with an air of confidence that they they know exactly what other young people want to buy.

A few, like Ms Teo, are still studying, and juggle lessons with running businesses.

They design clothes, jewellery, bags and shoes, and get them made in places like Thailand or Hong Kong. And they set their prices with younger customers in mind.

Alegre owners Adeline Nah, 26 and Sharin Tan, 30, sell colourful bikinis, beach wear, bags and shoes, for $25 to $45. Iggi's original T-shirts cost no more than $20.

Over at Parco Bugis Junction, street-wear boutique Pure Milk boss Tiew Wee Kee, 25, caps his prices at $30. Repeat customers are mad about the milk cartons he packs their purchases in.

Regulars in the area include foreign students at private schools nearby, as well as local youngsters who have found a place geared to their tastes and wallets.

J-pop fan and Auston student Sera Tee, 19, said: 'For branded stuff I go to Parco. But to stand out from the crowd, I cross the road to the Bugis stalls.'

Schoolmate Stefanie Li, also 19, said she used to shop for 'unique' clothes in Bangkok and Hong Kong, but now finds them in Bugis.

'Once I missed out on a Gothic baby doll dress in Bangkok, but found it right here when I got back,' she said.

Both girls say they spend up to $300 a month on clothes and fashion accessories. On the other side of the new library building, the faded Bras Basah Complex is stirring too.

Arts supplier Mark Ong, who heads its merchants' association, said several of its 100 retailers are sprucing up their shops to appeal to younger shoppers.

He remembers the heyday of the complex when it was known as 'book city' and drew a stream of customers from several secondary schools in the area.

By the 1990s, the schools had left and fierce competition arrived in the form of big, air-conditioned malls like Raffles City.

The changes in the area now are good news for Mr Mohammed Sharief, 44, a manager with Basheer Graphic Books.

He said: 'If you create the kind of place that young people like to hang out in, they will come. That's why we have decided to turn one of our shop units into a gallery, for design and art students to show off their work.'

For some, the Bugis/Bras Basah area has the makings of a tourist attraction too. British tourist Clara Stewart, 22, said she stumbled on Bugis Street by chance.

'I love the clothes. They ooze attitude and style,' she said.

'This place reminds me of Greenwich Village in New York or Camden Town in London - young, vibrant, energetic and somewhat counterculture. Everything young travellers like me want.'

Thank you :)

Bugis Street a drag? No, it's buzzing

23 Jun 05

By Sandra Davie

.......

Schoolmate Stefanie Li, also 19, said she used to shop for 'unique' clothes in Bangkok and Hong Kong, but now finds them in Bugis.

'Once I missed out on a Gothic baby doll dress in Bangkok, but found it right here when I got back,' she said.

.......

'This place reminds me of Greenwich Village in New York or Camden Town in London - young, vibrant, energetic and somewhat counterculture. Everything young travellers like me want.'

Wow.....sounds like Bugis village is giving our competition a run for the money.....:yes:

Some pics from around the area...quite colourful actually

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/2637/bugisst6yu.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9311/bugisst22dc.jpg
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/993/bugisst30jq.jpg

Seiyu's Japanese owner pulling out after a decade

19 Oct 05

CapitaLand buying operator for $1m as part of unit's plans to improve Bugis mall

By Joyce Teo
Property Correspondent

THE Japanese owner of department store Seiyu is exiting Singapore after slightly over 10 years.

CapitaLand is buying Seiyu Singapore, which operates all three Seiyu department stores here, for $1 million in cash as part of a push to rejuvenate Parco Bugis Junction mall, where one of the stores is located.

But CapitaLand will not keep the store operator. It is already in final negotiations with several buyers for the sale of Seiyu Singapore, it said yesterday.

CapitaLand's unit, real estate investment trust (Reit) CapitaMallTrust (CMT), is in the process of buying the Parco mall.

News of the deal yesterday coincided with details that CMT will issue 173.4 million new units, mostly at $2.35 each, to raise about $406 million to help finance the purchase of Parco.

CMT also said it would move to enhance the mall's returns by taking over a part of Seiyu's lease for $25 million plus fees.

CapitaLand's acquisition of Seiyu Singapore and the Seiyu brand name is expected to be completed by Dec 1.

It comes as the Government is rejuvenating the Bugis area as an arts, cultural, entertainment and learning hub.

It is not clear if the new owner of Seiyu Singapore will keep operating the existing three stores or vacate them.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Pua Seck Guan, CEO of CMT Management, said: 'If the new retailer who buys over the remaining Seiyu business will keep Seiyu what it is today, we are happy with it.

'If the retailer in future wants to get out of the place, we are even happier because there's a lot more value for us to extract.'

Seiyu Singapore is wholly owned by Seiyu Japan, one of the country's largest retailers, which now counts United States retail giant Wal-Mart as a major shareholder.

The Japanese store started operating in Singapore in 1995 and Seiyu Singapore, with other stores in Junction 8 and Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall, has been profitable since 2001. It made a net profit of $8.98 million last year.

Seiyu Japan said in a statement that it is selling Seiyu Singapore because it believes that a local manager that is close to local customers would be better placed to develop the company.

Seiyu Singapore managing director Katsuharu Inamoto said that Seiyu stores will continue to operate normally after Dec 1. 'Now, my intention is to keep the current operations and my staff.'

But the Seiyu name will not be here forever. A Seiyu Japan spokesman told The Straits Times that the Seiyu brand name will be retained in Singapore only for a certain period, without saying how long.

'In the long term, we don't see the Seiyu name remaining in the market,' she said. 'Seiyu's focus is on the Japan market.'

Said property consultancy Knight Frank's executive director, Mr Danny Yeo: 'The trend here is that department stores are playing a less important role in a mall's success.'

The question for those managing malls is whether it is necessary to continue renting space to department store operators at a lower rent than for other tenants, he said.

Analysts say Seiyu pays rental of less than $5 per sq ft at Parco.

'Going by their track record, CMT is able to achieve higher rentals by attracting higher shopper traffic. Should Seiyu vacate its space, CMT can potentially look for tenants to improve its performance,' said Macquarie Securities' Singapore research head, Mr Soong Tuck Yin.

Assuming Seiyu vacates the space and CMT re-positions it to draw more shoppers to the mall, the rentals for the whole mall could rise, said Mr Yeo.

CMT said Parco's yield will thus rise from 5.3 per cent to 5.6 per cent next year and its forecast distribution per unit of 10.88 cents for 2006 will go up to 11.04 cents.

Existing CMT investors can buy the new units at a discount of 0.85 per cent or at $2.33 each.

The placement comprises a preferential offer of about 77.6 million units, an ATM offer of 25.5 million units and a private placement of around 70.3 million units.

The ATM offer, via DBS/POSB ATMs, opens today at noon and closes next Tuesday at noon.

:cry:

Seiyu should go. Their clothes are so "Auntie"

Since i move here i never go to Seiyu or Bugis :D

Found 2 very nice pairs of shoes last week at Seiyu... Oh well :-)

i hope seiyu -->> muji!

Hmm... I don't think Muji has much to offer in place of Seiyu, though.

Temples at Bugis, near Waterloo Street.

http://tinypic.com/5bxwfm

http://tinypic.com/4s0kcj

http://tinypic.com/4s0kdh

You missed an old beauty opposite the Hindu temple. :D

Stamford Arts Centre?

Anyway here are some evening scenes at Bugis

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bg.jpg

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/6393/bg25bn.jpg

http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/6481/bg31cs.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bg4.jpg

nice. I like 1st pic best :)

^ So colourful.....:cool:

thanks..I feel that Bugis seems like another kind of Chinatown :cool:

RC:
Yes, Stamford Arts Centre. ;)

Fountain on a Sunday Morning

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/4002/pic0422512zw.jpg

hmm... usually no xmas lightings at Bugis, right?

Some night pics of parco.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/7428/dsc76734gi.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1151/dsc76725ef.jpg

mmm no last year they used the mooncake festival lanterns for christmas i think :)

I see... hmmm...

mine Coming soon :D!

Parco Bugis once was lighted up beautifully for christmas... this year? we shall wait and see...

More Bugis pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis2a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis2b.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis2c.jpg

Colourful shophouses at Bugis.

I believe these are original, compared to those across the street.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugissh.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugissh2.jpg

very hip place :cool:

Some common Bugis Junction pictures....:yes:

1.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e126/ylstan02/Toa%20Payoh/DSC_0018.jpg

2.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e126/ylstan02/Toa%20Payoh/DSC_0020.jpg

1st pic makes it look so idyllic.

the wide-angle lens looks great on Bugis :happy:

^ Yes....it's a fun lens.....:happy:

Some shophouses near Bugis

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012.jpg

The new National Library looms ahead

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012c.jpg

Another nice uniform row

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012d.jpg

Sandwiched

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012f.jpg

Later-period shophouses. These sport interesting facades

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012e.jpg

Wonder what this is

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012b.jpg

Is this the place where the new lighting schemes says that this area will be encouraged to put more lighting and signbords and advertisements?

mmm....the place I am guessing is nearer the Bugis MRT station, but some of the shophouses nearby turn quite colourful at night with their multi-coloured street signs lighted up, and there is a lot of F&B in the area that appears quite packed at night

Wonder what this is

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012b.jpg

Rear of Kheng Chui Building, recent reclad in glass at the front. :( Think it is very old, perhaps 1950s?

"Feng tiao yu shun", "guo tai pi an" ??? :?

shouldnt it be "guo tai ping an" ?? :lol:

Rear of Kheng Chui Building, recent reclad in glass at the front. :( Think it is very old, perhaps 1950s?

Is that the Hainanese building fronting Beach Rd?

Overviews of the shophouse rows near Bugis. Some have had rear extensions.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/nlview2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugisshphse.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/bugis3.jpg
On my street... where I don't live! That looks like me standing on the street! All looking at stripper in front of lorry YR6710Z.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bg4.jpg
Wahhhh!!! This one can see me if I stick my head out the window!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/RafflesCity/bugis1012.jpg
At least this one cannot see!


"In my Dreams!"

http://www.pbase.com/image/43752299.jpg
Opposite house it's OK! LOL!

Bugis Junction feature in ST today.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/521/bugis1thsd1.jpg (http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/4564/bugis1gg1.jpg)

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2665/bugis2thdw3.jpg (http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/8193/bugis2sa0.jpg)

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1466/bugis3thpy9.jpg (http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3964/bugis3kk8.jpg)

Bustling crowd on the former Albert Street which has been pedestrianised.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/2435708949_da8b36b5cd_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2115/2435708193_5952468187_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2435709879_e4a7118db3_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2296/2436529660_ddf0a05a0b_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/2435712115_427f8a2595_o.jpg

Imagine what it would be like had the part of Kg Glam where Parkview is now is still there. :cry:

shouldnt it be "guo tai ping an" ?? :lol:

:nuts: Dunno why it's Pi instead of Ping :nuts:

^^ i love that Albert Street Mall :cheers: Used to stay there in South East Asia Hotel

^^ i love that Albert Street Mall :cheers: Used to stay there in South East Asia Hotel

Albert Street Mall was an urban initiative to convert the old street for pedestrian traffic. I believe there are more plans to extend the street mall up to the new LaSalle school. More pedestrianised streets in the Bugis-BrasBasah area are also being planned.

Bugis makeover wins global award

11 Jul 08

Past winners include Tokyo's Roppongi Hills and Shanghai's Xintiandi

BOASTING a mix of lovingly preserved old buildings and swanky new developments, the Bras Basah-Bugis area is home to funky arts schools, museums and theatres.
The transformation of the neighbourhood, once infamous for its population of transvestites, has been more than 20 years in the making.

Now, the makeover has won the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) plaudits from an international non-profit institute that specialises in land use and urban development.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) handed the URA an excellence award for its work in the Bras Basah-Bugis area yesterday in Tokyo.

The annual honours are regarded by those in the land-planning industry as the most prestigious in the world.

As one of five award recipients this year, Bras Basah-Bugis joins past winners like Tokyo's Roppongi Hills and Shanghai's Xintiandi - both hip hot spots famous for their shopping and nightlife - in the winners' circle.

Calling the award a 'great honour', URA chief executive Cheong Koon Hean said: ' I'm very glad that our hard work over the past two decades has paid off and our planning efforts have been recognised at an international platform.'

This is the second time that the URA has won an ULI award. It was also recognised in 2006 for its conservation efforts.

Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan credits the Bras Basah-Bugis success to a programme of development that built on the area's rich history and architectural heritage.

The 95ha area, the equivalent to about 190 football fields, includes 12 places of worship.

'What the URA did was to identify those features of the district that many Singaporeans hold dear, preserve its authenticity, enhance the distinctive character and introduce new uses that are complementary to existing ones,' Mr Mah told The Straits Times in an e-mail.

Once known for its rambunctious night bazaars, the area's modern-day rejuvenation began in 1989 with sale of a site for shopping mall Bugis Junction.

The URA also wooed schools like Singapore Management University and Lasalle College of the Arts to set up campuses here. Today, the 12,000 students from these institutions are a key part of the area's buzz.

Later this year, arts centre The Arts House will launch a school offering performing arts courses for children at Paradiz Centre.

Said Ms Adelina Ong, the centre's assistant manager of artistic development: 'It is an ideal location because it allows us to connect with these institutions and independent collectives, creating opportunities for our students to pursue further development in the arts through them.'

The arty vibe has been good for business as well. There has been an increase of over 30 per cent in median rent for the area's office space from 2000 to last year.


By Hong Xinyi

Albert Street Mall was an urban initiative to convert the old street for pedestrian traffic. I believe there are more plans to extend the street mall up to the new LaSalle school. More pedestrianised streets in the Bugis-BrasBasah area are also being planned.


I read somewhere that the Bugis area's dynamism took URA by surprise and the Bugis MRT station was one of the most heavily-used station .....

Bugis would get even better when the Illuma urban entertainment centre is completed at year end. Over the next few years, the huge sale site next to Parkview Square plus the New Bugis Station for DTL would bring even more life and colour to this lively place.

I read somewhere that the Bugis area's dynamism took URA by surprise and the Bugis MRT station was one of the most heavily-used station .....

Bugis would get even better when the Illuma urban entertainment centre is completed at year end. Over the next few years, the huge sale site next to Parkview Square plus the New Bugis Station for DTL would bring even more life and colour to this lively place.

You are right. Actually just why is Bugis MRT so packed? I dont think its deliberately smaller than the other stations. That said, I feel Tiong Bahru at the other end of the city fringe is also getting quite packed...I think we can expect 2 new stations (includes the interchange) to serve the Bugis/Rochor area when the DTL2 starts.

From the ST:

Springing up soon in Bugis and Bras Basah

South Beach
Scheduled for completion in 2012, this 3.5ha site in Beach Road includes three blocks in the former Beach Road Camp and non-commissioned officers' club building, as well as new offices, luxury hotels, apartments and shops.


Bras Basah MRT station
Designed by local architecture firm Woha, this station will feature a reflecting pool that stretches between the National Museum and the Singapore Art Museum. It is part of the Circle Line, which is scheduled to be operational in 2010.


Stamford Green
Expected to be ready later this year, this landscaped path will connect the Singapore Management University to Fort Canning Park.


Iluma
This mall, located on a 8,921 sq m site opposite Bugis Junction, is expected to be ready by the end of this year. Sixty per cent of its space will be devoted to arts and entertainment outlets such as cineplexes and theatres.


Former Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts campus in Middle Road
The National Arts Council has expressed an interest in turning the building into a centre for artists. Mr Andrew Fassam, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's deputy director of urban planning and design, said details had not been finalised.

Stamford Green has escalators up to FCP if i'm not worng.

^^

That is a good idea, it would encourage more people to access Fort Canning Park. With the staircase you are usually sweaty by the time you get up there and its harder for old people too.

What NParks could consider is providing a nice air-con cafe or something of that nature on top to get people to stay once theyre up there. Maybe a more modest outdoor viewing deck.

I don't think Bugis is smaller than other stations. Like Maverick mentioned, Bugis' popularity took URA by surprise. It just means that URA and LTA never planned Bugis to face high passenger traffic, hence the exits on one part of the station. Its designed the same as Lavender's.

If they had planned Bugis MRT for high traffic, there would have been a mirror design of exits at the western end of the station, aka Parco Bugis Junction/Iluma/Old NAFA/National Library, therefore alleviating the traffic from the current ones.

I hope in the construction of the DTL, they improve things.

I wish they'd put more effort into developing Fort Canning Park. They should take that service reservoir or whatever out (doubt they'll do that since its historical) and perhaps do something about the Parameswara tomb or something... That place has very nice views but it's being totally wasted.

An interesting article from Straits Times about bringing together the Bras Basah/Bugis area:

Old district a hive of activity

15 Sep 08

The Bras Basah-Bugis hub didn't happen by chance; it was painstaking planning

By Tan Dawn Wei
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20080913/ST_IMAGES_LASALLEA.jpg

It didn't seem that long ago that Bugis Street was home to a colourful assortment of street hawkers, showy transvestites and gawking Western tourists instead of the pasar malam maze it is today.
Or that mechanics were using a 19th-century chapel at the junction of Middle Road and Waterloo Street as a workshop before it was spruced up nicely and became an art gallery, Sculpture Square.

Lecture halls, libraries and classrooms now sit on what was once a much-loved green lung - Bras Basah Park - in the heart of town at the Singapore Management University (SMU).

Over the past two decades, Bras Basah and Bugis have seen a transformation that has delivered buzz and vibrancy, but also heartache and controversy.

While not everyone will agree with how the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) - the main agency behind the lengthy facelift - has cleaned up the area, there is recognition that the metamorphosis didn't happen by chance; it involved painstaking planning.

That recognition got a boost in July this year, when the URA won an Award for Excellence for Asia Pacific from a US-based non-profit education and research organisation, Urban Land Institute.

Entries were judged on their financial viability, the resourceful use of land, design, relevance to contemporary issues, and sensitivity to the community and environment.

Previous winners included Roppongi Hills in Tokyo and Shanghai's Xintiandi.

In 2006, URA also won the overall award from the same institute for its conservation programme.

The planners are naturally proud of what they've done for the area; they have even given it a hip moniker: Bras Basah.Bugis.

Today, crumbling bungalows and shophouses have been turned into housing for arts groups, shops and restaurants; old schools have been adapted for museums; and new educational institutions have moved into the neighbourhood, injecting some 12,000 students who have brought a youthful verve to this part of town.

How it became an arts, entertainment and learning hub goes back to 1991, when a URA concept plan which outlines broad strategies for the next 40 to 50 years mapped out this vision for Bras Basah and Bugis.

There were only a handful of arts facilities in the area then. URA also found that provisions of these facilities in Singapore were much lower than in other developed countries, and demand for them was increasing.

It knew too it didn't want to grow another cultural district somewhere else, out of the blue.

'We know that the hardware should be clustered. You don't get energy and synergy if you have a museum here, a museum there,' said Ms Fun Siew Leng, the agency's director of urban planning and design.

It got to work, restoring terrace houses and bungalows along Waterloo Street over five years at a cost of $7 million, and handing them to the National Arts Council (NAC), which rented them out at 10 per cent of the market rate to arts groups.

It also made the area pedestrian-friendly, converting a section of Waterloo Street into a no-car zone, and improved connectivity with four - soon to be five - MRT stations serving the area.

Then it set about wooing educational institutions, offering prime land to SMU, Lasalle College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) and School of the Arts (Sota).

Had things taken a different turn, SMU would have ended up in Marina South. When it made the decision to be a city university some 10 years ago, URA found it two sites on that reclaimed land.

'The reason we didn't take that on was that Marina South would take 50 years to be fully developed and while we're going to be the only cluster of activity in the midst of nothing, that's not going to fly,' said Professor Tan Chin Tiong, the school's deputy president.

The finance and management-focused university grabbed the chance to be in the city, which benefits its students, given its close proximity to the business district.

And the authorities were only too happy to have them there, so that the young energy would rejuvenate the city.

What's more, the area also held memories as a school cluster - St Joseph's Institution (SJI), Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' School, Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) were all there before.

URA carved out 5ha for SMU, which Ms Fun called 'a bold decision'.

'This was prime real estate.'

It went further by asking the Housing Board to convert a few blocks of Singapore Improvement Trust walk-up flats at Prinsep Street into student hostels, because it wanted students to have the experience of living in the city.

When Lasalle's student population grew too big for its suburban campus at Goodman Road in the east, it was offered a piece of land in Rochor.

Moving into the city from what provost and chief academic officer Venka Purushothaman describes as 'an artist colony' was a huge step.

'It was a paradigm shift for us philosophically. Previously, people made it a point to go to the old campus. We organised activities that really fostered a particular type of community spirit. Now being a city campus, we're challenged by the potential out there. There's so much around us,' he said.

For its new campus, it deliberately chose an architectural design that allowed the public to mill around and engage in the school's activities.

Elderly residents of the area, traders from Sim Lim Square and businessmen from Little India have become regular visitors to the school, walking through its concourse, often stopping to see what's on show.

In June, when it held its degree graduation show, close to 200 people visited every day for more than a week.

'They've all of a sudden been given the opportunity to grapple with contemporary art. I'd say we've gotten closer to our vision of art for the public,' said MrPurushothaman.

Commercial schools also bought into URA's vision very quickly - there are now 105 of them in the neighbourhood.

One of the dream tools in executing URA's grand plan for the area has been the Government Land Sales programme.

'We're very lucky the state owns a lot of land. We can then sell land based on what uses we want for it,' said Ms Fun.

About 90 per cent of Singapore's land is in government hands.

Ms Fun admitted to being the object of envy by foreign counterparts who have plans but no land.

One of the first sites sold under the scheme was Bugis Junction in 1989, which had to follow government guidelines to retain some heritage flavour by incorporating shophouses into the mall.

When the URA put a plot across from Bugis Junction up for tender in 2005, it used what it calls a 'two-envelope' system for the first time: picking out developers whose concepts gelled with its vision, then awarding it to the highest bidder.

The new entertainment centre that is being built on it, Iluma, has devoted 60 per cent of its space to theme restaurants, a multiplex and other entertainment businesses.

Another development, South Beach, was also picked based on the two-envelope system last year. Besides two towers, it will restore the military buildings of the old Beach Road Camp.

The authorities understand that a vibrant city needs the arts and a lively culture to be exciting.

The strategy seems to have worked: Attendance at performances and activities organised by the 14 arts group tenants in the area trebled from 50,000 in 1996 to 150,000 in 2006.

Visitors to the National Museum also went up from 250,000 to more than 700,000 after its refurbishment in 2006.

Businesses have responded, with cafes, restaurants and shops springing up from Bugis Village to Selegie, many targeting young people.

Still, not everyone has brought out their pom-poms over what planners and developers have done to the place.

Ask any heritage or architectural buff and they will say there have been as many misses as there have been hits along the way.

The demolition of the old Cathay Building, Raffles Girls' School and of course the much-loved National Library has given many people heartache.

Chijmes, too, was mired in controversy when the authorities turned CHIJ's chapel and school building into commercial space for restaurants, bars and party facilities. Some old girls were most unhappy about it.

Mr Dinesh Naidu, who is writing a book on Singapore's modern architecture from the 1920s to the 1970s, observed that the authorities seem to have stopped at Chijmes.

'Some of these were silent lessons that were learnt. Tao Nan School and SJI were put to more appropriate uses,' he said.

Tao Nan School at Armenian Street was converted into the Asian Civilisations Museum and now the Peranakan Museum, while SJI houses the Singapore Art Museum.

The latest addition has been the former Catholic High Primary School, which has become 8Q sam, an extended contemporary art wing of the art museum since last month.

When large, modern buildings for SMU, Nafa and the National Library mushroomed, they too drew flak for their size, scale and conventional designs, which some felt sat badly with their architecturally rich neighbours and the area's heritage.

But what do you do when the island is small and sometimes the only way is up?

Even then, URA said it has made it a point to keep buildings in the foothills of Fort Canning Park low - not more than five storeys - to maintain a view to and from the historical hill.

Ms Fun admits the tearing down of the National Library at Stamford Road in 2004 could possibly have been the planning authority's worst public relations nightmare to date for the area.

'We didn't expect reaction to be so strong,' she said, adding that it was clear that the red-bricked landmark had to make way for the Fort Canning tunnel.

That decision prompted great debate, which made it into Parliament.

'It would be worse if people were indifferent.'

Still, stakeholders have nothing but praise for the way the area has turned out.

Schools say there is greater synergy among them and the community: SMU's dance, music and drama classes use adjunct faculty made up of arts practitioners in the neighbourhood; Lasalle students have utilised performance spaces at the Drama Centre in the National Library and Waterloo Street, while the museums have become classrooms.

SMU's Prof Tan says the school may even tap on the expertise of its neighbours by collaborating on offering arts and entertainment management programmes.

The area ticks because of a crucial design guideline too: making buildings open and accessible.

'It has got a bit of urban block layout and good pedestrian connections. There are ample covered linkways to encourage people to walk. That's where porosity is important - pedestrians can see through and walk through buildings,' said Mr Wong Mun Summ, founding director of award-winning architecture firm Woha Designs.

The firm is behind many buildings in the area, including Odeon Towers, Sota, Iluma and Bras Basah MRT Station.

But more can be done to create activities on the street level, he said.

'There are efforts being made in SMU to have more kiosks and activities on ground level. It would be good to have more student activities there. While the basement is a good way of connecting various buildings on campus, it has taken away visible activities on the ground level.'

Also on his wish list: more streets, like Waterloo and Queen streets, pedestrianised.

The area could do with more pockets of parks that young people could use for outdoor art, sports, even flea markets, said Mr Naidu.

'For student areas to really work, there needs to be cheap space,' he said.

And don't make the area too thematised.

'It's a good thing it's not overtly produced for tourists and the neighbourhood is layered with buildings of different periods,' he said.

NAC's deputy director for resource development, Mr Russell Lim, thinks there are good opportunities for public-private partnerships in the area of the arts.

The council has already brokered a deal between Paradiz Centre and The Little Arts Academy - an initiative of The Business Times Budding Artists Fund providing arts education to children between five and 12 - to house its school in the complex from November.

'Arts groups will have a home and commercial landlords get some benefits by having more visitors,' said Mr Lim.

With most of the infrastructure and players in place after nearly two decades, the job next is to get the 'software' going, said Ms Fun.

'We're groping a bit. I'm trained as an architect,' she conceded.

'But we're open. The next part is, how do you infuse the area with more life and vitality?'

The LaSalle Arts School is an eye-catching addition to the area.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2980598943_9701b1e9eb_o.jpg

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This used to be a road, but has since been pedestrianised, and continues the pedestrian mall connection up Albert Mall towards Bugis Junction.

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2981454068_9e574317dc_o.jpg

I believe McNally Street was new, named after the founder of La Salle schools.

Yep...McNally Street is a 1 to 1 replacement for the removal of Short Street.

Painting a new arts landscape

ANOTHER arts enclave is fast emerging in the Queen Street and Waterloo Street areas.


While Joo Chiat has its art galleries, this area - next to the bustling Bras Basah Road and Singapore Management University - is seeing an injection of art and heritage life.

Many of the area's old buildings and shophouses are now housing art works, and societies and organisations connected to the arts.

This tiny enclave is also within walking distance of the new School of the Arts, the Selegie Arts Centre and the Chinese Opera Institute.

Along Waterloo Street, which runs parallel to Queen Street, there is, among other organisations, Action Theatre, the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore and Young Musicians' Society.

The area's main landmark is the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), which straddles both side streets.

A stone's throw away is SAM's funky extension for contemporary art, 8Q, at Queen Street.

Just three doors away on the same side of SAM, along Queen Street, is Number 222 - the site that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and National Heritage Board (NHB) released over a fortnight ago for lease by individuals for private museum use. It was previously a school.

Mr Michael Koh, chief executive officer of NHB, had said that the developments at Queen Street 'complement existing museum and art facilities' and the agencies 'hope to encourage private collectors and museum operators to anchor themselves in Singapore', to create and add more buzz and excitement to Singapore's heritage scene.


http://www.tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,182533,00.html

Move over Chinatown, here comes Waterloo Street

By Ho Lian-Yi

ON the tiled streets outside Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in Waterloo Street, religion and commerce mix freely.

http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/travel/01Jan09/others/20090123.004008_20090123-np-waterlo-b.jpg
PALM READING: A fortune teller just outside the Kwan Im Thing Hood Cho Temple.

Old women wearing straw hats sit behind stalls full of flowers for devotees to buy as offerings to the Goddess of Mercy. Fortune-tellers under yellow and red umbrellas decipher the fates of those who seek answers to their questions about their lives - for a small fee.

And this, Mr Tan Siang Meng feels, is the real Chinatown. Chinatown had become too touristy and 'has lost its charm,' he wrote in a letter published in The Straits Times on 6 Jan.

Waterloo Street, near Bugis, on the other hand, is where many Chinese go 'to visit the temple, the OG Department Store, Fu Lu Shou Complex and the dried goods market' every weekend.

Along the street nearby was a bustling Chinese New Year market. It was a treat for the eyes: the vivid orange and yellow of fruits, the pink of flowers and the green of prosperity bamboos, in a sea of red ornaments.

Nearby, two competing salesmen had set up tables just metres apart from each other. One sold super-absorbent 'Magic Towels', the other sold mini handheld sewing machines. Speaking into headset microphones at machinegun speed, they tried to out-talk each other to attract customers.

At 5pm, it was time for one fortune-teller to pack his parasol and go home. The 70-year-old man man in boxy glasses, long-sleeved white shirt and white cap has been a fixture on Waterloo Street for 30 years.

Chinatown changed too much

What did he think of Chinatown? 'I don't like going to Chinatown. They've changed it too much,' he said.

But he doesn't gush about Waterloo Street either. 'This place is too 'complicated',' he said, shaking his head. Conspiratorially, he tilts his head in the direction of an old flower lady. 'She's not good,' he said.

He also declines to have his name published.

http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/travel/01Jan09/others/20090123.004008_20090123-np-waterlo-c.jpg
IN THE RED: Chinese New Year stalls near Waterloo Street.

Mrs Manis, 47, sitting crossed-legged on a mat with a Chinese religious almanac, images of Hindu gods and a single stick of burning incense, was one of two Indian diviners there that day. For her, the popularity of Waterloo Street is easily explained.

'It is a place of great spiritual power,' she said. The Goddess Of Mercy is 'very powerful' there, which is why there are so many fortune-tellers around.

Ask anybody what makes Waterloo Street buzz, and the answer is always the same. It's the temple.

'Praying is part of Chinese New Year tradition,' said Mr Alvin Yong, who works at Nam Religious Goods Trading, across the street from the temple.

Some felt the reputation of Chinatown has also been affected by the prostitutes who have appeared there.

Shoppers go to Waterloo Street because its near the dry goods distribution centre, and so prices are more competitive. It is a also a centre for 'fengshui' goods.

Mr Teoh See Yong, 22, a Malaysian, was manning a stall selling Taiwanese candy and nuts, and some Japanese beans. For him, the difference between Chinatown and Waterloo Street is the crowd.

While Chinatown is busiest at night, Waterloo Street is busier in the day, when the temple is open.

'There are a lot of aunties and uncles, not so many tourists,' he said.

http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/travel/01Jan09/others/20090123.004008_20090123-np-waterlo-d.jpg
SAY A LITTLE PRAYER: A young devotee outside Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple.

Mrs Iris Pereira, a spa therapist in her 50s, was looking at plants at the market. She doesn't come to Waterloo Street often, she said. But she was impressed.

'I was in Chinatown recently, but it didn't feel anything like last time,' she said. 'Here the atmosphere is more lively.'

Ms Heng Meow Ling, 35, a former process engineer, said she felt the atmosphere at Waterloo Street was only 'so-so', as she queued to have her fortune read.

But she liked it that the shops, the buildings and the crowd were 'very old'.

'If you're so used to Orchard Road, if you want something different, come here,' she said.

http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/travel/01Jan09/others/20090123.004008_20090123-np-waterlo-a.jpg
Top photos: Visitors rub the image of a golden Buddha outside the temple for luck, and trinkets sold along the street.


This article was first published in The New Paper as "Chinatown, redux" on Jan 21, 2009.

I believe Chinatown before the "urban renewal" of the 1990s was more lively

State of the art

Business Times - 19 Jan 2010

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2010-01-19/BT_IMAGES_ART19.jpg

'RIGHT Here, Right Now, In My Dear City', a computer graphics artwork by Alina Tong, a student of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Her artwork has been selected to be painted on lamp posts along Bras Basah Road as part of an initiative by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica) called 'Light Up For Art!'. Also selected is 'Cityscape', a painting by Ian Tan, a student of the School of the Arts. The initiative aims to give young artists a platform to showcase their talent and to make Singapore streets more visually vibrant. Supported by the Land Transport Authority, it is part of Mica's plan to develop the Bras Basah district into a multi-disciplinary creative and educational cluster


http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2010-01-19/BT_IMAGES_ART19A.jpg

Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

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WOW Bugis is very much alive even at night. Guys do you have any SEA Hotel pics in Bugis? I will be staying there. No regret for choosing Bugis...

Is there any bus stop in Bugis area going directly to the SG Botanic Garden and to the Sg ZOO and vice versa? thanks

WOW Bugis is very much alive even at night. Guys do you have any SEA Hotel pics in Bugis? I will be staying there. No regret for choosing Bugis...

Is there any bus stop in Bugis area going directly to the SG Botanic Garden and to the Sg ZOO and vice versa? thanks

From Bugis to Botanic Gardens - SBS 7, and by 2011, Botanic Gardens MRT station will be operational.

From Bugis to Zoo, there is no direct public bus service. Take a private chartered bus operated by BusHub Services Pte Ltd - BusHub Services (http://www.bushub.com.sg/)

For public bus service - take SMRT 171 (long winding route) from Capitol and then change to SMRT 927 after SMRT 171 exits from BKE (Bukit Timah Expressway) into main road to first stop. SMRT 927 will take u to Zoo.

Take MRT train and change to Bus to Zoo
1) Ang Mo Kio Station - take SBS 138 from bus interchange
2) Choa Chu Kang Station - take SMRT 927 from bus interchange

On weekends only
3) Woodlands Station - take SMRT 926
4) Marsiling Station - take SMRT 926