There was a time when there was an illegal topless bar in Singapore

Posted: January 26 2006

I was there just before it got shut down by the police.

It was called Railway Recreational Club, and as its name suggests, it was owned by the Tanjong Pagar railway station, which is considered to be part of Malaysia. If you went past the Malay and Indian food stalls, you could spot a small dirt road with a single-storey attap (make-shift cottage) house and further down flashing neon lights would greet you.

While chugging beer and chicken wings at Ice Cold Beer one Friday night, my guy pals enlightened me on exotic dance shows in Singapore — not Crazy Horse or Neptune where Russian girls made up the cabaret — that had Asian (read: slim) chicks. Apparently one of the guys was still on his way and needed a break from family life (he just had a new baby) so he was super excited to be part of such a racy night.

As the group dwindled in numbers by midnight, I found myself to be the only girl amidst a bunch of guys eager to see some flesh.

I needed some persuasion, (not much actually as I didn’t have anything else to do) but I was still unsure if I should go to a topless show as a woman. But I agreed anyway because it wasn’t everyday anyone in Singapore could see anything like that.

I expected a seedy joint, and boy was it a…..seedy joint. It was absolutely filthy. Wish I could’ve taken some pictures but this bar was wary of reporters. After The New Paper printed a story on their Thai girls taking their togs off, the bar was investigated by the police so they kept it a little more PG than usual.

There was a long queue outside, and made up of men in all shapes and sizes. I expected old dudes but I think for a late night place like that, the younguns were the more likely patrons. There was a trio of guys from Saab. The only reason why we knew was because they were wearing T-shirts that said so. Why they wore their company T-shirts to such a place, one could only wonder.

Our group was an eclectic bunch that had various corporate executives. You couldn’t have guessed as they were decked out in their coolest gear (rawk T-shirts and cargo pants). How do some people have time to go home and change and then come out again? I was still in my office clothes that night.

The bouncer was a Chinese guy with black rimmed glasses to which my friend remarked: “Wah steady lah. This bouncer can speak English. Not bad eh?” It did seem like a very cheena KTV lounge with girls hanging about in animal print outfits. After an hour of fidgeting and plenty of cigarettes (not me, the boys), the bouncer kindly said we could send one of our party to make a round of the show inside. They sent me. What kind folks – haha!

It wasn’t crowded like I thought it would be but all the tables were full. All men, of course, who were gawking at the exotic Malay girl twirling her hips while sensually waving burning candles in her hands. She even had wax on her arms and legs. Her clothes were on but they still bared quite a bit of skin.

Tired of waiting by 2am, the boys called it a day. It made sense because the place closed at 3am and they figured that if they didn’t get in then, they would never get in. So we pigged out on huge bowls of mee soto with extra spicy chilli padi at the food stalls just down the dirt road.

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