Thank you for the memories, Zouk

SINGAPORE — Mention Zouk, and any Singaporean old enough to enter a club since the time it opened in 1991 would probably cite a fond memory or two. I’m pretty sure of this, as that was the year a club with the weird name appeared out of nowhere to take up three warehouses along Jiak Kim Street — and life in Singapore was never quite the same again.

We went to Zouk as a rite of passage when we turned 18. We went to Zouk every Friday night just to hang around Wine Bar. We went to Zouk for hot dogs. We went to Zouk for jugs of Vodka Ribena bought with the Citibank Clear credit card — hey, one for one deals and free entry! We went to Zouk for Mambo Jambo (and for the dude with glow in the dark gloves dancing on the podium at every Mambo Jambo). We went to Zouk because our friends wanted to go. We went to Zouk because it’s Zouk.

Zouk turns 25 on Saturday, May 28, with a very last anniversary bash at its iconic location. Here is a club I’ve grown up and grown old with. Yes, there were shiny newcomers over the years — Centro 360, Liquid Room, Ministry of Sound, Butter Factory, Attica, Filter — but they came and went, and never quite imprinted the same collective memories that practically bind two generations of Singaporean clubbers.

Oh, the memories. How SBS Bus Service 16 transformed into a school bus full of nubile young things in skinny jeans and tight tops after 10pm every Friday and Saturday nights as it plied the route from Orchard to Kim Seng Road. And that it was de rigeur to buy cheap alcohol from a particular provision store at Holiday Inn Atrium to get nicely buzzed on Jiak Kim Bridge before entering the club.

Yes, there is often a ritual associated with going to Zouk: I had pre-Zouk dinners at the grotty coffeeshops of Zion Road and post Zouk; Bak Kut Teh suppers at Havelock Road. (It is also not unusual to see the same bunch of people sitting at the next table at both times.) For others, it was movies and McDonald’s at Great World City before hopping across.

And come on, every overly dramatic 20-something who has partied at Zouk has a crazy story to tell. For me, I once passed out and fell asleep in the women’s bathroom after drinking its potent Long Island Iced Tea on an empty stomach, which resulted in an embarrassing trip to nearby Singapore General Hospital as my friends thought my drink was spiked. I saw my inebriated friend knock into his girlfriend accidentally on the many steps of Zouk, causing her to fall and chip her front tooth. Another pal got punched after returning a wallet to a drunk who thought he had stolen it.

Who too could forget the thrill of seeing celebrities swan around beside you at Velvet Underground? Or looking longingly past the velvet rope at the Zouk’s private members’ area? (Zouk’s by-invite only membership was one of the most coveted around.) Or the fact that it was seen as a badge of honour to be part of the snaking queues that went around the block whenever a mega DJ like Tiesto was at the decks. From the glee of walking through the tunnel-like entrance to stumbling out of the club with a throbbing, ringing sound in our ears, a night out at Zouk has become part of the shared Singaporean experience.

It may be the nostalgia speaking, but perhaps there’s no better way to say thanks for the memories than by making new ones. So are you ready to party at Zouk Saturday night?