The Straits Times, Feb 13, 1998 By Rebecca Lim Reputation for wild bashes ... it was the colourful personalities that made Chinoiserie hip. IT WAS where the East met the West, and where the women and the men would meet. Back in the '80s, Chinoiserie, with its Chinese paintings and rosewood furniture, was where party animals partook of what some would call decadent Western hedonism. There was drinking, flirting and wild dancing. But today, it has become a victim of the fast-changing trends on the night scene it helped to build. Tomorrow, the well-known disco at the Hyatt Regency Hotel will hold its farewell party. It is closing its doors to make way for a restaurant serving East-West cuisine, which will take over the whole floor the disco is on. When Chinoiserie was set up in September 1979, it was the hippest nightspot in town. Little surprise then that even before it was ready to open its doors, businessman Syed Aidid, now 48, was already eager to become a member. "I remember going to the Hyatt with the form they sent me and the money to pay the fee," he said. He became its first and probably most loyal member. To this day, he holds the card numbered 0001. "I've stopped going there a few years ago when I found that the crowd was getting way too young, and my children were growing older," he added. He continued to renew his membership because of the friendly staff. Chinoiserie was a members-only club until 1985 when it closed for renovations, so the staff knew all the members very well. Miss Jennifer Toh, who worked there from 1980 to 1995, first as a guest relations officer and then as a club co-ordinator, recalled: "In the old days, the members knew us so well they would even invite us to their private parties. It was more like going for a party on the weekends than going to work. I had a lot of fun." Miss Toh, now in her 40s and a business development executive with the hotel, also said the dance floor would always be packed. Chinoiserie was the playground of the rich and famous from their 20s to 40s. In many ways, it was the colourful personalities which made the place hip. The well-heeled and "in" crowd was made up of those in fashion, entertainment and media. Celebrities like ex-national swimmer Pat Chan, singers Dick Lee and Jacintha Abisheganaden also formed its regular clientele in the '80s. In the early '90s, TCS queen Zoe Tay, top hairstylist David Gan and designer Arthur Yen took over. In 1987, when the disco re-opened, it also opened its doors to the public, thus drawing larger crowds. In its heyday, people would be queuing for two to three hours to get in. For most of the last decade, Chinoiserie was the Zouk of its day, playing the latest music then. It also had a reputation for wild bashes, especially at its anniversary parties, where patrons played games such as eating a watermelon which has been soaked in tequila with their hands tied behind their backs. It was during one of these bashes that Mr Syed won two return air tickets to London in 1991. He took his wife, who was then pregnant with their only son, on the trip. He said that was the best memory he had of the place. For many, the disco was where they spent the best times of their youth, and in little ways, those memories have left a permanent mark. Ms Anaberta Oehlers is planning to re-live some of those moments tomorrow with the group of friends she used to hang out with there. "I sound young? All of us who went there will sound young," the 39-year-old housewife with three children said to a comment Life! made. The spirit was incredible, she recalled. She and her friends would hardly leave the dance floor, except to get a drink. Throughout the room, men and women would be cruising each other across the dance floor or the bar. Flirting was a big part of the game, she said. "When you danced, you were also showing off your body," she added. The women would be togged out in their short, black Hunza dresses. The British designer label was a hot look then, said the ex-fashion buyer. The men, especially the buayas (crocodiles in Malay, meaning flirts), would be in suits. "The best thing was that they played slow music as well," she said. So, after all that heated gyrating to the fast numbers, people got into the really hot stuff when the slow songs came on. For some, romance blossomed. "I know some people who actually met their husbands there," she added. For more than a decade, Chinoiserie enjoyed longevity in a fickle club scene as regular patrons kept going back for more. But it was hard to keep up with changing tastes. In 1994, it launched a series of parties called the Madhatters' Party, on the first Friday of each month, co-organised with a group of people who came up with the idea. That proved popular with both the young and middle-aged alike. People began queuing up at dinner time to make sure they got in on these nights. But then, the magic began to fade. Over the last two years, the disco's popularity began to drop, and a new generation of clubbers came on the scene. The old-timers, who had heavier commitments such as career and family, began straying. In terms of a nightspot's lifespan, Chinoiserie had lived to a ripe old age, and perhaps, it is time to sing its swan song and make a graceful exit. So for those who had spent a part of your lives there, put on your party hats and join in the fun for the last time. Said Miss Toh: "I was born out of Chinoiserie. Of course, many of us who worked and played there would feel sad. But all good things must come to an end." PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS CHINOISERIE was: * Hippest and most exclusive nightspot in town when it was set up in September 1979. * Playground of the rich and famous from their 20s to 40s. * Regular clientele in the '80s included celebrities like ex-national swimmer Pat Chan and singer Dick Lee; in the early '90s, TCS queen Zoe Tay, top hairstylist David Gan and designer Arthur Yen took over. * Today, it has become a victim of the fast-changing trends. * It is making way for a restaurant serving East-West cuisine. Previous Next Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.