Vincent's Lounge opened on 18 May 1989 at #06-05 Lucky Plaza, 304 Orchard Road (former telephone number: 7361360). It was eponymously named after its proprietor Vincent Thnay and was the first East-meets-West pub where Asian potato queens, mostly ethnic Chinese but also a considerable proportion of whom were Malay, including some local money boys, could meet up with their Caucasian aficionados, otherwise known as rice queens. It offered a safe space to mingle, later karaoke as well, and booze. The concept for the venue was based on the Long Yang Club (LYC) which was founded in the mid 1980’s as a social club for gay Asians and Westerners to integrate at a variety of social events within London.
Original premises at Lucky Plaza[]
The original Vincent's Lounge at Lucky Plaza.
Vincent's Lounge came into existence on 18 May 1989, started by Vincent Thnay, a young man who had a burning desire to be his own boss. An opportunity had presented itself and he grabbed it. Tucked away in a shop space, unit #06 on level 5 of Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road, its discreet location served well at a time when the environment was not as liberal as it is today. In the late 1980s, homosexuality was very much a taboo subject, exacerbated by the fact that the first cases of HIV infection had recently been detected in 1985 which caused a widespread homophobic and transphobic panic in the general population. While it was not a crime to be gay per se, sex between men was criminalised by Section 377 and Section 377A of the Penal Code and people who led an "alternative lifestyle" were frowned upon. The laws were strict and any establishment found to be 'promoting homosexuality' or 'tolerating homosexuals' faced intense pressure. Customers from that era remember the numerous 'routine' checks by the authorities.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Singapore Police Force would send letters of warning to the managements of all gay businesses in Singapore stating that their public entertainment licence would be suspended or cancelled if the entertainment they provided was "contrary to public interest". Thnay himself received one such document dated 17 October 1989. It read:
Scan of CID letter sent to all gay establishments.
"Licensee
Vincent's Lounge
304 Orchard Road
#06-05, Lucky Plaza
Singapore 0923
Dear Sir
VINCENT'S LOUNGE
This is to bring to your attention that by virtue of Section 14 (1) (d) of the Public Entertainment Act (cap 257) the Licensing Officer may in his discretion cancel or suspend a public entertainment licence if the entertainment provided is contrary to public interest.
The following are some activities that would be considered to be contrary to public interest:
a) any form of public entertainment (as defined in Section 2 of the Public Entertainment Act, cap 257) that caters mainly for transvestites or homosexuals;
[NOTE: Transvestites include persons addicted to the or who seek sexual pleasure from wearing of garments of the opposite sex. Homosexuals include persons sexually attracted to members of the same sex];
b) permitting persons of the same sex to:
i) kiss and hug each other intimately;
ii) dance intimately or stroke any part of the other person's body intimately.
Please note that the Licensing Officer will not hesitate to cancel or suspend your licence should your establishment permit any of the above-mentioned activities in your establishment.
Yours faithfully
LICENSING OFFICER
PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT LICENSING UNIT
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT"
However, Thnay played things by the rule book and gave them no excuse to look hard at his establishment. Gradually, the Government came to accept that it posed no threat to the youth of Singapore and eventually left the bar pretty much alone. The negative side of this approach was that he had to impose rather strict controls on the behaviour of customers, something which sometimes still came back to haunt him in later years. Physical contact had to be limited to handshakes, something which often did not go down well, but it was all done in the spirit of keeping the doors open for business, rather than making things difficult for his guests.
Towards the end of 1995, Thnay took over a karaoke lounge, hoping to provide his customers with an alternative venue and more space. However, the response to that was lukewarm, as most patrons still preferred the coziness and intimacy of the smaller venue. This, and the economic downturn, left him with little choice but to close the karaoke joint at the end of 1998 and concentrate on his original concept.
The ensuing years brought a number of changes to the gay scene in Singapore. As the situation became more liberal, other bars opened. Having been the only bar operating in the large city for over eight years made it inevitable that sooner or later someone else would be brave enough to try their luck, and indeed since the opening of Taboo in 1997 the scene had expanded dramatically and there came to be many other bars, clubs and saunas catering to the gay population. Virtually all of these opened in the Tanjong Pagar/Chinatown area of the city.
Thnay had at first looked at Tanjong Pagar as an area for expansion around 1993, at a time when his current premises had just come on the market following conservation works. Taboo was still several years ahead although the karaoke bars of Inner Circle and Babylon contributed to some gay presence. However, at that time Orchard Road was still the place to be and he went ahead with the addition of his karaoke lounge in Lucky Plaza.
By the turn of the millenium though, it was becoming obvious that it was being left on the fringes of a thriving scene in Tanjong Pagar. The latter had become an area where one could visit a sauna to relieve the stresses of the day, eat at any of a number of small restaurants or food stalls, then move on to a bar, then to a club to party the night away. It had become time to join the crowd.
Relocation to Tanjong Pagar[]
Thnay made the move from Lucky Plaza following the lounge's fourteenth anniversary celebrations there. After a decade and a half of continuous service, he took six nights off before reopening in May 2003, occupying a street-level shophouse at 15 Duxton Road in Tanjong Pagar. Renaming the bar Vincenz, he figured that there was still plenty of potential at the new location for increased business in a very competitive environment. It was hoped that patronage would come as the tourist industry revived itself and the general economic climate improved.
Vincenz contained a handsomely elegant wooden bar which offered a large selection of beers on tap. The establishment was nicknamed "Venerable Vincent's" and "The Grand Dame of Singapore" for good reason. The proprietor liked to think that he still had something different to offer. While the bar had changed location, what would not change was the relaxed environment it offered, a place to meet up with friends and have a drink and a chat. No frills, no gimmicks, no attitudes - a free and easy chill out space which had a colourful clientele from all walks of life, of all ages and from all around the world, a place where one was more than just a nameless customer.
Vincenz closed on 26 March 2005 after 16 years of promoting East-West relations. Despite the move to bigger premises in a better location, it were not able to recapture the attention of an increasingly well catered market. By then, the Government had become much more tolerant, allowing the gay scene to open up in a way that would have seemed unbelievable even five years prior. Bars, spas, saunas and other gay-related businesses had sprouted up everywhere. Competition was tough and the owner decided that it was time to go, thus ending their sixteen years of business. A by-then older Thnay was just pleased that he had achieved his goal.
Customers' anecdotal experiences[]
Paddy Chew, Singapore's first person living with HIV/AIDS to come out to the general public, used to patronise Vincent's Lounge and recounted his experience there:
"Then we went, and I usually go to this karaoke in Lucky Plaza called Vincent's Lounge. And you know everybody, and everybody knows you are dying, you get first priority. And every time I request a song, the boss will come and say, “You all all there ah, drink ah. You all all there ah, drink ah. Paddy first. Paddy first ah. You all sit down, sit down.”
So I asked my cousin, I said, “What song you want me to sing?” She said, “Don't want to sing the old, old, old, old one, lah. Sing new, modern one.” “Ah, Sher, I shall sing the theme song from Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On.”"
See also[]
- Singapore gay venues: historical
- Vincent Thnay
References[]
- With/Out post on Paddy Chew's Birthday, 29 March 2017[1].
Acknowledgements[]
This article was written by Roy Tan. Gratitude to Vincent Thnay for providing insider details and photographs.