Zouk is slated to close by this year end due to the inflexible leasing at Jiak Kim Street. Getting tired of dealing with the short lease extensions, founder of Zouk, Mr Lincoln Cheng, says that the club will close if he does not get the request of a 3-year extension of lease.
The 23 years old iconic night spot, Zouk (French creole for ‘party’) in Singapore will be thus gone for good, if not for the extension. With so much memories and iconic moments that Zouk has brought us, we take a look at what we will miss about Zouk if the request for a 3-year lease extension gets rejected.
1) Singapore will lose its iconic, international-renown club
Zouk is ranked number 10 on DJ Magazine’s list of Top 100 clubs in the world in 2006, 2007 and 2010. Furthermore, the club has won the Singapore Tourism Board’s “Best Nightspot Experience” award 6 times, between 1996 to 2007. Talk about how iconic the club is on an international ground, and the accolades it has received throughout the years. It has been (sort of) instilled as a national pride.
2) Singapore may see the absence of ZoukOut
The annual music dance festival since 2000 has been an yearly affair for most party-goers or people who are out to have fun. It is helmed as one of Asia’s biggest music festival. ZoukOut has also won the Singapore Tourism Board’s “Best Leisure Event Experience” award thrice, between 2005 and 2008. About 41,000 turned up for the party at Siloso Beach, Sentosa in 2013. With Zouk closing, we may still see this festival happening but less likely.
3) Where will POPTART go?
POPTART, the indie/alternative music themed club that is held at The Velvet Underground each month will be gone. HomeClub ended its indie nights on 10 May 2014, and with this uncertainty in mind, many indie music lovers will have to find a new spot for great music of their preference.
4) Zouk Flea will be gone
The place where we can get cheap stuffs from (most) frequent party-goers will no longer be held at Zouk with its closing. I love Zouk fleas compared to many other fleas because they sell more trendy and interesting items – after all most of the tenants of the Zouk flea will be those who frequent Zouk.
5) We will miss seeing the drunk eye-candies outside or near the bridge
Very often we get to see the drunk or high eye-candies outside the club, or drinking their own alcohol by the bridge. While there may be risks of fights or agitation due to influence of alcohol, or the unsightly litter thereafter, there is a little sense of community among these party goers who are out smoking or having ‘alcohol-picnic’. It’s always a good laugh for my friends and I.
I am sure the late teens and young adults will still have fond and vibrant memories of Zouk. We will certainly miss this great space where everyone is proud to call Zouk their favourite party spot.
Writer: Leong Chee Sheng
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