Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

at Clarke Quay was unbelievable! By the time I got to Lunar, not only were my arms coated with this thin film of Ah Beng sweat, but I also almost fell down from trying to avoid some lumpar flicking around his cigarette as he pushed through.
    Sher, Fann, Imo and I—­of course we’d been to Clarke Quay many many times. We never want to admit it lah, but we’d been to so many of these clubs so often that we usually don’t need to pay cover charge to get in. Once the bouncer sees us, he just knows to let us in. Unlike those ­people who come in, order one drink and sit in one corner, watching other ­people dance and go crazy all night because they themselves are too shy or too low-­class to participate, these bouncers know that not only will we buy drinks ourselves but also we usually dress nicely enough that other guys confirm will buy us more drinks. Of all the clubs though, the one place we had never been was Lunar. If you are a guy, and you specifically want to meet a China girl—­like, not one from one of those red-­light shophouses in Geylang or a sleazy KTV lounge, then Lunar is the place to go.
    So, why would we ever have reason to go there? Those guys who want China girls usually are not the type to chase us. Singaporean girls to them are too bossy, too opinionated, not quiet enough. But, as I told the girls, if we want to understand the competition, then Lunar is confirm must.
    Louis had been to Lunar a few times before—­China girls actually prefer rich Singaporean guys to ang mohs. I also don’t know why. Sometimes I think maybe they’re scared of big cocks or something. Or maybe they’re not used to so much hair? Sometimes it’s true lah—­ang moh guys, if you rubba them too long, it’s like fucking sandpaper. Anyway, when Louis goes to Lunar—­he confirm can always score. For these China girls, the other thing also is that Singaporean guys are easier to control. Ang moh guys often want to be independent and all that shit. When they meet you, even if they really like you, they usually want to date a few ­people at a time type. After months and months where you end up having to hang out with their boring friends for all these nights playing darts and pretending that you like drinking Guinness, then maybe they suddenly will wake up one morning and think, okay lah, this girl not so bad—­can go steady.
    But Singaporean guys, aiyoh, if you hook them properly and fasterly, they will pamper you for a long time. So when I told Louis we wanted to go, he texted his guy at Lunar to book a VIP table. Since it was our first time there, Louis agreed to come out earlier to meet us. This wasn’t easy. His wife, Mary, usually doesn’t start her mah-­jongg game until 11 P .M. so Louis cannot leave until then. But tonight was a special case—­we were not meeting at the usual club and in this Lunar world, we quite toot, China girls are quite fierce. So, Mary—­once she heard where we were meeting, even she was OK with Louis coming out early just this time. After all, she probably thinks, if us girls slowly one by one get married, maybe Louis will see his friends settling down and he’ll start staying at home more. Even though Louis never talks about it, we all know that it’s getting to be time for him to pop out a son. And Mary, of course she wants that too—­once that happens, she’s really set for life! Dowager status—­earned.
    â€œEh, Jazzy, tonight is really happening ah?” Louis said when Imo, Fann and I finally got there and made it through, past the VIP bouncer. I tell you, this was the first time he was so on time. Must be he’s a bit worried for us. Louis of course was nice as usual, holding up the bottle of Chivas after we double-­kissed. We used to just hug when we saw each other, but then last year he and Mary went to Paris for a holiday. When he came back, he started doing