Spartacus - Singapore's first gay sauna

[groyn88]

I have just written a wiki article on Spartacus, Singapore's first gay sauna:

http://the-singapore-lgbt-encyclopaedia.wikia.com/wiki/Spartacus_(Singapore_gay_sauna)

 

Spartacus was Singapore's first gay sauna. It was set up in 1997 by pioneering, openly gay entrepreneur and impresario Max Lim.

Before the 1990s, local homosexual men had to journey all the way to Bangkok, Thailand to experience the pleasures that gay bathhouses offered. The situation became more convenient in the early 1990s when an establishment called Ryu, meaning "dragon" in Japanese, opened in Taman Pelangi near the Pelangi Complex in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Hot on the heels of Ryu's overwhelming success in attracting huge crowds of both Singaporeans and Malaysians, another gay sauna called New Blue Boys opened at 104 A-B, Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru about a year later. Needless to say, there was intense rivalry and enmity between the two businesses, both fighting for a lucrative market from both sides of the border. Some Singaporean gay men would charter taxis in groups to traverse the causeway and experience what was sorely lacking at home.

Savvy entrepreneurs like Max Lim realised the strong demand for such a facility locally. In 1997, probably via securing a bank loan for the initial investment outlay, he opened Singapore’s first gay sauna and named it Spartacus, after the famous Roman gladiator who was depicted to have a relationship with homosexual undertones in the eponymous Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Kirk Douglas. It was located, amusingly but unintentionally, at 69 South Bridge Road! The address was probably chosen partly because of its proximity to the well known nocturnal cruising areas of Hong Lim Park, the back alleys of Boat Quay and Raffles Place. Indeed, after exiting the sauna at night, patrons could conveniently hop over to one of the nearby open-air cruising hotspots for additional recreation.

The sauna could be recognised immediately from its external façade because of its colossal signage, garish colour scheme and especially the painted sketches of nude gladiators and the mythological Greek figures of Laocoön and his sons on its external wall facing South Bridge Road, near its junction with North Canal Road. One amusing feature was the infamous sign on the front door of the building which read, "Entry by the rear"! This policy was presumably instituted by the proprietor to prevent the ingress of unsuspecting pedestrians who may accidentally wander into the premises and be shocked by what they see. However, when the disco was operational at night, patrons could enter and exit by the front.

Entrance was by membership only, with a card issued upon payment of an annual subscription. In addition, an entrance fee was also required to be paid for each visit even after becoming a member.

Spartacus aimed to be a scaled-down version of the mega-bathhouse complex, Babylon, in Bangkok and comprised three storeys of hedonism with a daily gay disco on the ground floor fringed by an overhead observation deck, showers, a gym and sauna in the levels above it. It had an open space on the rooftop, furnished with several long benches for lying down and lush, large potted plants. Members could sunbathe there and tan in the nude if they wished. There were no structures to completely obscure sunbathers from the outside, but the nearest tall building from which office workers could catch a glimpse of the men was hundreds of metres away so there were no complaints from the public. There was also a rooftop bar which operated only at night because it was too hot during the daytime.

It was strict about sex at first to avoid complaints and harassment by the police who would make periodic visits. Prominent signs were displayed which read “No obscene acts allowed”. But the rule was gradually relaxed and the signs removed after everyone realised that the police did not intrude and intentionally seek to nab patrons who indulged in carnal pleasure with one another.

Lim experimented with the innovative concept of giving members the option of buying shares in the business. Spartacus also pioneered services like offering upmarket buffet meals in the lounge on the second floor. Unfortunately, demand for the meals, as well as the disco, was poor and these particular sections had to be closed down after less than a year due to their unprofitability and waste of space and manpower. The spa facilities, however, were a resounding success. Sauna goers were more interested in partaking of the sybaritic activities than in eating the relatively pricey food, even though it was catered and prepared by an experienced cook. To expand its clientele, Lim resorted to holding lesbian nights on the ground-floor disco on Thursdays. This juxtaposition of lesbian and gay men in common spaces occasionally took on comical overtones - people on the second storey were visible to patrons on the dance floor as there was no concrete ceiling to completely separate the first from the second level, only a peripheral, narrow encircling corridor. So, some lesbians dancing on the ground floor were shocked to see men clad only in towels walking around on level 2, a sight they had never encountered before.

Another novelty were the drag shows featuring lip-synching song items and comedy on the ground floor and in the lounge on level 2, held every Friday and Saturday night. Several patrons who would go on to become drag performers themselves in later years made it a point to catch these shows hosted by Max Lim himself. These performances would spur him to organise more such events at Stroke sauna, the successor to Spartacus, in which Lim would sometimes appear in drag himself and, later still, to set up the more official Chinatown Cabaret which advertised its elaborate drag revues online and which was sited on the ground floor of Raw sauna, Lim's third gay spa project.

One particularly intrepid endeavour were the free striptease shows held on the second floor lounge in which Lim hired cute boys to dance and peel off their clothes in a sexy manner while weaving in and out of the seated audience, occasional brushing their bodies lightly against the friendlier-looking members. These were probably the first instances of male striptease acts in Singapore, although the boys only stripped to their underwear to avoid running afoul of the law.

A regular visitor to Spartacus was a Jewish-American, late middle-aged expatriate named Sam, who, several years later, opened his own gay sauna called Club One-Seven located nearby at Upper Circular Road.

Despite its initial popularity, Spartacus' patronage gradually declined. The entire business closed down in late July 1999 due to high rental costs, amongst other factors.

Almost a year later, Lim amassed sufficient resources to open his second gay sauna called Stroke along Ann Siang Road.

Edited May 1, 2017 by groyn88

[fab]

20 minutes ago, groyn88 said:

I have just written a wiki article on Spartacus, Singapore's first gay sauna:

 

http://the-singapore-lgbt-encyclopaedia.wikia.com/wiki/Spartacus_(Singapore_gay_sauna)

 

Spartacus was Singapore's first gay sauna. It was set up in 1997 by pioneering, openly gay entrepreneur and impresario Max Lim.

 

Before the 1990s, local homosexual men had to journey all the way to Bangkok, Thailand to experience the pleasures that gay bathhouses could offer. The situation became more convenient in the early 1990s when an establishment called Ryu, meaning ‘dragon’ in Japanese, opened in Taman Pelangi near the Pelangi Complex in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

 

Hot on the heels of Ryu's overwhelming success in attracting huge crowds of both Singaporeans and Malaysians, another gay sauna called New Blue Boys opened at 104 A-B, Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru about a year later. Needless to say, there was intense rivalry and enmity between the two businesses, both fighting for a lucrative market from both sides of the border. Some Singaporean gay men would charter taxis in groups to traverse the causeway and experience what was sorely lacking at home.

 

Savvy entrepreneurs like Max Lim realised the strong demand for such a facility locally. In 1997, he opened Singapore’s first gay sauna and named it Spartacus, after the famous Roman gladiator who was depicted to have a relationship with homosexual undertones in the eponymous Hollywood blockbuster movie starring Charleton Heston. It was located, amusingly but unintentionally, at 69 South Bridge Road. The address was probably chosed partly because of its proximity to the well known nocturnal cruising areas of Hong Lim Park, the back alleys of Boat Quay and Raffles Place. Indeed, after exiting the sauna at night, patrons could conveniently hop over to one of the nearby open air cruising hotspots for additional "socialising".

Spartacus aimed to be a scaled-down version of the mega-bathhouse complex, Babylon, in Bangkok and comprised three storeys of hedonism with a daily gay disco on the ground floor fringed by an overhead observation deck, showers, a gym and sauna above it. It had an open area on the rooftop for members to sunbathe, which included nude suntanning. There was also a rooftop bar which operated only at night because it was too hot during the daytime.

 

It was strict about sex at first to avoid complaints and harassment by the police who would make periodic visits. Prominent signs were displayed which read “No obscene acts allowed”. But the rule was gradually relaxed and the signs removed after everyone realised that the police did not intrude and intentionally seek to nab patrons who indulged in carnal pleasure with one another.

 

The sauna could be recognised immediately from its external façade because of its colossal signage, garish colour scheme and especially the painted sketches of nude gladiators on its external wall facing South Bridge Road, near its junction with North Canal Road.

Entrance was by membership only, with a card issued upon payment of an annual subscription. An additional entrance fee was also required for each visit even after becoming a member.

 

Lim experimented with the innovative concept of giving its customers the option of buying shares in the business. Spartacus also pioneered services like offering upmarket buffet meals on its premises, but unfortunately, demand for the meals and disco was poor and these particular sections closed down after less than a year, even though the spa facilities were a resounding success. Sauna goers were more interested in partaking of the sybaritic activities rather than in eating the relatively pricey food, even though it was catered and prepared by an experienced cook. On certain nights, lesbians would patronise the ground-floor disco and some of them were shocked to see men only clad in towels walking around on level 2 because there was no concrete partition just above the dance floor to separate the two storeys completely.

 

Another novelty were the drag shows featuring lip-synching song items and comedy on the ground floor and in the lounge on level 2, held every Friday and Saturday night. Several patrons who would go on to be drag performers themselves in later years made it a point to catch these shows hosted by Max Lim himself. These performances would spur him to organise more such events at Stroke sauna, the successor to Spartacus, in which Lim would sometimes appear in drag himself and later still to set up Chinatown Cabaret which advertised their more elaborate drag revues online and which was sited on the ground floor of Raw sauna, Lim's third gay spa project.

 

One particularly intrepid endeavour were the free striptease shows held on the second floor lounge in which Lim hired cute boys to dance and peel off their clothes in a sexy manner while weaving in and out of the seated audience, occasional brushing their bodies lightly against the friendlier-looking members. These were probably the first instances of male striptease acts in Singapore, although the boys only stripped to their underwear to avoid running afoul of the law.

 

Spartacus as a whole closed in late July 1999 due to high rental costs and other factors.

 

I lol at the lesbians part. They sure feel disgusted about naked men romping above them. 

[CKW]

I remember during the 80s and 90s the New Paper often had those pictures of shirtless cute guys sitting in one row under the classified ads Sauna advertisements. There's one in particular where it shows a shirtless guy readings newspapers while another shirtless hunk next to him is also reading the paper!

 

It was something like the one below, but it had more guys, and it was in b/w.

 

 

Quite a turn on for me as a young boy and teenager. Always told myself that when I grow older, I will go to such places  

 

But I notice that in the past decade, the New Paper doesn't use photos anymore in their Sauna ads. At most, they use pencil art for their female saunas. 

 

Probably the government or MDA banned it.

[doncoin]

To correct, Spartacus starred Kirk Douglas not Heston. 

[groyn88]

Thanks for pointing that out, Doncoin! I have made the correction.

[Steve5380]

11 hours ago, groyn88 said:

------

Despite its initial popularity, Spartacus' patronage gradually declined. The entire business closed down in late July 1999 due to high rental costs, amongst other factors.

Almost a year later, Lim amassed sufficient resources to open his second gay sauna called Stroke along Ann Siang Road.

 

As usual,  HIGH RENTAL COSTS screw up so many good places in Singapore....

 

What is new to me is the story of Max Lim as a pioneer of gay saunas in Singapore.  

He always fascinated me and I developed a friendship with him starting with my first visit to Raw and then in frequent visits to his later place Queen Resident, where I stayed on many occasions between 2009 and 2013 in one of its "suite rooms", a much better deal than the boring and sterile expensive three-star hotels in SG. 

 

Then after the sauna had taken possession of the whole building and was remodeled, I learned in 2014 that it had closed down.  I was surprised because although many gays could not stand the place, I always considered it a good value for its proximity to Cruise Sauna and Absolute (at that time), and I am not bothered by minor details, haha.  

 

Since then I have not heard again of Max Lim.  If you know anything about him, please let me know. 

 

 

[Guest Guest]

MAX, RUN!

SOMEONE'S TRYING TO PICK A FIGHT WITH YOU THIS TIME!!

[Steve5380]

Max is too smart to listen to a dumb "Guest Guest"

I hope nothing has happened to him!

[CKW]

This is not really related, but I remember as a teenager (the pre-internet days), I absolutely loved the gay scene in Spartacus!  

 

 

[Guest Olddy]

There must be lots of them becoming uncles by now. So how? Retired or still around?

[superflawless]

I am old enough to have visited Spartacus.

It was during office hours and I sometimes snuck out to go and relieve myself at this sauna.

I remember once when I went up to the top floor, it was a open deck where folks can sun bath. 

 

There was this older man, with a moustache (Not Max), slim but not muscular.

He was clad with a white towel.

He was resting on something, maybe a futon in the shade. I walked up to him, smiled and knelt down.

I untied his towel and gave him a blow job. There weren't many people in the afternoon so I had a few minutes with him.

He came quickly and I enjoyed myself. 

That was so long ago.....

[wilfgene]

In the bright steam room, 3 men started fondling each other. A forth guy stroked himself and ask if anybody wanted to be fucked. A fifth guy went over to suck him.

"GROSS!"

 THEN.  

Nowadays, at least he used condom.

Thanks for reminding me not to dismiss any individual too soon.

 

Nonetheless, one too many one-sided accounts and no mention of the enterprise that had been on the same site.

 

How about sponsoring somebody to track down Max and Sam among others for an in-depth study of the community past, present and future. Starting with Abang.        

 

[Steve5380]

11 hours ago, superflawless said:

I am old enough to have visited Spartacus.

...

That was so long ago.....

 

Fortunately, human nature has not changed.

It may be in a different place, different sauna,

but there are always horny slim men around,

whom you can give blow jobs to your heart's content.

And receive them too.