Do you remember these 10 things ‘90s teenagers used to do in Singapore?

Growing up as a ’90s teen was a wholly different experience than being a teenager today. I should know: I spent most of the decade as a teenager. And what a time it was. Gen X and older millennials often wax lyrical about a decade where information didn’t flow quite as freely as it does today, a concept that may puzzle today’s teens. But the spirit of discovery was alive and well.

Things were not as easy to “get” as they are today, whether it was a new album or a hard-to-find book. And although ’90s teens may not have had the answer to every fact nor an instant grasp of global trends at the touch of a button, we did have other ways of learning, gathering information, communicating and spending our time.

It wasn’t just the difference between an analogue and digital existence, but in the ways teens consumed media and culture and even goods and services, and engaged on a social basis with friends and peers. Handphones weren’t quite a thing until the late ’90s, so pagers and the good old payphone were the way that teens communicated. Or (gasp) you made plans on landline telephones or IRL, and simply stuck to them (no backing out or last-minute phantom illnesses permitted).

In the context of Singapore, it is also about the physical landmarks, spaces and cultural behemoths of the time that occupied the consciousness and daily lives of Singapore teens. We polled our friends and family to delve into the memory bank for this list.

1. Hang out at Far East Plaza

To the uninitiated, Far East Plaza was one of the iconic hangouts of the hip teenage set of the time and a great meet-up spot. The place to be seen? The McDonald’s at the front of the building. Besides spending after-school hours meeting with friends and grabbing an affordably priced sundae, teens would also shop at iconic Far East Plaza shops. Favourite spots included the now defunct Sunny Bookshop, which opened in the shopping mall in 1985 and stocked a surprisingly wide range of fiction titles packed into its floor-to-ceiling shelves.

Another favourite was 77th Street for streetwear and accessories. Teens would also head to the various tattoo shops and hair salons that occupied the upper floors to get body piercings and crazy hair colours.

Vestiges of Far East Plaza’s past as a centre of youth culture remain in long-time shops like Lips Enterprise, which sells costumes and accessories, and is still open till today, and iconic vintage collectible store The Attic, which still operates online after decades at Far East Plaza.

2. Browse cassettes, CDs, books and magazines at Tower Records

When Tower Records opened in Singapore in 1993, it was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. First launched in 1960 in Sacramento, California, the massive music store that occupied the uppermost floor of Pacific Plaza became the hunting ground for cassette tapes, CDs, records, and other assorted music memorabilia, as well as in-store signings from music acts. Fun fact: The building, which was formerly called the Tropicana Entertainment Building, also had a musical past and hosted greats like Duke Ellington and Count Basie in its heyday.

Tower Books, which opened on a higher, “attic floor” several years later, was where you could find a small but curated selection of seminal books for the youth, such as J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, a wide selection of international magazines and even smaller independent zines. Truly a haven for the book lover, Tower Books was the precursor to the cosy Borders at Wheelock Place and had an edgier, indie vibe. Tower Records meanwhile, also predated HMV in Singapore, which opened a 12,500 sq ft store in The Heeren in 1997. Sadly both Tower Books and Tower Records proved to be a short-lived, but much beloved, few years of cultural education for curious teens, as both moved out of Pacific Plaza in 2001.

3. Use pagers, talk on a landline and chat on IRC using dial-up 

Those were the days when “siang kar pager” (Hokkien for “who paged me?”) was a common refrain uttered from payphones everywhere. Pagers were a common device amongst teens lucky enough to own one, and besides sending alphanumeric codes, its primary use was to let someone know you needed to speak to them ASAP. After receiving a page, one would then head to a public payphone to return the call. Pagers were eventually phased out with the advent of the mobile phone in the late ’90s.

Other teenage pastimes included long conversations on the landline with friends, and battling other household members for this same, sole landline to access dial-up internet using a modem. If you had regular access to the internet, you might chat with friends (or strangers) on IRC rooms or surf a woefully small selection of websites that might look laughably primitive to the youth of today.

4. Attend chalet parties

Another fond memory of the past was hangouts with friends at a chalet. Usually located in outlying areas like Changi, these large, sparsely-furnished spaces were an inexpensive and ideal place for teens to meet for parent-free birthday parties, farewell gatherings, class graduations and other celebrations. The activity of choice? From drinking (Jolly Shandy anyone?) to dancing and whatever else teens do at parties. Speaking of parties, that brings us to our next activity…

5. Hang out at Tea Dances at Discos

The more daring among the teenage set piled on the makeup and the pre-Miu Miu miniskirts, or donned their ubiquitous jeans-and-tee combos, and headed to tea dances at discos like Fire, Sparks and Warehouse once the government lifted the ban on these dances in 1986. Tea dances were also where informal gatherings for schools like polytechnics took place.

While the age limit at clubs has always been 18, daytime discos allowed access to clubbers as young as 13 or 14 on the weekends, as no alcoholic drinks were served. Cue teenage drama, fights, romances and general panic at the disco. Gang-related incidents such as rioting and gang recruitment led to the government banning teens under 16 from attending tea dances from October 1997, marking the end of an era.

6. Ice-skate at Fuji Ice Palace

Fuji Ice Palace first opened its doors at the site of the old Rex Cinema, an iconic Art Deco-style cinema along Mackenzie Road, in 1989, ceasing operations just a few years later in 1993 before relocating to Jurong Entertainment Centre in 1994. Travel to colder climates for snow sports and activities like snowboarding and skiing was less accessible then, so for those who wanted to try this relatively “exotic” activity, the ice-skating rink was a slightly pricey but nonetheless fun adventure. Its predecessor dated back even further to the 1970s when Singapore’s first ever ice-skating rink was opened at Taman Jurong in 1974, proving that tropics-dwellers have always had a taste for winter. 

7. Watch movies at Shaw House

The iconic Lido cinema owned by the Shaw Brothers remains one of the oldest-surviving cinemas in Singapore. It first opened in 1958 as part of a shopping mall and cinema complex. But the entire building underwent an overhaul and reopened in 1993, cementing its status as the teen cinematic hangout of the ’90s.

This is where this writer caught era-defining movies like Jurassic Park, where teens binged on McDonald’s meals or hung out in the sprawling open air, amphitheatre style space that spanned the first and basement levels of the building. Popular movies among teens in that era included Clueless (1995), Dangerous Minds (1995), The Craft (1996) and The Teenage Textbook Movie (1998) that was based off a book by Adrian Tan. 

8. Buy, read and collect magazines

Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when magazines were the primary source of infotainment in the lives of teenagers. I, for one, spent a large chunk of my allowance on foreign titles procured everywhere from bigger bookstores to HDB mama shops. Popular local titles included the now defunct Teen and Teenage magazines, with many teens skipping straight to the Aunt Agony columns at the back for the juiciest stories on BGR (that’s boy girl relationships for the uninitiated), parental issues and embarrassing stories. Another iconic title of the time was the local publication Go Magazine (later Go Flirt), which held an annual model search called “Girl on the Go” and was among the first to feature names like Tracy Phillips, Michelle Saram and Denise Keller on its cover.

Another popular magazine among teens was Lime, which launched in November 1996. It was a pop culture magazine featuring pop music idols, movie stars, pull-out posters and even a scratch-and-sniff issue. Besides being a great source for posters that you could then hang on your wall, these magazines sometimes came with freebie premiums like keychains and CDs.

Other popular foreign titles among teens included Smash Hits, Seventeen, YM, Sassy, i-D and The Face. The more enterprising teens and those in the indie scene would even make their own black-and-white zines around niche subjects, photocopying them to informally distribute them among friends and fellow enthusiasts, while others would simply cut out images to make collages or homemade cards from their friends.

9. Buy clothes and bags from Projectshop

Ever wondered what the PS in PS. Cafe stands for? It actually originated from the brand’s original concept, a clothing store called Projectshop, which started in 1990 and sold minimalist ’90s fashion–think tube tops and tanks–that was the dream attire for most teenage girls. The brand incorporated a cafe in 1999 inside its clothing store in Paragon and from there, the owners pivoted the business to F&B. The popularity of Projectshop and its chic and sleek urban wear and tees was a precursor to future viral local brands like Beyond The Vines. 

10. Make a mixtape or record songs from the radio

Look at this image (above) in case you’ve never seen a cassette tape up close. Following records, which were phased out in the 1980s, cassette tapes were the primary source for music, and because of their relatively cheap price, it was not uncommon for teens to buy blank tapes to make their own mixtapes (complete with handwritten track listings) by taping popular songs off the radio. Wanted to know the lyrics of a song? You would eagerly wait for it, record the song off the radio, and then play, pause and rewind it ad nauseam until you could finally catch all the words... forget about Spotify lyrics. With dial-up internet, winding bus routes and lo-fi tech, ’90s teenagers truly learned the value of patience.

This article was originally published in Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.