Quite what will be going through the minds of the dour Sentosa ticket collectors next weekend is anyone's guess, as thousands of gays and lesbians converge on Singapore for Nation 04, on the eve of the city state's sombre Independence Day celebrations.
The Singapore government, not known for its tolerance towards homosexuality, will again profit from what is, arguably, the biggest dance party of its kind in Asia.
In its fourth year, Nation has become a big-ticket item for Singapore tourism, estimated to generate about S$10m (HK$45.2 million) for the island state. Of the expected 8,000 partygoers, 2,500 will fly in from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Australia, as well as North America and Europe.
Organisers say that, based on past parties and market research, these visitors, per capita, spend more than 10 times the national average. That probably explains the irony that Singapore, where male homosexuality is still a crime, is playing host to hordes of homosexuals. The main party is on the government-owned island of Sentosa.
The brainchild of Stuart Koe, founder of fridae.com, a Hong Kong-based gay and lesbian webzine, Nation has doubled in size annually since its inception in 2001. It has expanded this year to encompass an informal Nation Arts Programme - which includes the plays Mergers and Will, Top or Bottom, Mardi Gras and The Revenge of the Dim Sum Dollies, and three art exhibitions, Red + White = Pink, Erotica and Private Edge.
'More and more major advertisers are waking up to the tremendous potential of the gay community as one with high disposable income and trend-setting power,' Koe says. 'We are confident ... this trend will explode in the next three to five years as more Asian soc- ieties liberalise, and marketers get more savvy.'
He ticks off some of the big-name sponsors: Cathay Pacific, Subaru, Motorola, Moet et Chandon, Heineken, Conrad Centennial and Singapore Intercontinental.