Singapore - Strobe lights are flashing, the music is pounding.
Tightly-packed bodies gyrate around the VIP table where the alcohol flows freely in one of Singapore's hottest clubs.
The table will rack up at least four figures on the drink bill tonight. Here, the hefty bills for champagne and branded vodka don't get signed off by corporate executives but, instead, by young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.
Welcome to the world of young, designer toting, VIP table-booking clubgoers. According to nightclubs these clubgoers frequent, they will drop anywhere between $1,500 to a staggering $25,000 on a single night of partying.
Last year's monthly median salary of a Singapore worker, according the Manpower Ministry, is just $3,480.
Says Mr Jeremy Matthew Bala, 34, marketing manager for upscale club Mink at the Pan Pacific Hotel: "It's a significant shift if you compare it to the mid-90s.
"No one would even consider spending $1,000 or $2,000 on a night back then.
"It's different today. They truly have spending power and they know their brands."
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On the Wednesday and Friday nights when TNPS visited, it's a scene straight out of a music video. Girls made up to look like K-pop starlets pepper the queue as guys in T-shirts, blazers and gelled-up hair display their best attempt at swagger.
VIP Host at Clarke Quay's Club Attica and Le Noir, Mr Nahid Ballou, says: "There's a mix of locals and expats, but mostly expats. Some are here for studies or their parents moved to Singapore with lots of money.
"And it's mostly the guys who spend the money.
"They have knowledge these days, not just about drinks but also about retail, about food. They know what's best - and they want it."
Zouk's marketing and events head Timothy Chia agrees that some of their youngest clubgoers have the most financial pull.
"One of our young regulars bought 12 bottles of Grey Goose vodka ($550 per bottle) and a bottle of Mumm Magnum ($1,985) on his birthday," he says.
"Another young big spender (who has yet to enlist for National Service) often spends about $1,200 - $1,500 per night and tips the waitresses $50 for every order he makes. He spent close to $10,000 for his birthday celebrations last year.
"Once, one of our young regulars ordered 300 shots of sour plum Vodka and stacked up the 15 trays of the shots. Another regular found out about it and ordered 1,500 shots of sour apple and sour plum shooters."
A 21-year-old clubgoer who is waiting to enter Nanyang Technological University next month, and who wants to be known only as Jay, says: "We usually buy a table and order a few bottles first just to enter.
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"For example, if there are 10 of us, we probably open four bottles, and after that, when we're all in, we'll open more bottles over the night.
"We drink champagne, so maybe after the original charge, we'll spend another $400-$500 more the rest of the night."
Jay parties four to six times a month, and spends about $1,000 each night. The most he has spent in a night is $7,000, on his birthday.
Full-time national serviceman Aaron, 21, parties almost every night and spends around $1,000 to $2,000 each night. The most he has spent in a night is $25,000, also on his birthday.
He says: "We drink champagne, like Dom Perignon. We also drink the new vodka with gold flakes in it, the Royal Dragon Vodka, which can cost up to $500 a bottle.
"$1,000 a night is not rare. More and more young people are willing to spend on clubbing.
"The older crowd still has the bulk of spending power, but people my age are increasingly willing and able to spend."
Both Jay and Aaron hold down part-time jobs, but they admit the jobs finance only a small fraction of their clubbing lifestyle. Out of the $4,000 or so Jay spends on clubbing a month, $1,000 comes from his part-time job.
Aaron, who invests in shares and whose family owns a Fortune 500 company, pays for a third of the $12,000 or so he spends on clubbing each month.
Most of the money for their nights out comes from their parents. Jay says: "My parents are in the investment and accounting industry, and they know that I club regularly.
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"But we have an understanding and they know that I know what I'm doing, so they do not have issues with it."
Mr Bala says: "Big-spending nights are usually to celebrate occasions like birthdays, an F1 weekend or a graduation from university. "Sometimes parents come in and pay in advance for their children.
"Then there are the regulars who spend but they don't drop a bomb every time. They'll maybe get a three-litre bottle of Belvedere for $1,280, they'll do a Dom for anywhere between $488 and $928.
"It's all about the theatrics. They want to be seen and they know their products and brands and go for what's fashionable."
Aaron disagrees: "I live within my means, it is not like I spend all my money on clubbing to show off and starve the rest of the week.
"I've actually toned down a lot. In the past, I would be the guy rolling up to the club in my father's Ferrari, and buying the big, showy drinks just to be the guy people talked about.
"I think it's all about growing up, now I party to relax and also to network."
Although the boys both admit that their spending may seem excessive to some, they say they're not about to stop.
Jay says, candidly: "It's a great way to relax with some friends, and a great way to make new ones. We like it, so why not?"
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Photos: TNP, ST, Butter Factory, Zouk Club Singapore, Le Noir, Pangaea, Instagram, Internet.
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