BOBBY CHNG: Department store darling celebrates life amid cancer battle

Designer Bobby Chng misses the days when Singapore fashion designers were rock stars.

- Amanda Chai

He would be recognised on the streets and given free entry to any club he wanted.

That was an era when everyone dressed up, recalls the 69-year-old fondly. Between the 1970s and 1990s, "everybody wore designer labels to go out". His own uniform of choice was a well-cut shirt, pants, belt and bag — often in top-to-toe Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Jean Paul Gaultier.

A household name to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, Chng fell off the radar when he moved to China in his 40s, where he stayed until 2019 before returning to Singapore.

Unknown to most, the devout Christian had been diagnosed with cancer of the bladder since he was 26.

He kept it under control with medication and yearly chemotherapy, and had kept mum so as not to worry friends or garner pity.

Yet, the endless stream of people who have flown in from around the world to visit him is testament to how much Chng is loved. When The Straits Times meets him at his apartment in Tiong Bahru in July, he is interrupted mid-chat by two more bearing a bouquet of roses.

At the time of this interview, the bachelor had arranged a disco-themed "celebration of life" party at hotel Shangri-La Singapore's ballroom on Aug 9.

He has also made preparations for his funeral. "I've told them, don't make me up until I look like an opera singer," he adds defiantly.

Even though Chng is hooked up to morphine in bed, he remains a colourful character.