A core part of the thriving Jalan P Ramlee nightlife for the past 20 years, the club finally succumbed to the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic last month. With primarily an international clientele, Beach Club is the biggest nightspot on one of the busiest tourism streets in the Golden Triangle to close.
Dozens of bars and restaurants in the area collapsed and hundreds of workers lost their jobs after the government imposed a lockdown in March to curb the spread of the virus. Without the clubs, the once-throbbing social life at Jalan P Ramlee has now gone quiet. There’s nobody around after 11pm.
And with the surge in Covid-19 cases, the eccentric Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties there will not take place this month. In fact, the capital city will go to sleep by midnight when diners close and celebrants stay at home.
Kuala Lumpur’s nightlife spirit has dampened dramatically with concerns mounting over whether the party is over for good.
If nightspots close, they often never reopen.
The vibrancy of Beach Club will be history even if entertainment group, Trend Matrix Enterprise Sdn Bhd, says the closure of its signature outlet is indefinite. Night-time industry players have said restrictions such as crowd size, mingling and social distancing will still apply long after the virus has stopped crashing parties.
While Trend Matrix managing director, Judy Ng, agrees that the clubbing scene in the future will be different, she is hopeful business will resume when the international borders reopen.
“We were a 95% international tourist-based business,” she said, referencing the club’s slogan ‘If you have never been to Beach Club, you have never been to KL’.
Ng said: “Our primary customers were tourists from all over the world and we had to close as we were unable to stretch our losses since March.”
The financial backlash resulted in staff being laid off, she added.
Ng’s late husband, Ronnie Choong, transformed Jalan P Ramlee into a clubbing hub when he set up the Emporium Grand Café and Beach Club Café in 1999.
The success of both outlets encouraged Choong to set up Nouvo & Sangria Bar in 2002 followed by Poppy Collection and Rum Jungle two years later, all in the same area.
These hangouts and others later such as Scandals Club, Warehouse and Aloha Club turned Jalan P Ramlee into a major tourism street in the Golden Triangle, Kuala Lumpur’s commercial, shopping and entertainment pivot that encompasses a number of major roads.
Some of the clubs closed due to failing business while others were battered by the pandemic.
While most sectors of the economy were reopened in June, only clubs, pubs and bars that serve food alongside alcohol were allowed to operate until midnight.
Beach Club reopened partially for dine-in and takeaway but could not sustain its new business model.
Last week, the club disposed of various items like glassware, tableware and cutlery in a sale at a carpark near the premises.
Among those who snapped up ‘souvenirs’ was mobile virtual network expert, Danny Sridharan, who recalled rubbing shoulders with some celebrities, watching live telecasts of major sports and partying with top bands at Beach Club.
“They were club nights that lived on long after they ended,” he said.
Singer Ozie Yahya who performed there with her band Take 5, off and on over the last 15 years, said while she was sad the club had closed, memories of her experiences are vivid.
Like the time she met MotoGP racers, Spaniards Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez and Australian legend Mick Doohan who were in town for the World Superbike championships.
Among the other big MotoGP names to walk through the doors to the club were Italians Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, Briton Bradley Smith and American Kenny Roberts Jr.
F1 legends, German Michael Schumacher and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, also partied there with their crew after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Wrestlers like Undertaker, Kane, Chris Jericho and Dudley Boyz also held sway while football stars, England’s Robbie Fowler and Italian Mario Balotelli, drew their fans in droves.
Ozie said she was surprised when singer Bruno Mars, who was here in 2010 to launch his debut album ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans’, turned up quietly at the club.
Singer-rapper Akon and saxophonist Dave Koz were the other notable artistes to hit the club.
Said Ozie, “I will cherish the moments the band played in front of these sports and entertainment celebrities. Every night was like playing in a big concert.”
Apart from Take 5, the other groups that pulled in crowds included Highrollers, Deviate and Soul Statue and trendsetting deejays like Daryl B, Neshtrodamus, Angelo and Black.
With the uncertainty over when live entertainment will resume, every piece of news of nightspots closing represents a dream shattered, countless jobs and opportunities lost, and a catastrophic blow to the night-time economy.
Will Kuala Lumpur get through this setback in entertainment and rise again?
Will the adversity spur ideas?
Maybe, but without the foreign tourists and the venues pulsating with the same vibrancy they had, little of nothing will happen.