IT WAS past midnight, and some people were busy putting up decorations for a void-deck Malay wedding.
Across the road, tired factory workers shuffled out of company buses to walk home to their flats.
And from somewhere not too far off, cheering could be heard from coffee shop patrons watching a football telecast.
All of which may be typical of HDB estates.
What is unusual in this Jurong West Avenue 1 neighbourhood is the presence of a group of transvestite sex workers.
Seven of them have used Block 490 as their "base".
A bus stop in front of the block has been turned into a "pick up" point, where local men stop their cars and take the sex workers to secluded spots.
From Sunday to Wednesday last week, this reporter noticed that taxis would drop the group off at the bus stop around 11pm.
They would remain there till about 5am.
After midnight, drivers would stop at the bus stop and pick up passengers. They would return roughly 30 minutes later with the transvestites.
A man, acting as a lookout, waits at the block behind the bus stop. The transvestites occasionally go over and talk to him.
When I drove to the bus stop, I was immediately greeted by a sex worker, who stepped up to the car window.
Dressed in a low-cut dress, he was heavily made up and wore a wig of long hair with highlights. He also had a tattoo on his left shoulder.
"It's $30, but we have to drive to a quieter spot," said the transvestite in a deep voice.
He said there was a dark heavy vehicles park near Block 474. Clients without cars would be led to a park nearby, he said.
Sometimes, the transvestites "parade" on the opposite side of the road and wave at passing cars.
Residents who have been putting up with these sex workers for two years are fed up.
One resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Rajan called their behaviour disgusting.
He recalled an incident a year ago when he had returned home late.
"I had alighted (at the bus stop) and one of them gave me a funny look," said Mr Rajan, who lives in Block 490 with his wife and son.
"Almost immediately, she (the transvestite) tried to hug me. What if my wife had seen the transvestite hugging me? Surely, I will have a lot of explaining to do."
Now, Mr Rajan, 41, a marine industry worker, takes a detour whenever he spots the sex workers.
If they try to approach him, Mr Rajan said he "will run away".
A jogger, Mr Philip Lee, 27, is also disgusted by what is happening.
He said he has stopped his midnight runs along a park connector near Block 490.
Mr Lee was given a scare when he saw a man and "an even bigger transvestite coming out of the bushes".
"My heart skipped a beat," said Mr Lee, a Jurong East resident.
It's also hard to get a good night's sleep, said Mr Mahmud Haji Shuaib, 70, a retiree who has lived in Block 490 for 13 years.
His bedroom window faces the bus stop.
"It gets rowdy, especially when they are drunk or when somebody cracks a joke," said Mr Mahmud.
"Even with my window closed, I can still hear them."
There are other problems too.
Tell-tale signs of the previous night's activities pepper the estate's grounds, neighbours said.
There are half-eaten packets of food, beer bottles and soiled tissues.
At the void deck, cigarette butts and empty drink packets litter the pathway near the front of a kindergarten.
The transvestites' chain-smoking lookout sits a few steps from the kindergarten's doors.
Mr Mahmud added: "You do not want the children who attend the kindergarten to pick up the disgusting things that these inconsiderate people leave behind."
Why this place has become a favourite haunt of these people remains a mystery, said residents The New Paper spoke to.
There are no pubs or nightclubs in the area.
Said Mr Mahmud: "It's anyone's guess (why the transvestites congregate here). This is not Changi Village, where soliciting for such activities is common.
"Maybe they (the transvestites) are still here each night because nobody has made a complaint."
A spokesman for the Jurong Town Council confirmed that nobody had made a complaint.
Said general manager Ho Thian Poh: "We have not received feedback of any particular group causing nuisance or dirtying the surroundings of Block 490 Jurong West."
On Thursday, when The New Paper contacted the kindergarten's management, it said there was a noticeable build-up of rubbish near the bus stop, but said the littering near its premises "was no cause for alarm".
The area is cleaned before the students arrive, the school said.
The police said residents are advised to notify them whenthey see any suspicious activities in the vicinity.
A police spokesman said: "Police keep a close watch on the situation and will take the necessary action if criminal activities are detected."
Mr Rajan just wants the transvestite sex workers out.
"They (transvestites) are attracting the wrong type of people into the estate and giving the impression that it's all right for such activities here.
"As a result, we are losing our privacy."
Earlier transvestite nuisance in Changi
THIS is not the first time transvestites have ventured close to people's homes.
In April, The New Paper on Sunday reported that a group of them had chosen a quiet residential enclave in Changi to conduct their business.
Their presence upset residents along Upavon Road - a 10-minute drive from Changi Village bus terminal.
Each night, cars with fogged-up windows would briefly park outside residents' homes.
Neighbours complained about soiled tissue papers and used condoms littering the estate's roads.
One resident had told The New Paper then: "For goodness sake, please don't leave the aftermath for all to see by morning.
"There are many children cycling and playing hide-and-seek along this road in the daytime.
"Can you imagine how terrible it would be if they pick up the used condoms?"
The resident, a graphic designer, decided to take matters into her own hands.
She confronted suspicious cars that had entered the estate on three occasions.
While two of the drivers and their passengers left without incident, the third driver was more defiant.
The man, who looked to be in his 50s, engaged the resident in a shouting match.
He even tried to scare her by revving his car's engine, but he left soon after.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
