Bugis

The Buginese people are an ethnic group - the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, in the southwestern province of Sulawesi, third largest island of Indonesia. The Austronesian ancestors of the Buginese people settled on Sulawesi around 2500 B.C.E. There is "historical linguistic evidence of some late Holocene immigration of Austronesian speakers to South Sulawesi from Taiwan" - which means that the Buginese have "possible ultimate ancestry in South China", and that as a result of this immigration, "there was an infusion of an exogenous population from China or Taiwan." Migration from South China by some of the paternal ancestors of the Buginese is also supported by studies of Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups. The Bugis in 1605 converted to Islam from Animism. Some Buginese have retained their pre-Islamic belief called Tolotang, and some Bugis converted to Christianity by means of marriage; but they have remained a minority.

Despite the population numbering only around 6 million, the Buginese are very powerful people and they have heavily influence the politics in the present day states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The current Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib and the current Vice President of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla are both Buginese.

Bugis+

Bugis+, pronounced as Bugis Plus and formerly known as Iluma, is a 10 storeyshopping mall which is 5 minutes walk from Bugis MRT station is located within the Bugis district of Singapore and opened its doors on March 28, 2009.

Building

Designed by WOHA, the facade of the mall plays with the theme of light and illumination, having high-tech features such as a light- and media facade designed by WOHA in conjunction with Berlin based media artists realities:united (German wiki site).

The "crystal mesh" facade envelops the convex part of the building and brightly lit billboards will scatter across its flatter sides, unlike those in the Times Square. Its theme was inspired by its proximity to arts venues and tertiary institutions.

History

The opening of Iluma in 2009, was greeted with much fanfare. However, after several months, tenants started complaining about the lack of patrons, even though it is located just beside the busy Bugis Street.

The management tried to draw in patrons by calling in international artistes such as David Archuleta and Trace Bundy. Despite their efforts, the mall still had low patronage and many tenants were forced to shut down their stores.

Bugis (disambiguation)

The Buginese People, or the Bugis, are an ethnic group of Austronesian ancestry that inhabit parts of Southeast Asia

Bugis may also refer to:

See also