Few Singaporeans are aware of who the Bugis are as a people or their ethnic identity. Fewer would know that the Bugis were master seafarers from Sulawesi. Even those who had an idea about who the Bugis are associate them being pirates and usurpers. Between ignorance and negative perceptions, a curious reality exists. The Bugis are in fact a community of seafarers who once lived and traded in Singapore before the arrival of Raffles. All young Bugis men were encouraged to sail out in search of wealth and a better future. Their existence has spanned beyond 700 years in Singapore. Carried by monsoon winds, Bugis ships would come in by the hundreds from July until November and brought coffee, sandalwood, tortoiseshell, nutmegs, camphor, frankincense, and cotton to Singapore in exchange for other goods like tin and linen. Largely assimilated into the Malay community today, their unique culture still charms the hearts of our local communities in Singapore.