Standing in Singapore's tranquil Esplanade Park, Russell Heng pointed to the spot where he was once caught by the police - just for being gay.

It looks like any other tree-lined corner in the city. But back in the 1980s, before the age of the internet and Grindr, it was a popular meeting spot for gay men in a country where homosexuality was effectively criminalised.

Nicknamed the Feet of Five Trees, the spot's towering raintrees provided cover and seclusion, recalled Mr Heng, a playwright and activist.

"We were roaming about that night. And then suddenly, there was a loud voice - a plainclothes policeman - who started shouting at us," he said.

The men were forced to line up in a row as the policeman fiercely berated them. "He said 'You should be ashamed of yourself'.

"We were just walking in the park," he said. "You felt psychologically that maybe you did something wrong… basically it was bullying."

For decades, Singapore's government preserved the controversial 377A law inherited from British rule, which banned sex between two men.

Authorities argued that it reflected Singapore society's view that homosexuality was not acceptable.

But last week its parliament repealed the law, just months after leader Lee Hsien Loong's surprise announcement they would scrap the ban because of changing attitudes.

The repeal of 377A turns the page on a dark chapter of Singapore history that is rarely talked about these days, where gay men not only faced intense social stigma but were even actively targeted by authorities.

Mr Heng and the other men at Esplanade Park that night were let off with only a warning. But others were not so lucky.

For several decades, the police would conduct so-called "anti-gay" raids on nightclubs that gay men were known to frequent, or cruising spots in beaches and parks.

Often this would include the controversial use of entrapment, where policemen would pose as gay men at popular meeting spots and promptly arrest anyone who engaged with them.

Standing in Singapore's tranquil Esplanade Park, Russell Heng pointed to the spot where he was once caught by the police - just for being gay.

It looks like any other tree-lined corner in the city. But back in the 1980s, before the age of the internet and Grindr, it was a popular meeting spot for gay men in a country where homosexuality was effectively criminalised.

Nicknamed the Feet of Five Trees, the spot's towering raintrees provided cover and seclusion, recalled Mr Heng, a playwright and activist.

"We were roaming about that night. And then suddenly, there was a loud voice - a plainclothes policeman - who started shouting at us," he said.

The men were forced to line up in a row as the policeman fiercely berated them. "He said 'You should be ashamed of yourself'.

"We were just walking in the park," he said. "You felt psychologically that maybe you did something wrong… basically it was bullying."

For decades, Singapore's government preserved the controversial 377A law inherited from British rule, which banned sex between two men.

Authorities argued that it reflected Singapore society's view that homosexuality was not acceptable.

But last week its parliament repealed the law, just months after leader Lee Hsien Loong's surprise announcement they would scrap the ban because of changing attitudes.

The repeal of 377A turns the page on a dark chapter of Singapore history that is rarely talked about these days, where gay men not only faced intense social stigma but were even actively targeted by authorities.

Mr Heng and the other men at Esplanade Park that night were let off with only a warning. But others were not so lucky.

For several decades, the police would conduct so-called "anti-gay" raids on nightclubs that gay men were known to frequent, or cruising spots in beaches and parks.

Often this would include the controversial use of entrapment, where policemen would pose as gay men at popular meeting spots and promptly arrest anyone who engaged with them.