Singapore allows women from Malaysia, Thailand and China to work here as prostitutes. In order to control the spread of STDs and AIDS, the women have to go for health talks and health check-up including blood test regularly. And with the threat of H1N1 in the past months, the women had to take their temperatures before they could start work for the day.
In some countries prostitution is illegal but in reality prostitution is thriving and is controlled by secret societies and gangs. But in Singapore, the brothels operate with permission of the authorities. You don’t have to worry about being threatened, harassed or fleeced.
The risk of men getting STDs from the women is also not high. No need to ask the women ‘don’t use condom can or not’. Cannot. It is compulsory!
All this is uniquely Singapore.
However, if you are a tourist brought to a Geylang brothel by a taxi-driver, the brothel owner will charge you more. If you go alone, I think some brothel owners will still charge you more. If a ‘friend’ brings you there, it depends on whether the ‘friend’ has make arrangements with the brothel for kickback. They could also introduce to you a prostitute in the $100 category and tells you she is $200. They will tell the prostitute to say she is $200 but she will not get any extra money.
Registered China prostitutes in Geylang
The influx of China women (both in the $150 and $80 categories) in the authorized brothels is affecting the earnings of the Malaysian prostitutes. A number of prostitutes in the $150 category have not returned to work and I was told some in the $80 category have moved to Jalan Besar. The China women are generally younger and fairer.
In several brothels the number of China prostitutes is more than 10 and increasing. A brothel-keeper said 20 is the maximum for a brothel. This is good news for the men because they have new women to try but bad for the women themselves. Even those prostitutes with regular customers will find their men also want to try the new prostitutes.
With more China prostitutes in the authorized brothels and fewer on the street, many men who used to call the China streetwalkers are going for the registered prostitutes now. All this means good business for the brothel owners.
Some of the prostitutes I spoke to have set their own targets – S$20,000, S$50,000, S$100,000 ... Some just want to earn a tidy sum and go home to do some small business, to buy a house or a better life for the family. If the brothels continue to take in more women, it would be more difficult for them to reach their targets. Most of them don't intend to stay for two years. In fact, some of those with poor business have left after a few weeks or even just a few days .
One brothel owner has moved to bigger premises with more rooms. A few have renovated or are renovating their premises. A brothel owner said the AV authority may allow several more brothels to be opened. Doesn’t all this mean business is expected to improve.
One reason for their optimism is the opening of the Integrated Resorts in the near future. More tourists are expected and some of them who have heard much about Geylang might want to try the prostitutes. Some gamblers might come over to Geylang for pleasures of women after their thrills at the casinos.
The Streetwalkers
The police are still industriously patrolling the streets and catching the streetwalkers. I think the authorities want to clear up the streets before the IRs open. When the police take a break some prostitutes will come out and try to get some business. There are more of them between 4am and 6am.
I love the prostitutes and I empathize with them, but I do not wish to see hordes of them on the streets. First, it gives a bad image of our Country. Second, if the police are not strict, more will be encouraged to come. Then, there will be more gambling stalls and more peddlers of sex drugs and cigarettes.
I have also seen an officer grabbing a woman by the hair. It doesn't look right for a man to do that, I thought. Later I saw a young woman dashing across the busy road to escape. Luckily she didn't get killed. I realized that some of the women can be very fierce. And you cannot grab their bodies. If you try to grab their hands, the desperate ones might scratch or bite you. So, I suppose grabbing the hair is a way of restraining them.
Actually some women are not afraid of being arrested. One of them told me it was ok for her. She won't be jailed and she knows she won't be abused at the police station. She might even be allowed to walk the street for a few more days before being sent home.
