Article taken from Think Centre.
http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2408Is the writer naive or wat ?
Policy WatchSingapore: Sexual Prejudice At Its Absolute Worst
29 June 2004
On the one hand we are told in no uncertain terms by the government that chewing gum requires a permit (and registration), and on the other hand it is entirely legal and possible for an 18 year old to avail himself of the services of any one of the few hundred legal brothels located along the infamous Geylang district.
Singapore is one weird country. That thought ran through my mind as I gazed upon the Sunday edition [20 June 2004}of the Straits Times.
I am still trying to come to grasp with the subtle logic behind the mesh mash of policies implemented by the nanny state.On the one hand we are told in no uncertain terms by the government that chewing gum requires a permit (and registration), and on the other hand it is entirely legal and possible for an 18 year old to avail himself of the services of any one of the few hundred legal brothels located along the infamous Geylang district.
What gives? Where is the logic? Lets put all that aside and naively accept the official line towed by Singapore's law enforcement officers, that basically it is impossible to control the oldest profession in the world, so some control is better then no control in the noble interest of the general public.
But wait a second here, thereÂ’s more to this then meets the eye. Not content with micro-managing the sex lives of the citizens, SingaporeÂ’s law enforcement officers have also declared that street walking is outlawed. So whilst its perfectly legal to have a fling with a prostitute in a Geylang brothel, its a NO No if the same lady approaches you on a street outside the Brothel and invites you to intercourse in any one of the readily available motels located in the same street.
There is a hidden agenda in this mesh mash of haphazardly implemented laws.
1) The first obvious economic effect of the mesh mash of convoluted policies is that they have the net effect of creating a virtual monopoly on the sex trade in Singapore. Now this is starting to look vaguely familiar if we view the sex industry as simply another commercial venture.
Make no mistake there is huge money to be made in the gambling and sex industry and it is small wonder that it has remained the oldest profession in the world. And like any typical mafia boss, the powers from the havens want a piece of the action. Usually with a normal trade, the modus operandi is for the GLC/TLC to move in on the stakes and "unlevel the playing field."
But this is a rather delicate situation...No, Mr Lee and Ms Ho will not (and cannot) adopt the tried and proven formula: set-up another GLC/TLC to corporatise the sex trade. That's really not in keeping with the immaculately clean, virgin white uniform of the dominant party. So how do you have your cake and eat it, without getting your grubby fingers dirty?
Legalize the trade, and impose a tax on it. Make no mistake, the government has a direct stake in the set-up. Of cause the actual numbers are shrouded in secrecy but the amounts involved are substantive. Each working girl in the legitimized brothels can charge up to SGD150-SGD200 for 45 minutes of tender loving care. The figure can go up to SGD300 if the customer happened to be a foreigner who was not conversant with the house rates.
2) The flip side of the coin is that only ladies with permits are allowed to work in the legal brothels. The Anti-Vice squad maintains a daily log of each working girl as they have to log-in to their place of work and register each customer they bed. So it is possible to calculate right down to the dollar, the daily takings of each girl.
The girls typically originate from either Malaysia and Thailand. Now here's another mystery, why limit issue of permits to girls originating from only these two countries?
Again the ultimate effect is to create barriers to entry for other races (from eastern European countries and especially from Mainland China). The Anti-Vice squad conduct nightly raids on illegal streetwalkers (who also happen to be mainly China girls). The women are often chased and physically beaten by Singapore Law Enforcement officers, all in the noble name of cleaning of the streets. Never mind the minor fact that their legitimate counter-part is selling the very same product next door in a legal brothel.
In this respect we must really applaud Singapore's conscientious law enforcement officers. So dedicated are these virtuous gentlemen to their duties that they even saw it within their duties to avail themselves of the services of the very victims they were targeting. In the past years there have been several formal reports of law enforcement officers who have performed above and beyond their call of duty in this aspect.
So that then is how we end up with this unholy marriage of policies. The merits of the venture are determined solely on corporate business strategies. Moral values have no place and is rendered totally irrelevant in the final analysis.
In this case the final victims are of cause the street walkers who not have to pay a King's Ransom in getting protection money from their personal "Ma Fu" (the local equivalent of a pimp who is supposed to look out for them and warn them of police raids). The government owned media (Straits Times and Sunday Times) have also been roped in to churn out bad publicity regarding female Chinese migrants. Many of these women are here for legitimate factory jobs but have been marginalized by local Singapore women who deem them as husband snatchers.
To those of you who want to flame me because I am taking the side of the China hookers, please remember that the sex trade is already there and thriving in its legitimized form and any argument you wish to address to me can also be addressed to our dear PAP government.
It is indeed a sad day when Singapore's Ruling Elite are reduced to virtual pimps and living off the takings of the sex industry. My hats of to you folks. ThatÂ’s the government that you elected.
