Title: second geylang?
dinosor - June 18, 2004 01:46 PM (GMT)
They approach men openly
Chinatown shopkeepers worry about 'Second Geylang' image from the presence of bold China girls
By Tan Mae Lynn
PROSTITUTES have boldly taken to the streets of Chinatown. Even after two police raids within a week and 19 arrests, a few remain.
Last night, three women were spotted approaching men outside the Chinatown MRT station, discreetly asking whether they were interested in 'having fun'.
Shopkeepers in the area are worried.
A jewellery shop owner, who gave his name only as Mr Tan, claimed his business has dropped about 30 per cent over the last two months.
He said in Mandarin: 'My customers tell me they're afraid to come here. The women (customers) complain there are many dirty old men who will look at them from head-to-toe, front and back.
'The men are also afraid to come because they feel that if the women approach them and if their wives see it, they may misunderstand,' he said.
'It gives people a a very bad impression of the area. People may start to think this is a second Geylang.'
Shopkeepers we spoke to said the women from China started coming to the area about two months ago.
Mr S W Chang, a healthcare products shop owner, said in Mandarin: 'I hope they will go away soon because otherwise, in the long run, their presence will affect business.
IMAGE OF AREA AFFECTED
'It's not so good for the image of the area, and people may start to avoid coming here.'
When the police conducted two surprise checks in the vicinity last week, 19 women, all Chinese nationals, were arrested.
When The New Paper visited the MRT station, which is next to People's Park Complex, for a third time yesterday evening, there were women approaching men. But the scene was quieter than before the police raids on Wednesday and Sunday.
As early as 5.30pm last Tuesday, at least five women were seen standing alone outside the MRT station, as if waiting for someone. By 8pm, there were 10 of them.
Some of the women, who seemed to be in their 30s, told us were here on tourist passes.
They would pace up and down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to talk to middle-aged men.
If the men rejected them, they would look for other targets.
The women were quite discreet though, and generally they blended in.
Most were in jeans or trousers and blouses.
Unless you stopped to observe them, you may not have noticed them.
Several women were overheard asking men what they were doing, or if they were alone.
One man was heard asking a woman how 'business' was for the day. She was then seen walking off with him.
Most of them declined to be interviewed.
However, a few who spoke to us said they came to Singapore with the hope of making some money and returning.
They tend to seek older men as potential clients because they admit they are not as young and good-looking as the girls who work at night clubs here.
To them, Chinatown was a good hunting ground because there are usually many retirees who sit around the open space.
'They also are more willing to spend money,' one of the women said in Mandarin.
We trailed five couples over 90 minutes. One couple boarded a public bus. The rest went straight to a nearby budget hotel on Mosque Street.
The hotel rates, as indicated on a banner outside, were $40 for the night, or $15 for transit (one or two hours).
A passer-by who was approached by the women, Mr Ivan Neo, 25, said: 'As I was walking to the MRT station they smiled and asked me what I was doing. When I said I was going home, they asked, 'Want to have some fun?'
'I asked what they meant by that, they said 'have sex, for $50'.'
Mr Neo, who works in the area, said he takes the train from the Chinatown MRT station almost every day, and often sees the women approaching older men.
'But if you look at them a bit longer than usual or smile at them, they will come and ask you also,' he said, adding that he has never taken up any offer from the women.
When this reporter asked the older men who loitered around the area, most of them denied they had ever had sex with the girls or been approached by them.
One retiree in his 60s, who declined to give his name, said: 'They are very poor things. They try to find work manning stalls, or in restaurants but they can't get jobs.'
He added with a sigh: 'It's tough to survive these days.'
He said he had never had sex with them.
'We're just old men who come downstairs to chat with friends. After a while we go back home and sleep, that's all.'
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Police: 19 women nabbed last week
THE police confirmed that 19 women from China have been arrested for soliciting in the vicinity of People's Park Complex.
Ten of them were arrested on Wednesday afternoon, and the other nine on Sunday.
Of these, three have been charged and 11 have been repatriated.
The police are still investigating the remaining five women.
According to police statistics, 2,301 foreign women were arrested for 'vice activities' in Singapore last year, compared with 3,422 in 2002.
Police spokesman Karen Chen said: 'As a result of the police enforcement actions, the level of vice activities in Singapore is largely under control.'
While prostitution is not an offence in Singapore, soliciting is.
Any person who persistently loiters in a public place or solicits for the purpose of prostitution or any other immoral purpose, can be found guilty of an offence and can be fined up to $1,000.
If found guilty again, the person can be jailed for six months and fined $2,000.
Ms Chen said: 'Singapore has adopted a pragmatic solution (to prostitution and brothels) by confining prostitution to certain areas, and through enforcement against prostitutes who solicit in public, and pimps who force women into prostitution.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change of venue?
THE presence of prostitutes from China is not new. But until now, most have been confined to Geylang.
Last week, The Sunday Times reported that Chinese women were seen approaching elderly men in a coffeeshop on Geylang Lorong 23. The women were said to be enticed by their CPF pensions.
Their presence has made some brothels unhappy because they walk the streets and are able to negotiate their own rates.
Chinatown shopkeepers worry about 'Second Geylang' image from the presence of bold China girls
By Tan Mae Lynn
PROSTITUTES have boldly taken to the streets of Chinatown. Even after two police raids within a week and 19 arrests, a few remain.
Last night, three women were spotted approaching men outside the Chinatown MRT station, discreetly asking whether they were interested in 'having fun'.
Shopkeepers in the area are worried.
A jewellery shop owner, who gave his name only as Mr Tan, claimed his business has dropped about 30 per cent over the last two months.
He said in Mandarin: 'My customers tell me they're afraid to come here. The women (customers) complain there are many dirty old men who will look at them from head-to-toe, front and back.
'The men are also afraid to come because they feel that if the women approach them and if their wives see it, they may misunderstand,' he said.
'It gives people a a very bad impression of the area. People may start to think this is a second Geylang.'
Shopkeepers we spoke to said the women from China started coming to the area about two months ago.
Mr S W Chang, a healthcare products shop owner, said in Mandarin: 'I hope they will go away soon because otherwise, in the long run, their presence will affect business.
IMAGE OF AREA AFFECTED
'It's not so good for the image of the area, and people may start to avoid coming here.'
When the police conducted two surprise checks in the vicinity last week, 19 women, all Chinese nationals, were arrested.
When The New Paper visited the MRT station, which is next to People's Park Complex, for a third time yesterday evening, there were women approaching men. But the scene was quieter than before the police raids on Wednesday and Sunday.
As early as 5.30pm last Tuesday, at least five women were seen standing alone outside the MRT station, as if waiting for someone. By 8pm, there were 10 of them.
Some of the women, who seemed to be in their 30s, told us were here on tourist passes.
They would pace up and down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to talk to middle-aged men.
If the men rejected them, they would look for other targets.
The women were quite discreet though, and generally they blended in.
Most were in jeans or trousers and blouses.
Unless you stopped to observe them, you may not have noticed them.
Several women were overheard asking men what they were doing, or if they were alone.
One man was heard asking a woman how 'business' was for the day. She was then seen walking off with him.
Most of them declined to be interviewed.
However, a few who spoke to us said they came to Singapore with the hope of making some money and returning.
They tend to seek older men as potential clients because they admit they are not as young and good-looking as the girls who work at night clubs here.
To them, Chinatown was a good hunting ground because there are usually many retirees who sit around the open space.
'They also are more willing to spend money,' one of the women said in Mandarin.
We trailed five couples over 90 minutes. One couple boarded a public bus. The rest went straight to a nearby budget hotel on Mosque Street.
The hotel rates, as indicated on a banner outside, were $40 for the night, or $15 for transit (one or two hours).
A passer-by who was approached by the women, Mr Ivan Neo, 25, said: 'As I was walking to the MRT station they smiled and asked me what I was doing. When I said I was going home, they asked, 'Want to have some fun?'
'I asked what they meant by that, they said 'have sex, for $50'.'
Mr Neo, who works in the area, said he takes the train from the Chinatown MRT station almost every day, and often sees the women approaching older men.
'But if you look at them a bit longer than usual or smile at them, they will come and ask you also,' he said, adding that he has never taken up any offer from the women.
When this reporter asked the older men who loitered around the area, most of them denied they had ever had sex with the girls or been approached by them.
One retiree in his 60s, who declined to give his name, said: 'They are very poor things. They try to find work manning stalls, or in restaurants but they can't get jobs.'
He added with a sigh: 'It's tough to survive these days.'
He said he had never had sex with them.
'We're just old men who come downstairs to chat with friends. After a while we go back home and sleep, that's all.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Police: 19 women nabbed last week
THE police confirmed that 19 women from China have been arrested for soliciting in the vicinity of People's Park Complex.
Ten of them were arrested on Wednesday afternoon, and the other nine on Sunday.
Of these, three have been charged and 11 have been repatriated.
The police are still investigating the remaining five women.
According to police statistics, 2,301 foreign women were arrested for 'vice activities' in Singapore last year, compared with 3,422 in 2002.
Police spokesman Karen Chen said: 'As a result of the police enforcement actions, the level of vice activities in Singapore is largely under control.'
While prostitution is not an offence in Singapore, soliciting is.
Any person who persistently loiters in a public place or solicits for the purpose of prostitution or any other immoral purpose, can be found guilty of an offence and can be fined up to $1,000.
If found guilty again, the person can be jailed for six months and fined $2,000.
Ms Chen said: 'Singapore has adopted a pragmatic solution (to prostitution and brothels) by confining prostitution to certain areas, and through enforcement against prostitutes who solicit in public, and pimps who force women into prostitution.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change of venue?
THE presence of prostitutes from China is not new. But until now, most have been confined to Geylang.
Last week, The Sunday Times reported that Chinese women were seen approaching elderly men in a coffeeshop on Geylang Lorong 23. The women were said to be enticed by their CPF pensions.
Their presence has made some brothels unhappy because they walk the streets and are able to negotiate their own rates.
km80 - June 20, 2004 06:38 AM (GMT)
Too bad are illegal. Should have more legal prostitute place. West area have one, North area also have one... ;) More better, become a sex city... hahaha...
dinosor - June 20, 2004 06:44 AM (GMT)
west and north also have? where??
km80 - June 20, 2004 02:22 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (dinosor @ Jun 20 2004, 02:44 PM) |
| west and north also have? where?? |
No i mean govt should come out with some more. Only one which is geylang in singapore not enough... :no:
dinosor - June 20, 2004 02:25 PM (GMT)
geylang too many already.. may be not much business..
km80 - June 22, 2004 12:08 PM (GMT)
How you know? :xx:
dinosor - June 22, 2004 12:18 PM (GMT)
walk past ma.. then see some standing around ..
fishyman - June 23, 2004 02:15 AM (GMT)
When there's demand, there'll be a supply.
At least they are earning money without harming anyone. <_<
At least they are earning money without harming anyone. <_<
dinosor - June 23, 2004 05:06 AM (GMT)
yesterdae newspaper show again.. now they are at geylang pulling the "shao nian ke" rather than old ppl.. 10bucks will do.. really so bad business???
if u go at 6pm or so , u will see a lot coming out already..
if u go at 6pm or so , u will see a lot coming out already..
fishyman - June 23, 2004 07:14 AM (GMT)
10 bucks expensive leh...
can almost get 1 Goldline already :D
can almost get 1 Goldline already :D