Article taken from Think Centre. 
http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2408
Is the writer naive or wat ?
Policy Watch
Singapore: 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, theres more to this then meets the eye.
Not content with micro-managing the sex lives of the citizens,
Singapores 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. Thats the government that you elected.
