CONFESSIONS OF A GEYLANG MAMA SHOP MAN
TARTY WOMEN COME AND GO AT THE STORE IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT.
WHEN BUSINESS IS SLOW IN THE AFTERNOONS, SOME OF THEM EVEN OFFER
HIM SERVICES AT TEMPTING RATES
By Joyce Lim
IS this the best job in the world, or the hardest?
This store attendant, who only wants to be known as Mr Chai, works
in a mamashop right in the middle of Geylang's red light
district.
The 72-year-old told The New Paper on Sunday that he faces a daily
battle with temptation as he sees prostitutes go in and out of the
convenience store.
He works for one of the two mamashop stores along Westerhout Road,
and the majority of his customers are pimps and prostitutes who
work in the area. They go to his store to stock up on condoms,
cigarettes and drinks.
Some prostitutes - 'young, beautiful and dressed up glamorously
like celebrities' in his words - try to make another sort of
business deal with Mr Chai while they're there.
The bachelor confessed that he has had young beautiful prostitutes
offering him a good deal at $30 for a session.
'They like to wear short skirts to the store, some of them try to
start a conversation with me,' said Mr Chai in Mandarin.
'They told me that I can play with them slowly. But I'll usually
tell them nicely that I am not interested.
'These offers usually come in the afternoons when there are not
many customers around.'
The persistent ones wait for the frail old man to knock off at 10pm
and approach him again with their offers.
'Once there was a prostitute who offered me sex with her in
exchange for cigarettes and drinks. I told her no because I am not
the boss,' recalled Mr Chai, shaking his head.
But the real reason why Mr Chai rejected these prostitutes
repeatedly is because he is afraid of contracting sexual diseases
from them.
'There are many who do not have the proper licences to work as
prostitutes and I don't know if they also go for regular health
checkups,' said Mr Chai who earns $26 a day for his work.
'So even though I'm a bachelor, I don't pay to have sex with them.
I won't know who has the licence to operate and who does not.
'My salary of $26 is also not enough to pay them. They charge a
minimum of $30, of which $5 goes to rental for the room.'
However Mr Chai admitted that many times he has had to fight hard
with himself to resist the temptation.
He added that he has noticed many decent-looking, well-dressed
young men going to Geylang for prostitutes. It is no longer old
haggard-looking prostitutes serving old men.
He tries to fight the temptation by not talking to the prostitutes
for too long when they go to his store, and he has a rule of
strictly no physical contact.
Mr Chai has been working at the convenience store, owned by an
Indian couple, for close to four years.
Every day, he takes a bus from his home in Serangoon Road to
work.
His working hours are from noon to 10pm.
Police raids
According to Mr Chai, business has been bad lately as the
authorities conduct regular raids in the area.
'Sometimes the police come in the day and night,' said Mr Chai who
has witnessed countless police raids and catfights among the
working girls.
'During raids, those illegal prostitutes would run like it was life
and death for them. A few of them had even dashed into the store to
take cover before.
'In the past, I didn't know what to do when they dashed into the
store. Now, I chase them out as my boss said we could get into
trouble,' added Mr Chai.
As he talked, a long-haired prostitute, who looked like she was in
her late 20s, walked into the store in an oversized tanktop with
her huge and braless breasts almost spilling out.
Mr Chai sold her a pack of cigarettes and stole a few glimpses at
her chest.
When she left, he grinned: 'Look only, no need to pay.'
Source: NP
