SHE returned from an 18-day all expenses paid "working" trip to
the US just two weeks ago.
Yesterday, she set off for another "working trip" - a one-week
trip to Saudi Arabia.
When she is not jet-setting, the 26-year-old Chinese Singaporean
works part-time as a therapist in a hotel spa.
Or, models for editorial photos in women's and lifestyle
magazines.
But Uma - as she is popularly known - prefers her "other" job as
a social escort.
As she puts it: "I get to travel and make money at the same
time."
Even though the tall and attractive woman can easily apply to be
a flight stewardess or turn full-time model,Uma prefers the short
cut to riches.
Take for example, the trip to the US. She was paid $26,000
(after the agency cut) in cash and nearly $11,000 for shopping
expenses.
For the Saudi Arabia trip, Uma will earn $15,000 after the
agency's 35 per cent cut.
But the job is not so rosy and comes with risks, admitted Uma,
who spoke to The New Paper on Sunday on condition that we use only
her escort name.
Precisely what a Hong Kong-based woman, Ms Di Di, 36, found out
recently when she agreed to be an overseas social escort to a
Singaporean here who allegedly promised to pay her 200,000 yuan
(S$38,000) for three days of her service in Singapore.
But the man disappeared after they had sex without paying her,
she claimed.
Worse, the two got into a scuffle and Ms Di Di hurt herself.
While Uma counts herself lucky for not having had such an
encounter, she has heard of others who did.
"It all depends on how 'insured' you are," she added, in fluent
English.
By that, she means the social escort agencies they work
with.
Said Uma: "As escorts, we won't usually know who our clients are
until we turn up at the designated point of meeting.
"Our managers are the ones who screen the clients, take on the
assignments and send us to them."
While some escorts accept private assignments, Uma prefers to
let an agency handle her bookings.
This, even though the agency can take a cut of up to 40 per cent
of the fee.
She said: "I prefer not to take the risk, and because I work at
the spa, it's inconvenient sometimes to answer calls."
She gets an average four local assignments a week - typically,
they require her service for a few hours a day.
At least one of the clients is a regular.
Uma said "role-playing" is vital.
Clients hire escorts for companionship, or "you can act as an
interpreter or even role-play as a personal assistant", she
explained.
For overseas assignments, once the agency has cleared the client
and they are linked up, Uma said: "We're on our own".
She claimed that she had a "sister" (industry slang for those
working together) who was so badly abused by a client that she was
hospitalised for nearly a week.
It was a case of rough sex gone wrong.
In the end, the matter was privately settled after the agency
intervened on the victim's behalf to seek compensation.
Uma also knows of some who have contracted sexually transmitted
diseases, which is why some escorts, such as Pond, 23, claimed they
don't offer sex.
She could easily pass off as a college student with her petite
and child-like demeanour.
"I'm in this because of the quick bucks, but it's not worth it
if I catch any sexually-transmitted disease," said Pond, who was
lured into the trade three years ago.
For the love of branded bags
Pond, who has a private secretary's diploma, said she earns
$1,800 a month in her day job as a telemarketer - not enough to
feed her love for travelling and branded bags.
She claimed that even without the "extra services", she can
easily make $5,000 a month.
The earnings double during "peak seasons" such as when there's
an event held here or during festive occasions.
For those who offer sex, overseas assignments or clients are
preferred for the sake of anonymity. Ling, 30, is anexample.
She told The New Paper on Sunday: "Sex is an 'under-the-table
arrangement - out of the agency's purview."
But times are not as good for her now, said Ling, who has been
working as a freelance escort for about six years.
Ling said: "I used to get about one overseas job every two
months, but I've only had one assignmentthis year."
That was a five-day trip to Germany with a Singaporean- Chinese
businessman.
She was picked as she speaks German and English.
Her client ended up sealing the million-dollar contract.
Said Ling: "He was so happy that he gave me a thank-you red
packet of $3,888."
This was on top of the $12,000 she had picked up for the
trip.
Escorts who accompany clients overseas don't usually share
rooms, though some may, if extra service is in the contract.
Both Uma and Ling said that some clients may even require them
to arrive separately for discretion.
Uma added: "Sometimes, depending on the number of days engaged,
we may either arrive later or depart earlier."
What the escorts look forward to are the pockets of free
time.
Ling said: "That's when we really enjoy ourselves, doing
whatever we want."
Uma, who has a diploma in business administration, intends to
run an online business - possibly in fashion -when she retires, say
in two years.
She said: "It's a very practical (industry), where one has an
expiry date."
So Uma, who is the sole breadwinner in her family, makes it a
point to save at least half of the fees she makes from every
job.
Overseas assignments aside, her average monthly earnings from
the other bookings can go up to $12,000 in a good month.
A far cry from the $1,500 she earns a month as a therapist.
Her mother, a housewife, does not now what Uma does. She has not
seen her father since he walked out on the family when she was
nine.
Flexibility of working hours was also one reason that first
attracted Uma,whose younger brother, 21, is mentally-
subnormal.
Said Uma: "Mama has her hands full in taking care of my brother.
Sometimes, it can be very trying for her especially when he flies
into a tantrum and starts attacking even strangers."
When that happens, she has to put aside everything she is doing
and dash home to her mother.
But, said Uma: "My family background is no excuse for what I
do."
When Uma has to travel, she tells her mother that it's for
work.
She said: "For me, it's just a job. I don't dwell on whether
it's morally right or wrong.
"For that matter, I don't have sex with all my clients, so there
are times when the service I provide is clean."
Generous - and appreciative - clients add to the "perks" of the
job for Uma, who has travelled to Paris, London, Vancouver,
Toronto, Belgium, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Beijing,
Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Her recent trip to New York was to accompany her client to a
convention.
She was given two days off, when she went on the shopping spree
that was paid for by the client. But not every client is this
generous,Uma said.
"It's only because he (the particular client) is a regular (for
more than three years) and we've sort of developed some affection
for each other to a certain extent," she added.
Uma declined to give more details about the client, except that
she knows he is "married with three young kids".
But she dismissed the possibility of having a long-term affair
with him.
Uma said: "It's one thing to have an affection and another to be
committed. This is the real world - it's highly impossible that the
client will fall in love with his escort."
Uma was initially reluctant to say if they had sex, but later
admitted they had protected sex only on one night.
Given the nature of her job, Uma said she also accepted that she
would likely not settle down.
All three past relationships failed each time after she came
clean about her job.
Said Uma: "None of them could accept what I do. And I accept
that. But I would rather they heard from me than to find out from
someone else.
"So yes, this job comes with a price to pay."
This article was first published in The New Paper.
