Singapore Sleaze
As a scene of unzippered sordidness this should be a
contender for the AVN (Adult Video News) awards, also known as the Porn Oscars
- except it was real life.
At dusk in an open lane alongside a busy restaurant and
well-lit road, the meat market was being stocked – a regular event.
Four women, who might once have been young, shuffled into
line and stared through the crowd. They
wore the standard uniform - stilettos, tiny skirt and tinier blouse. Before them their pimp vigorously spruiked
their physical virtues to the ogling men. In case they couldn’t understand his language
he raised three fingers, then circled the thumb and forefinger. S$30 (Rp
275,000) for a session.
Some red-light spot in San Francisco or Sydney’s King’s
Cross? Maybe Amsterdam’s notorious De
Wallen district where girls pose in shop windows? Or could it be Bangkok’s Soi
Cowboy?
No, all those sex centers are too dignified. This one’s base and coarse, yet it’s in prim,
clean, image-conscious Singapore, the heartland of Asia’s conservative moral
values where failing to flush a public WC will get you a S$500 (Rp 4.6 million)
fine.
The little red dot where the media is controlled, where
graffiti vandals get whipped and chewing gum is banned, is also the center of
sleaze.
You won’t find the wares and whores of Geylang listed in the
splendid brochures handed out by the Singapore Visitors’ Center, though by
chance we found the area through a tourist promotion officer at Changi Airport.
We’d arrived late, missed flights and had no prior booking.
“I could get you into Geylang,” he said hesitantly, trying to gauge the likely
reaction, “but it’s the red light area.”
“But is it safe?” asked my wife.
“Of course,” he bristled.
“This is Singapore.”
That was more than a decade ago and we’ve used the suburb’s
hotels on every trip since, finding them clean, convenient, well-located
between two MRT (subway) stops just a few minutes ride to the upscale
attractions, like museums and galleries.
It’s also surrounded by restaurants. No posh waiters to call
you ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ as they shake out your serviette, only sweating girls
in shorts and bum belts pointing at pictures
on greasy menus; but the food is plentiful, good value and absolutely
authentic.
However Geylang is no longer quite so secure, according to Police
Commissioner Ng Joo He, since last December’s riots in Little India, a suburb
just five kilometers distant. The first major public disturbance in the city
state since 1969, the riot followed a fatal traffic accident, and involved 300
migrant laborers trashing emergency vehicles.
A Straits Times
report of the Committee of Inquiry into the mayhem revealed the situation in
Geylang is now a bigger concern.
“If Singaporeans are
irked by the littering, the noise and the jaywalking in Little India they’ll
certainly and quickly sense that there exists a hint of lawlessness in
Geylang,” Commissioner Ng said.
Police statistics appear to uphold his claim. Last year 135
serious crimes were reported in Geylang (including ‘outrage of modesty’) compared
with 85 in Little India, while the number of public order offences was double.
Yet none of this deters the tourists seeking relatively cheap
rooms rather than participating in the
street services. Some, elderly folk and
those with children, have clearly not googled Geylang in depth.
Reality hits while filling in forms and having passport
details copied by the smartly uniformed hotel receptionists. As the procedures drag on couples with no
luggage hand over S$20 (Rp 185,000) bills, grab a key and bolt for the lift, no
questions asked.
There’s so much to see in Geylang, and it’s non-stop. You won’t encounter Dior or Chanel here, but
the stores sell most things found in Orchard Road, though the brands won’t be
familiar.
Though a new regulation now prohibit alcohol sales between 2
am and 6 am the streets stay busy, and open-front coffee shops keep trading. Passersby
flop into plastic chairs, dribble their way through soft-boiled eggs and rice
porridge, then doze off hangovers till
the fridge is unlocked.
Along with the prostitutes, mainly Chinese who rarely speak
English, there’s a resident population of pensioners who spend their time exchanging
banter with the girls between jobs.
These old men sleep in nearby rooms but spend their days in
the cafes reminiscing of virilities lost while nursing S$6 (Rp 55,000) Tigers. The local bottled beer is twice the price of
its Indonesian equivalent.
The old fellows’ days are numbered, not through police
harassment but because Geylang is being gentrified. The colonial era buildings, including the
curious blocks with curved concrete outside staircases, are being smashed down
to build more hotels and apartments.
The men who do this work, mainly Tamils and Bangladeshis,
wander Geylang in large numbers, picking their way through the sidewalk trade
in bootleg cigarettes, video porn and drugs that are supposed to enhance men’s
performance.
The law says such medicines can only be dispensed by
registered chemists handling doctors’ prescriptions.
The law prohibits pornography and tobacco sales outside
registered shops. It’s illegal to
solicit for sex, but any man alone in Geylang (or even with his wife) can
expect to be sleeve-plucked and invited to negotiate for the services of his
choice.
The police say they now deploy five squad cars in Geylang
every weekend though blue uniforms are rarely seen. Presumably they are busy elsewhere
sniffing out unflushed toilets.
Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower says the total foreign
workforce is now more than 1.3 million, with around a quarter working in the
construction industry. These are mainly single
young men who find freedoms in Singapore they’d never encounter back on the
sub-continent.
Without outlets for their passions it’s reasoned that they’d
tend to violence, so minor infractions are overlooked lest heavy handedness
causes friction.
Those who step out of line lose their jobs, are blacklisted and on the
next Boeing leaving Changi. After the
Little India riot 55 men were deported. That tends to ensure some respect for
the law.
Despite Commissioner Ng’s anxieties we’ll continue to use
Geylang till the new hotels push prices into the stratosphere. By then the district will be dead, its sunset
folk dispersed, the girls back in Shanghai and Geylang just another boring
suburb in an emasculated Lion City.
DETAILS
Accommodation prices vary depending on whether there’s a
convention in town. Rack rates start
around S$150 (Rp 1.4 million) not including tax or breakfast, but Internet
prices can be below S$100.
The rooms are small and poor value when compared to prices
in Javanese cities, but usually clean, secure and well maintained.
Most of the foods familiar to Indonesians can be found in Geylang;
Westerners who fumble chopsticks will have to adapt or go hungry. S$15 will get
you a spectacular feed served on a chipped laminate-top.
Metered taxis from the airport cost under S$20 and take
about 30 minutes. It’s more fun and
cheaper at S$2.40 (Rp 22,000) to take
the MRT direct to Aljunied or Kallang.
(First published in The Jakarta Post 12 September 2014)
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