https://thomasbenner.com/2014/02/18/little-indias-50-dollar-men-a-new-look/
$50 nia to fk s-hole of bangala! Singkee gay must continue support CECA for cheap s-holes to fk
Little India’s 50-dollar men: A new look
Published by Element Magazine, Feb. 18, 2014
By Tom Benner
Prostitution is legal in Singapore. Men looking to pay for sex with women can go to the red-light district in Geylang, or the shopping centre Orchard Towers, nicknamed the “Four Floors Of Whores”.
But male prostitution is a trickier proposition. For starters, it’s illegal for two men to have sex in Singapore – a homosexual act is punishable by up to two years in jail. There is no regulated industry, no legal sanction, for male prostitution.
It is an open secret that gay men go to Little India in the hopes of meeting other willing men, particularly young South Asian foreign workers looking for extra cash. A noted 2006 documentary by Channel NewsAsia exposed the popularity of Little India as a place to meet and pick up South Asian men.
The potential headlines made for a juicy, if sensationalised, story: “Homosexual prostitution in Singapore’s Little India” … “Migrant workers by day, male prostitutes by night” … “Going
for their families,” the presenter asked, “or are they looking for easy money for their own personal reasons?”
To its credit, the documentary took care to pixelate the faces of all non-crew individuals and interviewees. Sam, the undercover client, noted that while solicitation was going on out in the open among the passersby and shops of Little India, concluded: “Nobody noticed it. Only if you stand there and watch.”
But the results were inconclusive. The documentary had a hard time pinning down the scene, which blends into the hustle and bustle of Little India, and is far more nuanced than television viewers could know.
Last December’s riot involving migrant workers in Little India – and the subsequent crackdown on public gatherings and alcohol consumption and the increased security presence there – got us wondering about the 50-dollar men. Was the story still true? Were the 50-dollar men driven away?
Meet John (not his real name). He is a Singaporean by birth whose family came from South India, and a longtime patron of the so-called 50-dollar men. John agreed to show us around Little India and explain the gay male pickup scene on a recent Sunday, the day of the week when South Asians typically crowd into Little India by the tens of thousands on their one day off from work, to relax and socialize among friends.
John paints a far more subtle picture than what television viewers saw.
Standing in front of the Mustafa Center on Serangoon Road, John surveys the countless conversations going on among South Asian men. He can pick out the regulars, not all of whom are South Asian, who come on a regular basis to meet other men.
in real wages instead, the rest going to pay back the agent and bank.
Then he was injured, and the injury prevents him from working.
While he awaits an insurance settlement, which he hopes will be enough to travel back home for good, Naren still needs makan money, as he calls it, and he has to pay rent for the one-room flat he shares with two other people. And so he lingers on Serangoon Road in Little India, looking for opportunities to meet men who can help him out with spending money.
Naren says he needs S$600 to S$800-plus a month to get buy, which covers his $250 rent, money for makan, his phone card, cigarettes, and shopping. He sends money home to his family when he has extra.
Naren says he can meet older men in Little India who will buy him food or drinks, sometimes gifts, and pay him from less than $50 to up to $100 have their way with him. He says he has friends who resort to the same thing to make money.
Asked if he uses condoms, he says it is up to the customer – “If you wish,” he says he tells them. Young people do not talk about the risks of HIV or AIDS, he said.
Naren says he doesn’t regret the excitement of coming to a new country and meeting new people, but he wishes he were still working in his old job and making better money.
“I no gay,” he says of his time spent meeting older men in Little India. “I doing for survival.”
Back when the Channel News Asia documentary aired, Alex Au of the blog Yawning Bread criticized the lack of discussion about the financial straits of the so-called 50-dollar men – young men such as Naren today.
“The discussion was shallow and left many issues untouched,” he wrote. “ The mention of low pay and delayed wages almost begged for a more in-depth analysis of how such a situation -– evidently with a lot of misrepresentation between employers and agents on the one side and workers on the other -– is allowed to persist.”
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