AS you walk past the pub's entrance, its door opens slightly.
Women peer out and offer a familiar invitation: "Hey, handsome, want to have some fun? Come inside."
Sometimes the enticement is more aggressive - sexily dressed women pull men by their shirt sleeves.
These are not scenes from Bangkok's infamous Patpong district, known for its sex trade.
The action is much closer to home, in the Boat Quay area, near the heart of Singapore's business and tourism districts.
Some people are upset that sleaze is tarnishing what was once a "clean entertainment" area.
One executive, Ms Michelle Mak, said her company chose to set up its office there two years ago because of the charm that "Boat Quay offers as a quaint heritage area with its restaurants, bars and shophouses".
Now, some pubs on Circular Road are allegedly hiring freelance sex workers to attract male customers.
Said Ms Mak: "In the last six months, there has been a sudden influx of scantily-dressed call girls who blatantly parade outside several pubs.
"Their presence has created a general sense of sleaze around this area - you'd think it is a red-light district.
"In addition, the pubs also blast loud, thumping music from 5pm."
Two former pimps said the sleaze has invaded Circular Road because of the constant anti-vice raids at other locations known for raunchy nightlife.
Said Jason (not his real name): "When you flush out such activities from one area, they will go underground and eventually end up elsewhere."
Ms Noor Aisha, who works for The Design Society, an arts organisation in the area, has noticed the women on Circular Road since May.
She said she often sees them when she leaves her office in the evenings.
According to some tenants in the area, there are some 50 pubs on Boat Quay and Circular Road.
Some have an open concept and you can look into them from outside, while others have tinted doors and bouncers sitting outside. It's at the latter that the women congregate.
As early as 4.30pm, the women "call out to male passers-by and attempt to attract them with their provocative and skin-tight dresses", said Ms Mak.
Some even sit or squat with their legs open.
Added Ms Mak: "The situation is starting to disrupt our work and it's hard to concentrate with the noise from the street below...Our clients find it a distasteful experience to come to our office for meetings."
The owner of a large entertainment outlet near the city said Boat Quay and Circular Road could end up like Duxton Hill and Tanjong Pagar used to be.
Last week, The Straits Times reported that Duxton Hill, known for its sleazy nightspots, has been cleaned up after a police crackdown.
Jason, who is in his 30s, said that before moving to Duxton Hill and Tanjong Pagar, the women used to ply their trade in bars at Paramount shopping centre.
After police crackdowns in the two areas, some pub operators started venturing to the Circular Road area in the last two years, along with their entourage of foreign women,he said.
The women make their money by asking male customers to buy them ladies' drinks costing between $15 and$30.
While not officially hired by the pubs, there is said to be an understanding between the pub operators and the women,who receive a cut.
At two pubs The New Paper on Sunday visited, this seemed to be the arrangement. The women were seen filling out drinks order chits for the male customers.
Mr P Rajan, 29, a frequent pub-goer, said the women at these clubs are mostly well-behaved.
"If you tell them, they will leave you alone and not misbehave. There is nothing sexual...They make good conversationists," he said.
A Filipina, who gave her name as Belle, said that's what it looks like on the surface.
The more experienced girls make their money in other ways.
Belle, 21, who has been working at the bar for only two weeks, said: "There are some dark spots in the bar and with the smoke machine on, god knows what people do. They (the women) get tips from performing tricks."
Just a table away from where this reporter sat, a petite woman was performing a lap dance for a businessman, while at the bar counter, a Caucasian man was passionately kissing and groping a tall woman.
Some women would leave the bar with men after striking a deal and check into a hotel for the night, Belle said.
"What to do, I have to earn a living. I meet many types of men, some are gentlemen, others think they have the right to fondle our bodies."
Belle's colleague, Maria, said they were not allowed to loiter outside the bar or be seen too close to male customers in public.
The sight of a uniformed policeman would send them scampering back into the pub.
And the doors can be magnetically locked. Customers will not be able to enter or leave unless the bouncer, who scans the walkway through a slit on the door, deactivates the lock.
Not all business owners in the area are upset by the women.
Mr Mohd Rafi, who runs Maimon Nasi Padang, said the women's presence had helped his business. They often eat at his restaurant before work.
"I do not condone what the women do, but they attract men to come to this area. If not for the women, this place would have been a ghost town a long time ago."
But frequent anti-vice raids, which started about two months ago, seemed to have reduced the number of women, Mr Rafi added.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
Women peer out and offer a familiar invitation: "Hey, handsome, want to have some fun? Come inside."
Sometimes the enticement is more aggressive - sexily dressed women pull men by their shirt sleeves.
These are not scenes from Bangkok's infamous Patpong district, known for its sex trade.
The action is much closer to home, in the Boat Quay area, near the heart of Singapore's business and tourism districts.
Some people are upset that sleaze is tarnishing what was once a "clean entertainment" area.
One executive, Ms Michelle Mak, said her company chose to set up its office there two years ago because of the charm that "Boat Quay offers as a quaint heritage area with its restaurants, bars and shophouses".
Now, some pubs on Circular Road are allegedly hiring freelance sex workers to attract male customers.
Said Ms Mak: "In the last six months, there has been a sudden influx of scantily-dressed call girls who blatantly parade outside several pubs.
"Their presence has created a general sense of sleaze around this area - you'd think it is a red-light district.
"In addition, the pubs also blast loud, thumping music from 5pm."
Two former pimps said the sleaze has invaded Circular Road because of the constant anti-vice raids at other locations known for raunchy nightlife.
Said Jason (not his real name): "When you flush out such activities from one area, they will go underground and eventually end up elsewhere."
Ms Noor Aisha, who works for The Design Society, an arts organisation in the area, has noticed the women on Circular Road since May.
She said she often sees them when she leaves her office in the evenings.
According to some tenants in the area, there are some 50 pubs on Boat Quay and Circular Road.
Some have an open concept and you can look into them from outside, while others have tinted doors and bouncers sitting outside. It's at the latter that the women congregate.
As early as 4.30pm, the women "call out to male passers-by and attempt to attract them with their provocative and skin-tight dresses", said Ms Mak.
Some even sit or squat with their legs open.
Added Ms Mak: "The situation is starting to disrupt our work and it's hard to concentrate with the noise from the street below...Our clients find it a distasteful experience to come to our office for meetings."
The owner of a large entertainment outlet near the city said Boat Quay and Circular Road could end up like Duxton Hill and Tanjong Pagar used to be.
Last week, The Straits Times reported that Duxton Hill, known for its sleazy nightspots, has been cleaned up after a police crackdown.
Jason, who is in his 30s, said that before moving to Duxton Hill and Tanjong Pagar, the women used to ply their trade in bars at Paramount shopping centre.
After police crackdowns in the two areas, some pub operators started venturing to the Circular Road area in the last two years, along with their entourage of foreign women,he said.
The women make their money by asking male customers to buy them ladies' drinks costing between $15 and$30.
While not officially hired by the pubs, there is said to be an understanding between the pub operators and the women,who receive a cut.
At two pubs The New Paper on Sunday visited, this seemed to be the arrangement. The women were seen filling out drinks order chits for the male customers.
Mr P Rajan, 29, a frequent pub-goer, said the women at these clubs are mostly well-behaved.
"If you tell them, they will leave you alone and not misbehave. There is nothing sexual...They make good conversationists," he said.
A Filipina, who gave her name as Belle, said that's what it looks like on the surface.
The more experienced girls make their money in other ways.
Belle, 21, who has been working at the bar for only two weeks, said: "There are some dark spots in the bar and with the smoke machine on, god knows what people do. They (the women) get tips from performing tricks."
Just a table away from where this reporter sat, a petite woman was performing a lap dance for a businessman, while at the bar counter, a Caucasian man was passionately kissing and groping a tall woman.
Some women would leave the bar with men after striking a deal and check into a hotel for the night, Belle said.
"What to do, I have to earn a living. I meet many types of men, some are gentlemen, others think they have the right to fondle our bodies."
Belle's colleague, Maria, said they were not allowed to loiter outside the bar or be seen too close to male customers in public.
The sight of a uniformed policeman would send them scampering back into the pub.
And the doors can be magnetically locked. Customers will not be able to enter or leave unless the bouncer, who scans the walkway through a slit on the door, deactivates the lock.
Not all business owners in the area are upset by the women.
Mr Mohd Rafi, who runs Maimon Nasi Padang, said the women's presence had helped his business. They often eat at his restaurant before work.
"I do not condone what the women do, but they attract men to come to this area. If not for the women, this place would have been a ghost town a long time ago."
But frequent anti-vice raids, which started about two months ago, seemed to have reduced the number of women, Mr Rafi added.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
