http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,204359,00.html?
Business dives in Geylang restaurants, hotels and shops as strong police presence drive prostitutes off the streets
No women...
NO BUSINESS
By Andre Yeo
June 08, 2009
ELUSIVE: Geylang regulars say it's harder to find freelance prostitutes, like this streetwalker from China who used to prowl the red-light district.
WALK along the lorongs of Geylang at night nowadays and you may be amazed at how quiet they are.
Where these narrow streets once bustled with streetwalkers and their prospective clients, they are now often devoid of prostitutes plying their trade.
So what has made Singapore's main red-light district a pale shadow of its sinful self?
One version has it that both the working women and their customers are shying away because of an Aids scare.
Two Chinese newspapers had reported that a man who contracted Aids from his former girlfriend, a hostess turned prostitute, wanted to exact revenge by spreading it back to other prostitutes. (See report on facing page.)
But this claim is unverified and some people have rubbished it.
Action for Aids spokesman Lionel Lee said his people had not heard about this man.
Of more credence is talk of a police crackdown on the area, with their frequent anti-vice raids driving the prostitutes from the streets.
Some wondered if the raids had anything to do with the alleged Aids scare.
But Mr Peter Chan, 35, an insurance agent, felt the raids had nothing to do with that.
He said: 'It's been two months of raids already. Do you think it's so hard finding just two people with HIV?
'Maybe they want to clean Geylang up once and for all.'
When contacted, a police spokesman said the raids were part of their regular enforcement operations to keep such activities in check.
The New Paper on Sunday spent four hours in the red light areas of Geylang on Wednesday night.
While not exactly a ghost town, it was definitely quieter than when we were there on previous occasions - in 2002 when the streets were teeming with hundreds of men and streetwalkers from China, and last February when our reporter was propositioned seven times at 'Casino Alley'. In some lorongs, there was hardly a prostitute soliciting openly, and those at the coffee shops were mostly men on their own.
Just around a corner were a white van and car, each with the word 'POLICE' marked on the side.
And the constant refrain from businesses there was lamenting about how their cash registers have gone quiet, especially in the last two months since the police increased their presence.
Seven shops The New Paper on Sunday spoke to reported that business had fallen due to the police raids.
A sales assistant at a sex shop, Romance In The City, who wanted to be known only as Mr Toh, 37, said: 'We used to sell 40 packets of condoms a day. Now, less than 10.
'You can hear the ah peks asking their friends, 'What's happening? Bo char bo!' ('no girls' in Hokkien.)
'The coffee shops used to be packed at dinner time. Now finding a seat is easy.'
Drop by half
Mr Basheer Ahmad, 55, an employee at a 24-hour provision shop, also reported condom sales had fallen by half.
He added: 'Before, police only came once every three or four days. Now it's every day.
'No ladies, no people.'
A chambermaid at Chang Ziang Hotel in Lorong 15 said she used to clean 20 rooms a day a few months ago. Now, it's only five.
A receptionist there said that business had slumped by 70 per cent.
The prostitutes, it seems, are too busy running from the cops to be checking into hotels.
A waitress at Hong Kong Dim Sum, recounted how she saw a prostitute trying to flee from a plainclothes policeman on Tuesday night.
At Lao Xin Jiang BBQ Steamboat a few shops away, Madam Gao, 42, said business had dropped by 60 to 70 per cent.
She has worked as a waitress there for two years and had never seen Geylang this quiet. Men used to go there with girls in groups of six or seven and spent $200 to $400 each time, she said.
Now, she said she's more likely to see women in full flight than full tables.
Speaking in Mandarin, she said: 'It's total chaos when they run. They risk their lives by running recklessly into oncoming traffic from all directions trying to escape from the police.'
At 10 pm, her shop was deserted with only one table occupied.
Mr Eric Chong, 22, a salesman at handphone shop V2 Collection, said business was down by more than half.
He said: 'The uncles used to buy $1,000 handphones and phone cards for the girls. Now there's none of that.'
Residents, on the other hand, are happy that the estate is now safer to live in.
Madam Teo Chua Seng, 72, a retiree, said Geylang was 'chaotic' and 'dirty' with litter and used bottles everywhere previously.
She said in Mandarin: 'At least it's quieter now, without all those rowdy drunks.'
Madam Lim Ah Hee, 65, another retiree, approved of the police raids. The illegal prostitutes, she said, were 'a bad influence' on her children.
And young women like Miss Lim Yi Wen, 16, a student, felt 'safer' now that they can walk down the streets without men ogling them.
But an elderly female resident, who has lived in Geylang for more than 20 years, felt the area has lost its flavour and vibrancy.
Declining to be named, she said: 'It's boring now. Without the girls, people won't come. All the businesses are closing earlier.'
Ironically, the happiest people in Geylang are the brothel operators.
Mr Ang, 48, a pimp at a brothel in Lorong 8, said in Mandarin: 'Of course we like the raids.
'Now that customers can't find girls outside, they come to us. Business has improved by about 20 per cent.'
- additional reporting by Han Yongming, newsroom intern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Aids scare the cause?
ARE the streetwalkers shying away because of an Aids scare?
Last month, Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao reported that a property agent had contracted the disease from his former China girlfriend, a hostess turned prostitute.
And he wanted to take revenge by spreading it to others by frequenting the streetwalkers in Geylang.
The reports quoted a man who claimed to be the agent's cousin.
1 MONTH AGO
THINNED OUT: The Geylang traffic as seen from the overhead bridge betweeen Lorong 16 and 21.
Contacted by The New Paper on Sunday, the man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Chen, claimed his cousin had no idea his former girlfriend had been prostituting herself.
He said the couple met at a KTV lounge near Shenton Way last November, where she worked as a hostess.
'We could see that he was serious about their relationship. It was his first relationship in nine years. Before that, he'd been going out with a Singaporean girl,' Mr Chen said.
'The China girl looked quite demure and he trusted her when she told him he was her only man.
'At first, they used condoms, but after a while he trusted her and they had unprotected sex.'
According to Mr Chen, his cousin started quarrelling with his girlfriend about two months ago. And she left him.
He looked pale and complained about not being able to control his bowels. His gums were also bleeding.
After a check-up in Johor Baru, his worst fears were confirmed. He was HIV-positive.
Said Mr Chen in Mandarin: 'He used to be a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.
'But about two months ago, when I saw him looking glum, I kept asking him why. At first he wouldn't talk.
3 DAYS AGO --TNP PICTURES: NG XI JIE, MOHD ISHAK
'Then he finally told his best friend and I that she had given him Aids.'
Mr Chen said he and the friend tried to dissuade his cousin from spreading HIV, but he later resigned from his job and has been uncontactable since.
Spreading HIV to others is a crime. According to the law, people who have sex despite knowing that they are HIV-positive can be fined up to $10,000, or jailed for up to two years, or both.
-Han Yongming, newsroom intern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ON GUARD: Police car and van next to the Shell station at Lorong 18.
What the police say
A police spokesman said regular enforcement operations are conducted to keep such activities in check. They arrested 5,047 foreign women islandwide for vice-related activities in 2008, as compared with 5,402 arrests in 2007.
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Police mount big anti-vice op in Geylang</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Jun-1 6:59 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 21) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>14371.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory200906011608-65076.html
