Breaking News:
Former CEO of Ren Ci, Rev Shi Ming Yi, has been sentenced to 10 months jail for fraud. (AFP)
Ravi Philemon
Ms Kaelbel-Sheares is looking forward to serving the rich and famous at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) as its director of Paiza (MBS’ club for premium players) and VIP (food and beverage).
She recounted an incident when she was the director of butler service at Las Vegas Sands’ The Venetian and The Palazzo resorts, when a hotel guest wanted to throw a party with bar service and a deejay for 40 friends – within half an hour. In such places, money is no obstacle – and money is what everyone is there for.
Anyone who has ever been to Las Vegas understands that prostitution is part of the culture in “Sin City”. Anywhere big money, like what is found in Las Vegas, is involved, those looking to make a quick buck will flock to it. This is not limited to men but also to women. .
It is highly likely that major prostitution rings which feed off the casino entertainment industry will make use of the fact that Singapore is the most wired nation in the world – with broadband penetration rate hitting 99 percent here – to set-up highly sophisticated but shady businesses which will thrive here.
As far back as 2001, a saleswoman in Chinatown told Agence France Presse (AFP) that every weekend she sees “China-born girls, all dressed-up, going to the KTV lounge upstairs with old uncles in their 50s and 60s”. A China-born student allegedly told AFP in the same report that Singapore men are like passports to a better life.
In 2004, there were reports of women being involved in vice activities in an effort to financially support their children’s studies in Singapore schools, with dozens being arrested in police raids at massage parlours and foot reflexology centres.
Then in 2007, the evening Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported the story of online advertisements appearing on MediaCorp’s classifieds website, mocca.com, of female students masquerading as escorts to offer sexual services.
One need not be diligently seeking to find Cecilia at Singapore Model Escort, who is touted as a “beauty with a brain (and) an undergraduate student”. Her going rate is $1000 per hour.
The ease of anonymous advertising offered by the internet will fuel the explosion of prostitution. Posting low or no- cost ads on services like sammyboyforum and Hi5, prostitutes no longer have to walk the dark, red-lighted, back alleys.
If The Ridge’s (a National University of Singapore Students’ Union publication) report on the liberal attitude of the undergraduates towards sex is taken into account, with the trend towards promiscuity and an unquenchable thirst for materialism, the student sex trade, facilitated via the internet, should come as no surprise.
Although some students resort to selling sex because of their personal debts, most young people are not poor. They just want money to buy things.
Casinos will always try to sexy-up their entertainment to ensure that the gambling dollars don’t walk out of their doors. As for the party-tourist, he expects prostitution and sits in the casino bars all day looking for it. They will also surf the net to find women who offer such services conveniently.
It’s all a simple economic equation, demand equals supply. Someone will find a way to provide what people want. Who cares if they are mere students.
——
@46: ‘honest living’ aiding the cheating of another.
The sex trade has already started in a secret enclave in Sentosa. Filthy rich people have started visiting the ‘special hotel’ for a fling, enjoying themselves with specially-catered ‘services’.
My friend, who is a security consultant, had told me of such happenings. One recent case happened just before the APEC Meetings went like this:
One filthy rich dirty old Arab even wanted to have a go at a young PRC Chinese girl, employed as a chamber maid, who is quite pretty but decent. According to my friend, this dirty old man seemed to have molested that chamber-maid girl. She then ran out of the room crying, and happened to meet my friend who was doing some checks around at that time. My friend asked her why she was crying. She then explained the whole situation to my friend. My friend then went into the room to tell that filthy rich dirty old man off – explaining to him politely that the girl was not for sale (sex), and if he wanted sex, there are people who can provide him with. That dirty old man was furious for being ticked off. He wanted to lodge a complaint against my friend. My friend told him that there are house rules in place, and subtly counter-threatened him that he would expose his secret flings to the whole world if he did complain. Then that filthy rich old Arab backed down his threat.
I wonder how many of these gross misdemeanors are going on in the shady places of the high society of the filthy rich and cowardly powerful. How many innocent girls are being forced into the sex trade? How many families have suffered the agony and irony of pain and the need for survival?
@52
The reason sex industries are “shady” in certain countries is because it is either that professional sexual services are prohibited, or that there is no clear “policy” which makes it legal.
Compare the US and Canada: In the US, prostitution is illegal. In Canada it is legal. In the US it is “shady” and in Canada — although still discreet on the individual level — it is out in the open (relatively speaking).
If professional sexual services were made clear, misunderstandings like you mentioned would decrease. I doubt if it will disappear — it is not uncommon to find that rich men from male-dominant cultures assume that their money can buy anything — especially when they are in a foreign port, far away from the prospect of social ostracism which would probably make them think twice before behaving like a sexist boor at home.
43) Matilah_Singapura,
i agree with you. willing buyer willing seller, i don’t see the problem unless the prostitute is underaged or coerced into the business.
They ask you (O (Prophet) concerning wine and gambling. Tell them: “There are grave sins in both, although there are (some) benefits (also)for the mankind. However, the sin (and the harm incurred)by them is greater than their benefits.’ And they ask\you concerning what is it that they should spend. Tell them, ‘That which is in surplus.’ Thus does Allah make, clear His commandments in order that you may consider (all aspects). (Surah Baqarah 2:219)
Chinese loves to gamble. If you don’t operate a casino in Singapore, the people can always go somewhere else.
if u just go to the web n search, u will be shock at how many of the singapore teens r freelancing(prostitution) and of cos from 1 of the famous site, u can see the pimps marketing the local teens. u will be shocked to know the exact numbers of local teens offering service. ANd many of them cite the reason for doing it is to pay for their private degree. So probably, if u r getting a wife, make sure she’s not from a private school.