I wonder if this is good news or bad news to the chiong kahs?
As Vietnam develops, sex workers there are dealing with changing social attitudes towards their profession.
For Vietnamese sex workers like Do Thi Oanh, being caught touting used to carry a long stint in forced "rehabilitation". But as fines replace detention, many detect a shifting attitude towards the world's oldest profession.
In 2008, Ms Oanh was sent to one of Vietnam's notorious rehabilitation camps on the outskirts of Hanoi, joining hundreds of prostitutes and drug addicts detained without trial for taking part in a "social evil".
The 32-year-old was held for 18 months in the centre where detainees worked for free raising poultry, gardening or making handicrafts. Last year, Vietnam replaced compulsory rehab for sex workers with fines of between US$25 (S$32) and US$100, releasing hundreds of people from centres across the country.
Ms Oanh, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said the legal move points to a wider liberalising attitude towards sex work in the country.
"I think society today is much more tolerant with people like me," said Ms Oanh, who has given up prostitution but remains in sex work, running a massage parlour in the capital.
CONFUCIAN SOCIETY
Prostitution is illegal in Vietnam, but hundreds of thousands of sex workers ply their trade in a deeply conservative society still dominated by Confucian social mores.
In recent months, a fierce debate over whether to legalise and regulate the sex industry has sprung up online and in the official press, views that were long considered taboo have been aired.
Even the national assembly is due to address the issue at its next session in October.
Despite decades of official suppression, Vietnam's sex industry has flourished in parallel with the economy since market reforms of the late 1980s opened up the socialist system to international trade and investment.
HIV-POSITIVE
Researchers estimate there are around 200,000 sex workers in Vietnam, full-time or occasional, of whom up to 40 per cent are believed to be HIV-positive.
"We should legalise prostitution because it is part of human rights. Everybody has the right to enjoy sex," said sociologist Le Quang Binh.
Legalisation could help "protect sex workers and their clients, and bring in revenue for the government through taxes," he added.
For now, the official line is that "prostitution cannot be considered a job", according to Ms Le Duc Hien, deputy director in charge of the fight against vices within the labour ministry.
"Legalisation is really a great challenge for us," she said, adding that "this issue is still too sensitive" in Vietnam.
'Sex is not an industry in M'sia'
Malaysia's police have criticised a recent documentary on underage prostitution in the country, saying it is inaccurate.
A senior police spokesman said a video on underage sex trafficking in Malaysia was "lopsided" and portrayed Malaysia as a sex hub, reported The Star.
Secret Societies, Gambling and Vice Division principal assistant director, Senior Assistant Commissioner Roslee Chik, said the report did not give the real picture of Malaysia's sex trade; which he said was "not that big".
"The term 'sex industry' used in the video is very wrong and negative.
"In Malaysia, the existence of prostitution is undeniable - just like in other countries. But the level of enforcement minimises these activities.
"Sex is not an industry in Malaysia; the term 'sex activities' is more accurate.
"Industry would mean the profits are as big as in Thailand," he said.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
The 22-minute YouTube video, titled Trapped -The Underage Sex Industry In Malaysia, is produced and directed by Ms Mahi Ramakrishnan and Mr Rian Maelzer. It includes interviews with foreign girls as young as 15 being involved in the sex trade in Kuala Lumpur.
Some girls said they were "selling their bodies" to escape poverty, while others said they were tricked into coming to the city and were being kept against their will. Some claimed to have been beaten.
SAC Roslee added that the video was shot in 2012 and that all the outlets visited by the journalists had been closed. When contacted, Ms Ramakrishnan said she was happy to hear that the outlets had been closed.
She said: "It was meant to show that underage sex workers exist in Malaysia, as I'm sure it does in other countries.
"Throughout the making of the video, the police showed they were serious in tackling this problem.
"I strongly believe that the only way to solve this is to work with the enforcement officers, and it is clear from the raid we went on they were serious about it."
