Legal brothels in S’pore to close until the end of next month
by
The Online Citizen
2020-03-26
2 min read
Geylang Lorong 18, where legal brothels are allowed to operate in Singapore. Source: Terry Xu / TOC
The
closure of all entertainment outlets — from cinemas and theatres to nightlife venues such as bars and nightclubs — announced by the multi-ministry taskforce on COVID-19 on Tue evening (24 Mar) has become part of the Government’s stricter safe distancing measures, in the wake of a growing number of cases of infection in Singapore.
Operators of legal brothels, however, were in for a shock as the Anti-Vice Department of the Singapore Police Force informed them the next day that they were also required to close starting Thu night at 11.59pm until the end of next month on 30 Apr — the same time frame given to entertainment outlets specified above.
The police’s briefing surprised the legal brothel operators, as there had been no mention of brothels in the announcement, and they assumed that the measures only applied to nightclubs and bars.
Pimps and ladies — both of whom work seven days a week in the said brothels — are only paid when they have customers. The closure requirement would mean that they will be faced with a month without income.
“What to do? I will just treat this as a month of holiday then,” lamented a pimp at one of the brothels along the legal red light district in Geylang.
They are also prepared for the possibility that the closure will be extended over a month.