- Joined
- Oct 24, 2010
- Messages
- 32,792
- Points
- 113
It may sound radical, crazy and absurd but I humbly opine it may work - let's register our triads and secret societies under the Registrar of Societies. This way, we will "unsecret" the secret. We will better manage and contain the disease that is now spreading.
Prostitution and gambling are vices that will not be completely eliminated. They have a long history. Let's examine how the police adapted to manage these two vices.
Yes, we have Geylang, Petain Rd and Keong Siak St to cater to the various classes of people who need a release. Malaysian women filled the vacancies in the past. Since the late 90s when PRC women proliferated, it took the police about 8 years before an appropriate response.
When the WLs started congregating in the lorongs of Geylang, whereby various SS would collect protection money from these WLs, police decided that to contain the problem, they had no choice but to finally relent and permit PRC sex workers in Geylang brothels.
Where you have approx 400 WLs standing and soliciting in the lorongs of Geylang in the past, the numbers have shrunk drastically today. How come? Coz the police recognised the need and legalised PRC sex workers in designated brothels. Lesser raids needed. Manpower can be redirected to fight crime. Brothel keepers, customers, legalised sex workers and police all emerge as winners. Indirectly, members of public too coz they get more value from their taxes whereby police resources are not used inappropriately.
Legalising the prostitution trade many years ago contained the vice problem then. Recognising the need to legalise PRC sex workers contained the current status quo.
Let's move on to illegal gambling and illegal lotteries. When the situation escalated and got out of control, what did the police do? They legalised this business to combat the illegal bookies and 4D syndicates by opening up legal avenues to bet and punt. S'pore Pools has many outlets and they are geographically well spread. Very strategic locations indeed.
Take the illegal gambling problems as an example. After decades of denial, haven't we finally given in? We legalised our problems pretty effectively. We have RWS and MBS today to combat the problems of our chaps going to cruise ships and Genting Highlands. Of course, for the 2 IRs, there are other economic benefits too, directly and indirectly.
We now even have access to soccer betting. It started "foot-in-the-door" style with only S-League first. Then graduated to World Cup and others and then to EPL. Now, it is almost everything under the sun.
The ah long problem is also being dealt in similar manner. The ah longs with 20% interest of the past is now finally legalised. As long as lender and borrower agrees, the deal is set. You can even charge 100% monthly interest and it is legal! We had the law amended recently to permit licensed moneylenders to charge the traditional ah long rates and more.
What's wrong with legalising the SS and Triad? You get to monitor its members through registration. You get better command and control over something you have lost control of. The SS/Triad can go to legit biz and its followers can find job opportunities within their organisational structure. Yellow Ribbon project sure to be successful.
They can even form alliances to get better economies of scale in their businesses. They can even have their own disciplinary committees to handle wayward behavior like the recent stabbing and slashing. If there is a dispute that cannot be resolved, why use knives and kill here and there. Get their two best fighters to fight it out in the boxing ring. Who knows we may uncover a gem in a talented boxer who can win us medals in the Asian or Commonwealth Games. Maybe even an Olympic gold medal.
It may well sound crazy but it is worth some thoughts. Earlier use of this - legalising the illegal, has been quite successful, as the three examples illustrated above shows. If problem cannot be contained effectively, why pretend it is under control?
Legalise it to contain and combat the problem. Make sure all parties involved are on a win-win mode. The economic benefits of such a move will force the senior headmen of these triads and SS to behave like the legal OKTs in Geylang - fully compliant. The loss of such benefits is so severe these headmen will behave like religious leaders.
For Mr Ramseth who is of the view that education and upbringing failures should be blamed for many of these problems, no problem. Problem will now be rectified with 369 School of Ethics and Anger Management, Pak Hai Tong School of Stress, Sio Gi Ho Business School, Ang Soon Tong School of Discipline etc. These schools will ensure that whatever faults of our traditional schools and upbringing will be effectively rectified.
Prostitution and gambling are vices that will not be completely eliminated. They have a long history. Let's examine how the police adapted to manage these two vices.
Yes, we have Geylang, Petain Rd and Keong Siak St to cater to the various classes of people who need a release. Malaysian women filled the vacancies in the past. Since the late 90s when PRC women proliferated, it took the police about 8 years before an appropriate response.
When the WLs started congregating in the lorongs of Geylang, whereby various SS would collect protection money from these WLs, police decided that to contain the problem, they had no choice but to finally relent and permit PRC sex workers in Geylang brothels.
Where you have approx 400 WLs standing and soliciting in the lorongs of Geylang in the past, the numbers have shrunk drastically today. How come? Coz the police recognised the need and legalised PRC sex workers in designated brothels. Lesser raids needed. Manpower can be redirected to fight crime. Brothel keepers, customers, legalised sex workers and police all emerge as winners. Indirectly, members of public too coz they get more value from their taxes whereby police resources are not used inappropriately.
Legalising the prostitution trade many years ago contained the vice problem then. Recognising the need to legalise PRC sex workers contained the current status quo.
Let's move on to illegal gambling and illegal lotteries. When the situation escalated and got out of control, what did the police do? They legalised this business to combat the illegal bookies and 4D syndicates by opening up legal avenues to bet and punt. S'pore Pools has many outlets and they are geographically well spread. Very strategic locations indeed.
Take the illegal gambling problems as an example. After decades of denial, haven't we finally given in? We legalised our problems pretty effectively. We have RWS and MBS today to combat the problems of our chaps going to cruise ships and Genting Highlands. Of course, for the 2 IRs, there are other economic benefits too, directly and indirectly.
We now even have access to soccer betting. It started "foot-in-the-door" style with only S-League first. Then graduated to World Cup and others and then to EPL. Now, it is almost everything under the sun.
The ah long problem is also being dealt in similar manner. The ah longs with 20% interest of the past is now finally legalised. As long as lender and borrower agrees, the deal is set. You can even charge 100% monthly interest and it is legal! We had the law amended recently to permit licensed moneylenders to charge the traditional ah long rates and more.
What's wrong with legalising the SS and Triad? You get to monitor its members through registration. You get better command and control over something you have lost control of. The SS/Triad can go to legit biz and its followers can find job opportunities within their organisational structure. Yellow Ribbon project sure to be successful.
They can even form alliances to get better economies of scale in their businesses. They can even have their own disciplinary committees to handle wayward behavior like the recent stabbing and slashing. If there is a dispute that cannot be resolved, why use knives and kill here and there. Get their two best fighters to fight it out in the boxing ring. Who knows we may uncover a gem in a talented boxer who can win us medals in the Asian or Commonwealth Games. Maybe even an Olympic gold medal.
It may well sound crazy but it is worth some thoughts. Earlier use of this - legalising the illegal, has been quite successful, as the three examples illustrated above shows. If problem cannot be contained effectively, why pretend it is under control?
Legalise it to contain and combat the problem. Make sure all parties involved are on a win-win mode. The economic benefits of such a move will force the senior headmen of these triads and SS to behave like the legal OKTs in Geylang - fully compliant. The loss of such benefits is so severe these headmen will behave like religious leaders.
For Mr Ramseth who is of the view that education and upbringing failures should be blamed for many of these problems, no problem. Problem will now be rectified with 369 School of Ethics and Anger Management, Pak Hai Tong School of Stress, Sio Gi Ho Business School, Ang Soon Tong School of Discipline etc. These schools will ensure that whatever faults of our traditional schools and upbringing will be effectively rectified.
