Geylang "street angels"

[General Veers]

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="560"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top" width="550">
Geylang "street angels" <!-- TITLE : end--> <!--
They walk the streets of Geylang at night to hand out condoms, take sex workers to the doctor and even give a listening ear. But these volunteer street angels say... -TNP --> </td> </tr> <tr></tr><tr> <td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top" width="550"> <table> <tbody><tr> <td> <table> <tbody><tr><td>

</td> </tr> <tr><td class="content_subtitle" align="left"> The New Paper </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td align="right" width="400">
</td><td>
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="bodytext_10pt"> <!-- CONTENT : start --> By Zaihan Mohamed Yusof


THEY make their way through the dark, seedy backlanes of Geylang. Carrying plastic bags filled with condoms, lubricants, biscuits, drinks and fliers, the three volunteers stop and chat with the sex workers and pimps.

They are the Geylang "street angels" who hope to change people's perceptions of a trade often frowned upon by society. They and others like them, try to help the sex workers in small ways, like taking them to a clinic when they are sick, giving out fliers containing information about medical subsidies, and perhaps most important of all, lending a listening ear.

One of them, who gave her name only as Yock Leng, is a project coordinator from the Student Christian Movement (SCM). She said: "In the beginning, I was frequently called 'condom' girl. Pimps and brothel owners said we wouldn't last a few weeks in Geylang." That was back in November 2008 when the programme was launched. Today, the SCM volunteers have attained some success.

On Thursday night, The New Paper on Sunday saw seven sex workers from China meet the three volunteers, who had entered a dimly-lit alley off Lorong 21. The streetwalkers were heard saying, "Wo ye yao" (I want it, too, in Mandarin) as they rummaged through the plastic bags containing the handouts. A short distance away, brothel owners gave knowing nods as the volunteers walked past their establishments.

One pimp even waved to a volunteer and joined her for a chat. The volunteer, a 27-year-old graduate sociology student who gave her name only as Ms Ng, said she had been initially nervous in such situations.

<table align="left" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="250"> <tbody><tr> <td>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>FRIENDS: On a slow business night, this transvestite tells the volunteers how authorities have stepped up on raids, while being reminded to stay healthy.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> But now, it was like she was talking to an old friend. Closer to Guillemard Road, the volunteers' presence caused a small traffic jam when an excited transvestite dashed across the road shouting at Yock Leng, 41: "Darling, where have you been?"

The transvestite later complained about there being more raids lately and how business was slow. A Filipino sex worker on Lorong 12 explained that when girls are used to being treated badly by men, speaking to the social workers was "a breath of fresh air".

Said Chris, 30: "In this business, you think that every one is out to take advantage of you. People think they own you just because they pay you.

"The street angels look at you with different eyes and are generally concerned about you... Just like how a friend would." But Yock Leng downplays her group's "celebrity-like" status. "Please don't call us heroes or saviours," she said. "We're just trying to reduce the stigma and discrimination faced by sex workers via our initiative."

The initiative, known as Project X, aims to bridge the gap between the sex workers and society by challenging the misconceptions and judgments made on prostitutes. Since November 2008, Yock Leng and six volunteers have pounded the pavement at least twice a week. SCM is not the only group looking out for the well-being of prostitutes.

Another group of volunteers belong to HealthServe, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping migrants, the poor and those on the fringes of society. It also has a subsidised clinic run by volunteer doctors. Said Ms Marilyn Foo, a manager at HealthServe: "The pimps know us. We understand that they are running a business. If we sense the situation is tense, we just walk away. This way, there is mutual respect." On the streets, trust isn't earned overnight.


</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

[General Veers]

<table align="right" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" width="250"><tbody><tr><td>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>REACHING OUT: Aside from condoms, biscuits and leaflets, Yock Leng and her volunteers distribute lubricants to the sex workers in Geylang, twice a week on their rounds.</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Unwelcome for pimps

Ms Foo, who joined HealthServe about two years ago, recalled that initially the pimps didn't welcome them. They asked why the volunteers were talking to the prostitutes, Ms Foo said. She reassured one pimp by taking the sick sex worker to the clinic,and returning her later. Yock Leng too, recalled how she was scolded once for accidentally blocking a pimp's "business". Some initially saw the volunteers as "eyes and ears" for the authorities. But, despite stares, these volunteers are not discouraged. Said Yock Leng: "Usually, when we think of sex workers, we immediately jump into the issue of HIV/Aids.

"No doubt this is important, but there are other health concerns that relate to the nature of the job, such as urinary tract infection, skin irritation, irregular menstruation or getting a pap smear... as well as other minor ailments such as flu or migraine." Some of her friends have told her to stop her work because she is helping the immoral flesh trade to flourish.

But she believes she doesn't make or break a trade. She said: "There are nice people and there are also not so nice people in the sex business, just as we could find similar characters in any place we go to. "I would like our society to understand that sex workers are human beings who have material and emotional needs. And like us, they want a good life for themselves and their families."

But reaching out to the sex workers can be difficult because of language barriers and the transient nature of the job. By the time a friendship is made, the girls leave Singapore, Yock Leng said. And when you make the "connection", some of the stories shared in confidence are heartbreaking, even for the seasoned volunteers.

<table> <tbody><tr> <td>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ms Ng, a graduate sociology student, peers into a brothel to see if the owner is present.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Tales of poverty are common. Sex workers complain about physically abusive customers who want big discounts, while some pimps overwork them to the extent that their "knees shake" from serving too many men in one night, Yock Leng said. Of course, the other concern sex workers, particularly the streetwalkers, have, are the authorities. Last weekend's massive raid, which nabbed 170 people in Geylang, has kept every one on their toes. And the volunteers once again lend their sympathetic listening ears.

[email protected]