ST Article of the Year 2025 - Under the red light: The hidden lives of Singapore’s sex workers

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Under the red light: The hidden lives of Singapore’s sex workers​

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

According to a 2023 study by the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, at any given time, there are approximately 8,030 female sex workers in Singapore.

Of these women, around 800 to 1,000 work in more than 100 regulated brothels in Singapore’s main red-light district, Geylang. While there are no official statistics, the figure is drawn from anecdotal accounts by former sex workers, and volunteers who conduct weekly outreach in the area.

Regulated brothels, however, represent only a small slice of the larger picture. An underground economy sprawls far beyond Geylang’s lanes, spilling into massage parlours, KTV lounges, beauty salons, escort agencies and a digital marketplace that runs from private chat channels to subscription platforms like OnlyFans.

“8,030 is just an estimate,” says Dr Rayner Tan, an assistant professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, who was involved in the study.

He notes that due to the stigma surrounding sex work and the fact that most Singaporeans are unlikely to know someone in the trade, the actual number could range from 3,980 to 16,200.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Most of the workers are transitory migrants who enter on tourist visas and leave after a few weeks. Singaporeans and local residents make up only a small fraction. According to Project X – a non-profit organisation that has spent more than a decade offering social, emotional and legal support to sex workers – locals, including permanent residents and those on long-term visit passes, make up just 15 per cent to 20 per cent of Singapore’s sex industry.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

In 1976, a government programme – the Medical Surveillance Scheme – was launched to control sexually transmitted diseases among commercial sex workers.

Under the scheme, brothel-based sex workers must undergo regular screenings for sexually transmitted infections and HIV at the Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Clinic or other designated clinics.

“It also allows for voluntary participation, including for those already in the trade but not registered under a formal system, and covers arrestees, suggesting some level of coordination with law enforcement,” explains Dr Tan.

For the women working in regulated brothels, the rules shape everyday life in the most intimate ways.

The brothels are monitored for health and safety, and workers must undergo regular medical checks. There is also a 100 per cent condom-use policy, although how strictly enforced it is remains unclear.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

From a public health perspective, Dr Tan says there are pros and cons to such regulations.

Sex workers gain access to sexual health resources and operate within a more formal, legally recognised system.

“But with only around 1,000 sex workers enrolled out of an estimated 3,980 to 16,200 in Singapore at any one time, the majority remain outside (the regulation),” he adds.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

The map of sex in Singapore does not end in Geylang. For decades before its closure and redevelopment in May 2023, Golden Mile Complex in Beach Road was a beacon for Thai workers orbiting pubs and karaoke rooms. Those from South Asia – mainly India and Bangladesh – are active around Desker Road in Little India. Before many outlets lost their public entertainment licences in 2023, Orchard Towers was known for its seedy nightlife of bars, clubs and discos.

Behind the facades of these neighbourhoods run a web of arrangements as varied as the people in them: freelancers advertising online; masseuses offering “extras” at their discretion; hostesses whose work blurs performance and intimacy; and innocuous shopfronts that become something else behind a second door.

Together, these shifting neighbourhoods chart the evolving geography of sex in Singapore, each community tied to different migrant flows and market demands.

In 2004, alarmed by a surge of bars and the growing visibility of sex workers, Joo Chiat residents banded together as the Save Joo Chiat Working Group to curb prostitution in the neighbourhood and stem the nightly influx of male patrons.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Meanwhile, the make-up of those involved in sex work is changing: tourists pushing the spirit, if not the letter, of their visas; long-term special pass holders topping up unsteady pay; and permanent residents like Dewi, 40, an Indonesian mother who values the flexibility because she can be present for her children and pay the bills when her husband cannot.

Even though sex work itself is not explicitly illegal in Singapore, many related activities surrounding it are: soliciting, working without a valid visa, pimping and running an unlicensed brothel.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Lawyer Mohamed Baiross of IRB Law tells The Straits Times: “Workers are arrested primarily to investigate whether coercion, trafficking or exploitation has occurred, and whether the premises constitute an unlicensed brothel.”

He adds that enforcement targets organisers, operators and those who profit from prostitution, while patrons are rarely prosecuted.

“There is no general statutory provision criminalising the mere purchase of sexual services from an adult in a private, consensual setting,” Mr Baiross explains, adding that liability may arise in specific circumstances, like sexual activity with minors or trafficked people.

“The law’s main objective is to dismantle organised vice networks rather than penalise individual customers,” he says.

In a 2024 parliamentary reply, Home Affairs Minister and then Law Minister K. Shanmugam confirmed that enforcement is focused on illegal operators and potential exploiters, with the twin goals of maintaining public order and preventing abuse.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Indeed, for sex workers, especially migrants without valid permits, seeking help can be perilous. Reporting assault or other crimes may trigger immigration checks, solicitation fines, and investigations that stretch far beyond the original complaint.

Lawyer Bestlyn Loo, who leads Providence Law Asia’s pro bono portfolio, says investigations into the complainant are “almost a given” because offences tied to sex work are clearly defined in legislations such as the Immigration Act, the Women’s Charter and the Penal Code.

“Their ability to seek protection when crimes are committed against them is limited because of the unusual legal and immigration circumstances they are in,” she adds.

She cites a pro bono case in which a sex worker reported fraud and assault after a client refused to pay. The client was eventually charged and convicted, but the complainant spent 10 hours in lock-up, had her phone confiscated and was required to remain in Singapore for three months to assist in investigations. During this period, the sex worker slept on a couch at Project X’s office. Faced with such consequences, many victims choose silence over speaking up.

When crimes do come to light, they reveal the exploitation that illegal sex workers often endure at the hands of pimps and customers.

In 2021, Singaporean agent Tan Boon Kheng was jailed 15 months for exploiting several Thai sex workers under his charge. He arranged for their lodging, confiscated their passports and told them they had to complete their “contracts” before the travel documents would be returned. Each woman was also required to pay $1,200 to retrieve her passport, a tactic designed to deter them from leaving.

In a 2019 case, forklift driver Chew Teng Wee was sentenced to 14 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane for raping a Vietnamese performer he met at a KTV lounge. Posing as a client, he offered her $200 for sex at his home, then claimed he had no money. When she refused, he brandished a knife and raped her.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

 

[Vlad Tepes]

In Singapore, morals are for peasants. Money and power are for the elite. No mortal can sanitise the world. Demand and supply. Of all the places to post, you chose here.

 

[k1976]

Under the red light: The hidden lives of Singapore’s sex workers​

https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ht-the-hidden-lives-of-singapores-sex-workers

Boss Sam expert opinion?

 

[VanDick]

Finally, the shitty times published an article that is actually worth a read.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Article on prostitutes and accompanied by OBS fuckface. Very apt

 

[Ng Cheh Hwang]

Article on prostitutes and accompanied by OBS fuckface. Very apt

Singapore is like a whore, even ministers can be bribed. OBS is like a paying customer.

Then Chee Hong Tat asked if you prefer "zero-risk approach" or "risk-appropriate approach" against scams and money-laundering. Of course, it was a stupid question; do you take "zero-risk approach" or "risk-appropriate approach" towards HIV when you are a sex worker?

Every pussy has a price. Don't tell me they met for work.

 

[birdie69]

Singapore is like a whore, even ministers can be bribed. OBS is like a paying customer.

Then Chee Hong Tat asked if you prefer "zero-risk approach" or "risk-appropriate approach" against scams and money-laundering. Of course, it was a stupid question; do you take "zero-risk approach" or "risk-appropriate approach" towards HIV when you are a sex worker?

Every pussy has a price. Don't tell me they met for work.

How about the article of cheap rental to Ridout Road bungalow? Is it not an outstanding article in the year?