Two crackdowns on prostitution activities in public flats in Ang Mo Kio in June and Jurong West last month have confirmed that prostitution has flourished beyond the traditional boundary of our red-light district.
These are only two cases that have surfaced. The audacity to operate prostitution in our heartlands shows how prosperous this business has grown and may propel it to grow further.
In the private apartment building I live in, two units on the same level seem to be operating blatantly as brothels. It does not help when the police remain passive or leave it to our Management Corporation Strata Title.
I was even asked by the young officer at the neighbourhood police post to consider the option of moving. While my situation is a small matter, it raises bigger questions about the existing and future adequacy of our ability to police.
These foreign women also came through a legal channel to work as sex workers. Does this not imply a loophole in our immigration control? Being an open, welcoming city or country should not mean just anybody can come here.
In peacetime, immigration control is our first line of defence. In the 1980s, men wearing long hair were prohibited entry; even Japanese artist Kitaro was turned away from Singapore. Such was our immigration control then.
But should the fact that we are so different now translate into a higher tolerance of vice in our heartlands? Who should pay for the trade-offs of being “open”? And is the making of Singapore into a prostitution hub underway?
The recent cases of a woman driving into the Republic unchecked, the man who drove through our security checkpoint and, incredibly, a successful permanent residency application with fake credentials serve only to deepen my concern about our immigration controls. Link
