A prominent news magazine once said that Singapore was a fine city, and then went on to explain that you could be fined for almost anything in Singapore.
-Jaywalking can become a blot on your police record.
-The mosquito patrol can enter your home without a warrant and check your flower pots for standing water, which constitutes an offence in the Lion City.
-Not flushing a public toilet is an infraction punishable by a fine.
-Urinating in an elevator would get your picture in the paper in the early 1990's (along with a fine of about S$800).
-Even feeding the city's wild pigeons was illegal.
But in this squeakiest of squeaky clean cities, prostitution is legal -- and relatively well regulated. Ironic isn't it.
There are a total of about 400 brothels in Singapore with an estimated 10 to 20 prostitutes each. That's about 6000 prostitutes in the city!
Majority (excluding me) condemn prostitution because they have a wrong perception of it. They cite certain reasons:
No matter how much money it may make from taxes we have to remember that it may also lead to an increase in the amount of health and social care demanded. Let's face it, if prostitution were legalised then it increases the chances of spreading STD's and pregnancy, even if those who are soliciting are trying to do it safe, these things happen. These two circumstances would be most felt in the NHS during health checks and they could lead to a big demand on NHS funding. HIV alone is a very expensive condition to treat, and should we really be letting ourselves as a society increase the risk of it spreading?
Prostitution also increases rampant commodification of women. Regulating prostitution as a legitimate job in Singapore labels us as a loose country with no upright morals. With such laid back regulations, no tourists would be attracted to do business in Singapore. There is no human rights in prostitution. Prostitution jeopardizes marriages if the husband were to visit the easily available brothels.
Those beliefs are true to a certain extent but the benefits of legalising prostitution does indeed outweigh the cons. & I must say I advocate legalization of prostitution. You see, prostitution protects us Singaporean women. Look at it this way, for a country that practises strict censorship and bans pornography, there must be an outlet for the sexual energies of men - plus it really keeps the number of molest and rapes to a minimum. Wouldn't our Sigaporean mums, wives and girlfriends all feel safer?
Secondly, Prostitution increases a country's GDP or income in layman terms. You see, if prostitution is legalised, it would mean that prostitution is a job that can be taxed upon. The Singapore government can then use the money to cover many other lucrative activities.
Next, legalising prostitution lowers the unemployment rate for women, prostitution has been one of the oldest job for a women. Besides in today's male dominated world, it is not easy for women to find a well-earning job. Prostitution can actually allow a women to earn up to $500-1000 a night. Within 30 days in a month, that's $30 000!
Lastly, legalising prostitution in Singapore gives us a stake in the 'sex economy'. This way, more tourists would choose to visit Singapore for its red-light districts and this fuels our economy. Especially since Singapore is a small country without much space to build aplenty of entertaining places.
So the question is, should we agree to a 21st century mindset, wake up to human nature and accept prostitution? Or should we condemn prostitution because it is immoral and it increases STD's?
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7 comments:
haha this is one of the best things ive read all week. i love you idea of sex as mainstream thinking, but you must remember singapore, by and large, is as conservative as a 80 year old christain living with her 18 cats and still thinks KISS is the devil (they are). the point being your ideas, no matter how matured, will be frowned upon and ignored by the public. but still it doesnt make it anyless bad ass, kudos on you.
interesting blog on local prostituition. i agree that its ironic that s'pore would legalize prostituition yet ban chewing gum.
however u forget 2 take note that most prositutes in s'pore are foreigners even those in legal brothels.
The legalized ones are only the tip of the iceberg, mayb u have not seen the amount of illegal streetwalkers in places far from geylang such as Orchard Road.
Yes we are actually surrounded by them. I know this coz i've been approached by them. Some from vietnam who look awesome but only can smile at me and jus say stuff like "hello" and "hotel $200". haha!
The govt mus b kiddin itself wen it tot it could control prostituition. I bet that gambling is goin 2 b the nex thing dat da govt thinks it can control. hhmm... mayb u should write bout gambling in s'pore 2...
cheers.
actually prositution doesnt contribute to GDP if u study JC econs..
becoz a lot of prosituion in singapore are often illegal, a non-reported and non-marketed transaction as they are not reported to govt.
i find ur points quite short and inadequate of concrete evidence
thus it makes the overall pictue unconvicing to intellectual community which acutally makes an effort to evaluate your essay
our world is surrounded by foreigners...
haha pretty cool to look at it this way i guess. but yeah liek boo said, not everybody in s'pore will be as openminded to agree with this fully. theres no denying that morals and ethical stuff will always be a strong counterpoint against this (not saying im totally against legal prostitution or anything >.>) anyway, nice work yo.
Interesting blog entry.
As mentioned by others already, I dont think many Singaporeans will take the idea very open mindedly.
Imagine seeing this on a tourist pamphlet:
'Great attractions in Singapore. Sentosa, Singapore Flyer, Geylang Brothels' I think Singapore can prosper without the extra sleaze.
Nice article though. =)
First I would like to applaud you for the courage to present the issue of legalizing prostitution from different perspectives.
The only shortfall of it is the lack of depth if it was prepared towards as a proposal to the government institutes with the intention of working towards legalizing it.
I guess this trade is just like the gambling trade, there always need to have some safety net to tackle problems of health, social and family issues that are bound to arise upon legalization of such trades with elements of negative implications. Take the upcoming Integrated Resort as an example; the biggest motivation factor is the boast for Singapore as an enhanced tourism attraction that would contribute greatly towards the industry and help pump up part of the economy. The other plus points include the increase of employment opportunities and so forth. There are plans in place to tackle the addiction and other social issues that will bound to arise, through counseling and such.
In addition, just to comment further on this:
“No matter how much money it may make from taxes we have to remember that it may also lead to an increase in the amount of health and social care demanded. Let's face it, if prostitution were legalised then it increases the chances of spreading STD's and pregnancy, even if those who are soliciting are trying to do it safe, these things happen. These two circumstances would be most felt in the NHS during health checks and they could lead to a big demand on NHS funding. HIV alone is a very expensive condition to treat, and should we really be letting ourselves as a society increase the risk of it spreading?”
– All I have to say is, do not underestimate the cost of setting up health checks and systems in tackling the side effects of prostitution. This is analogous to a tank with a hole at the side, trying to be filled up with water.
Lastly, in my personal opinion, Singapore does not need the legalizing of prostitution to help boast its international position and reputation as a city in pursuit of excellence. There are other healthy areas like sports, performance arts etc where Singapore can focus on to constantly sharpen and enhance its reputation in the global scene.
Just my 2 cents worth of thought.
isn't prostitution legal in Singapore ...
WOW ... I didn't prostitutes were keeping our country women safe ... we should give them like superhero outfits with an award ceremony and all ...
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