A guide to buying prostitution in Geylang, Singapore’s only legal “red light district”

When it comes to the red-light districts of the world's entertainment venues, the first thing that comes to mind is some Western countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Ukraine, etc. In Asia, although there are many such places in Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, they are much more obscure and restrained than in Western countries. After all, they are not legal.

But it is surprising to mention the only country in Asia with a legal red-light district, because it is actually in Singapore. We are all familiar with Singapore, one of the richest international countries in the world. As one of the "Four Asian Tigers", it is the world's fourth largest international financial center and a gathering place for Fortune 500 companies. Why does Singapore, which has many honorary titles, allow the existence of legal red-light districts? Is it self-degradation or is there another reason?



A little "red" in the flowers

For a country like Singapore that is clean, efficient, and well-educated, it is hard to imagine that there is a red-light district that is incompatible with the overall style of the country, and it is legal. It is the double-numbered alley 2-30 in Geylang.



Geylang in Singapore is a road about one kilometer long, with many alleys on both sides, named by numbers. There are 44 alleys in total, with odd numbers in the north and even numbers in the south. Among them, the even-numbered alleys from Alley 2 to Alley 30 are the areas where sex transactions are legal in Singapore. Legal brothels with formal business licenses are mainly concentrated in Alleys 16, 18 and 20; illegal streetwalkers are between Alleys 8 and 22, standing or walking.

When a Chinese man walks alone on Geylang Street, it is inevitable to receive flirtatious glances. When you stop by the street, you may also encounter a snow-white jade arm, like a soft and boneless snake, quietly climbing up your shoulder or winding into your arm. If you look back at this time, you will see a pretty face approaching, wearing a low-cut top, leaning forward slightly, and handing over a thin and dense Chinese sentence: "Do you want to play?"

In Singapore's red-light district, sex trade is legal, but this only means that there are about eighty or ninety brothels with business licenses, distributed in these double-numbered alleys in Geylang. Women working in these brothels need to have a license issued by the police and undergo regular physical examinations. Most of the "free sex workers" walking on the street do not have such a license, or even a legal work visa. According to the research of Liang Kaiwen and others, a typical streetwalker is 26 years old on average, serving four customers a day, charging an average of 70 Singapore dollars per customer. After deducting expenses such as rent, her income in a month is 3,200 Singapore dollars.

Although the red-light district exists legally in Singapore, it does not mean that practitioners in this industry can do whatever they want. The original intention of the government to allow the red-light district to be legal was just to facilitate management and control. Therefore, the threshold for practitioners in the Geylang area is relatively high, and the management methods are also very strict. The biggest hidden danger of "sex trade" is nothing more than safety and health issues. Therefore, all women engaged in this industry must undergo very strict physical examinations before taking up their posts. Only those who pass the physical examination can get the officially recognized "yellow card" work permit.

But getting this certificate does not mean that everything is fine. Because of the particularity of this industry, practitioners must have a physical examination every three months and update their health status at any time. As long as any disease is found, the person must stop working without any room for negotiation. Moreover, the yellow card held by practitioners is also time-limited, only a short two years, and cannot be renewed after expiration. At the same time, it is also stipulated that foreign practitioners cannot marry local Singaporeans, and all income of practitioners must be taxed normally like other professions.

In order to better meet the needs of different customers, the red light district in Geylang is also divided into high and low grades. The houses in the high-end area are very unique. Basically, each house will have a small courtyard with bright red lanterns hanging on it, and there are enchanting reception girls standing in front of the door. If the light in front of the door is off, and the light in the house is on, it means that the person in the house is receiving guests. However, this service model generally only exists in high-end areas, while some low-end areas refer to various small shops on the roadside, which are full of women of all kinds. Everyone gathers together at night, waiting for the arrival of customers boredly.

It is worth mentioning that the doors in the low-end areas cannot be opened casually, especially those with white towels hanging on the doors. Rushing in will disturb others' good things. Although operating brothels is legally allowed by the government, in order to avoid affecting the appearance of the city, it is absolutely not allowed to openly solicit customers on the street. But there are always some people who will do things beyond the scope of the law for the sake of profit, so we often see some patrolling police near the red light district. Their main responsibility is to catch these people who openly solicit customers. Although "sex transactions" in Singapore's red light district are legal, because there are many regulations and restrictions, many people choose to become illegal and unlicensed "prostitutes" in order to avoid trouble and gain more benefits.

Singapore is very strict in cracking down on these illegal and unlicensed practitioners, and once arrested thousands of people in a year. Geylang has the only legal red-light district in Asia, so everyone's impression of Geylang almost only stays on this point, but in fact, Geylang is a place with a very complex culture. It is close to the financial center of Singapore but retains a very strong primitive style. There are tall and bright office buildings, colorful peasant houses left over from the last century, and various roadside specialty snack shops.

Among all kinds of food, the most famous one is the frog porridge in Geylang. The reason why this dish is famous is that it is very particular. The rice used in the porridge must be Thai fragrant rice. The whole process of cooking porridge takes about 4 hours, and it must be stirred constantly in the middle to make the rice cooked but not sticky. In addition to the delicious food, the most shocking thing is that there are temples everywhere in Geylang. Basically, you can see one every few steps.

It is not surprising that there are temples in a place, but this is a red-light district. On one side is a solemn temple, and on the other side is a bright and colorful entertainment venue. This scene looks very inconsistent.

Whenever you see the abstinent Taoist monks and the flamboyant sex workers appear in the same picture, it is always interesting. Geylang is indeed a very special place, where history and modernity coexist, where solemnity and temptation coexist.