Geylang, Oh Geylang! How Mainland Chine... HT District - South China Morning Post

07/04/2019 Geylang, oh Geylang!
ang, oh Geylang! How mainland Chinese fell in and out of love with Singapore’s red-light district | South China Morning Post
SCMP.COM
Society
Geylang, oh Geylang! How mainland

Chinese fell in and out of love with
Singapore’s red-light district
Cheap rent, food and sex once drew Chinese foreign workers
– and plenty of locals – to the enclave
But two decades on, Geylang is a shadow of its former self, a
situation that saddens many of its residents
Topic | Singapore
Prabhu Silvam
Published: 12:00pm, 5 Feb, 2019
https://www.scmp.com/print/week-asia/society/article/2185038/geylang-oh-geylang-how-mainland-chinese-fell-and-out-love 1/11
07/04/2019 Geylang, oh Geylang! How mainland Chinese fell in and out of love with Singapore’s red-light district | South China Morning Post
When Hu Fengkai rst arrived in Singapore’s Geylang district from China in 2013,
it was everything he had imagined it to be.
“In spoken Chinese, Geylang sounds like ya long or ‘dragon’s tooth’. A place with a
name like that is bound to stir the imagination,” says the 31-year-old land
surveyor.
“So when I nally reached Geylang six years ago, let’s just say I wasn’t
disappointed,” he adds, with a sardonic grin.
It helped that he was joining a well-knit community of mainland Chinese migrant

workers who had made Singapore’s famous red-light district their new home –
drawn by cheap rent, cheap food and proximity to the city centre.
Clean-up campaign seeing slow death of Singapore’s Chinatown

[1]
But after a run of almost two decades, this enclave is slowly disintegrating.
Singapore’s tightening foreign labour policies, heightened security after an

unprecedented riot in 2013, and the sex trade going online have all chipped away at
the country’s “Little Chinatown”.
“The whole place has changed in the past two years because everyone is leaving,”
Hu says. “Soon enough, I will have no one else here and I will have to leave too.”
Desperate for cheap accommodation in expensive Singapore and with worker dormitories few and far
between, Chinese migrant workers found the perfect home in Geylang. Photo: Clifford Lee
START OF THE INFLUX
Immigrants from China began to ock to the area at the start of the new
millennium when Singapore had a construction boom, soon after the region shook
o the 1997 Asian nancial crisis.
The demand drew Chinese workers who were lured to the Lion City by higher wages
and the relative ease with which they were allowed to travel home.
Desperate for cheap accommodation in expensive Singapore and with worker

dormitories few and far between, they found the perfect home in Geylang.
Hong Kong sugar babies, Singapore sugar daddies – but it’s NOT
about selling sex, these dating websites insist
[2]
In particular, these workers unearthed cheap housing in two Geylang

condominiums – Wing Fong Court and Sunny Spring.
“No Singaporean in their right mind wanted to stay there. Those two condos were
surrounded by brothels and streetwaltkers,” says a long-time Geylang resident, a
taxi driver in his 60s, who asked not to be named.
“If you had a wife or daughter, you can be assured that they would receive heckles
and cat calls every time they went out. The ats were struggling for tenants. So
when [mainland Chinese] workers came knocking, the condominium owners
welcomed them with open arms.”
Wing Fong Court in Geylang, Singapore. Photo: Clifford Lee
While workers from India and Bangladesh found a ordable accommodation in

ethnic enclaves, Chinese workers shunned the exorbitant rents in Singapore’s
o cial Chinatown, which lies on the outskirts of the central business district.
For as low as S$150 (US$111) a month, these workers received bed space in Geylang
rooms that they shared with others – about half what they would pay in
Chinatown.
For co ee shop owner Ong Kee Leong, 74, who observed the in ux from China, it
was a “perfect supply-meets-demand situation that mutually bene ted both
parties”.
Every cent is important to the Chinese workers, says Luke Tan, who works to
protect the welfare of migrant workers at the Humanitarian Organisation for
Migration Economics.
“When you are migrant worker in a foreign land, even the smallest cost can impact
you greatly. In a place like Geylang, workers are able to save more because of the
low costs of things,” he says.
“We need to look after our own’: Japan’s troubled relationship

with immigration faces test with guest worker programme
[3]
THE NEXT WAVE
While Geylang had been reliant on foreign sex workers – largely from other
Southeast Asian countries – the 2000s saw an unprecedented rise in those from
mainland China.
They avoided the licensed brothels approved by the government, which carried
strict periodic medical checks.
“In its heyday, you would see up to a hundred [Chinese] women standing along the
footpaths at Lorong 14,18 and 20,” said the long-time resident, referring to the
three roads in Geylang most notorious for the sex trade.
In Chinese-majority Singapore, the demand was strong for mainland Chinese sex
workers.
“There aren’t any o cial numbers but I think it boils down to proportion and
familiarity. Most of the sex workers are young women in a foreign land so they
would de nitely prefer coming to a country like Singapore where things like food,
language and culture might be similar, so that might explain the numbers,” says
Vanessa Ho, a director at sex worker advocacy group Project X.
A sex shop in Geylang. Photo: AFP
Geylang’s transformation into “Little Chinatown” was under way. Its hodgepodge
of brightly-lit eateries and services began to display more Chinese signs. Food
catering to the new migrants – Sichuan hotpot, Shanghainese dishes and
Shandong cuisine – began to displace Singaporean outlets.
Provision shops stocked products preferred by the Chinese. Internet cafes, which
were wildly popular with workers from mainland China, mushroomed.
Having an organic
enclave like this is a
breath of fresh air
Cai Yinzhou, founder of
Geylang Adventures
The developments drew the ire of locals. In 2009, Singaporeans wrote letters to the
press complaining about the Sinicisation of Geylang, and how the red-light district
was losing its multiracial character.
Long-time Geylang residents like Cai Yinzhou, on the other hand, welcomed the
vibrancy that has become a quintessential part of the area.
“Having an organic enclave like this is a breath of fresh air in a country where
public spaces and towns are heavily engineered. There are not many places where
migrant workers can feel at home so a place like Geylang is important for their
well-being and state of mind,” says the founder of Geylang Adventures, a group
that conducts walking trails in the area.
ILLICIT TRADE
The Chinese quickly rose to play a prominent part in the area’s illicit trade,
dominating Geylang’s contraband cigarettes and liquor scene.
Local triads turned to the Chinese to front these operations. In 2016, the Singapore
Customs seized more than 5,600 cartons of contraband cigarettes from a
consignment from China.
Yellow fever: Cure needed, say Asian victims of sex prejudice

[4]
In arrests that same year and in 2018, a total of eight Chinese nationals were jailed
for peddling contraband cigarettes on instant messaging app WeChat.
“It was easy for the local triads to communicate with them in Mandarin or the
dialects,” says a private investigator of illicit goods, who agreed to speak on
condition of anonymity.
“Most of the Chinese nationals tend to be overstayers who have no qualms being
deported. The relatively short jail sentences they face aren’t deterrent enough to
keep them away.”
The Chinese quickly rose to play a prominent part in Geylang’s illicit trade. Photo: Alamy
They also run most of the area’s gambling dens, with some brazenly operating in
the open in Geylang’s many back alleys.
“Even after repeated police raids, the gamblers would reorganise themselves and
set up shop again within a matter of minutes,” Cai says.
After Singapore set up two casinos in 2010, Geylang also became the go-to place
for Chinese gambling tourists eager for cheap lodging in the area’s many love
motels.
The Chinese are slowly

leaving. In a few years,
Geylang won’t be Little
Chinatown any more
A long-time resident
Busloads were often seen ferrying Chinese tourists from the red-light district to
the two integrated resorts downtown and on the tourist island of Sentosa.
A bus driver with a local travel agency that deals mainly with tour groups from
mainland China and Hong Kong adds that families do not mind being put up in the
red-light district.
“Most of the rooms are small and can barely t a family but the Chinese tourists
don’t mind because of its proximity to the casinos. Plus, food around the area is
cheap so it is de nitely a hotspot,” he says.
THE LITTLE INDIA RIOT
The presence of all things Chinese began to wane after 2013, because of an event in
nearby Little India.
That year, a riot took place after intoxicated migrant workers reacted violently
when an Indian worker was killed in a tra c accident.
The incident shocked a country unused to such overt displays of violence. In its
aftermath, Singapore’s police chief pointed out that Geylang, too, had “a hint of
lawlessness” and hostility against the police that made the area “a potential
powder keg”.
The government responded with a weekend alcohol ban in both Little India and
Geylang, in addition to a nightly drinks curfew.
Police patrols were stepped up in Geylang, with increased raids on illicit trade.
Surveillance cameras were installed, further limiting the space of illegal Chinese
sex workers and the open-air gambling dens.
A market in Little India, where a riot involving foreign workers broke out in 2013. Photo: Xinhua
These measures, coupled with Singapore’s move away from depending on a

foreign labour force due to local dissatisfaction, led to a decrease in the number of
Chinese workers in Geylang.
Residents in Geylang told This Week in Asia that shops selling Chinese food and
wares have been gradually closing down in the last two years.
It did not help that tech-savvy Chinese sex workers have increasingly been going
online.
According to Ho from Project X, online sex workers in Singapore, most whom are
Chinese nationals, are reaching out to customers directly through websites and
apps – using social media and smartphones as middlemen.
On gay sex, India has assumed an ancient position. Read the

Karma Sutra
[5]
By going online, these sex workers can easily hide in the public-housing
heartlands of Singapore, undetected for as long as their tourist visas last.
Previously a hotspot for licensed brothels, a row of empty houses now line Lorong
18 and 20 in Geylang.
“Geylang is increasingly quiet and businesses are su ering,” said the long-time
resident. “No alcohol and no girls. There’s no reason to come to Geylang any more.
“The Chinese are slowly leaving. In a few years, Geylang won’t be ‘Little
Chinatown’ any more.”
Source URL: https://scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2185038/geylang-oh-

geylang-how-mainland-chinese-fell-and-out-love
Links
[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116638/chinas-
environmental-clean-campaign-hasnt-cost-jobs-or
[2] https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2137197/hong-kong-sugar-
babies-singapore-sugar-daddies-its-not-about
[3] https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2179529/we-need-look-
after-our-own-japans-troubled-relationship
[4] https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2176970/yellow-fever-
cure-needed-say-asian-victims-sex-prejudice
[5] https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2164299/gay-sex-india-
has-assumed-ancient-position-read-kama-sutra

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07/04/2019 Geylang, oh Geylang!

Geylang, oh Geylang! How mainland

It helped that he was joining a well-knit community of mainland Chinese migrant

Clean-up campaign seeing slow death of Singapore’s Chinatown

Singapore’s tightening foreign labour policies, heightened security after an

START OF THE INFLUX

Desperate for cheap accommodation in expensive Singapore and with worker

In particular, these workers unearthed cheap housing in two Geylang

Wing Fong Court in Geylang, Singapore. Photo: Clifford Lee

While workers from India and Bangladesh found a ordable accommodation in

“We need to look after our own’: Japan’s troubled relationship

THE NEXT WAVE

A sex shop in Geylang. Photo: AFP

Yellow fever: Cure needed, say Asian victims of sex prejudice

The Chinese are slowly

THE LITTLE INDIA RIOT

These measures, coupled with Singapore’s move away from depending on a

On gay sex, India has assumed an ancient position. Read the

Source URL: https://scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2185038/geylang-oh-

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