What does he mean when he says I'm Entertaining? He says he's entertaining clients, or 'talking business'. But what does he get up to in those hours after work when the restaurants have closed and Singapore's nightlife stirs? K.P. Seow, 18, found out when she joined a bevy of young women whose job is to entertain executives in an exclusive hostess club off Orchard Road...

Like most people who've never been in one, I believe a hostess club would be some sleazy cabaret bar - the kind often portrayed in Cantonese soap operas. But the club which hired me turned out to be more of an exclusive executive lounge, a private members' club, entry by membership only and definitely expensive.

The decor was tasteful - black and gold mainly, with bronze statuettes situated unobtrusively at various corners, giving the place an ethereal quality. Without a doubt, its opulent interior epitomised elegance and wealth in abundance.

So did the bills of entertainment which amounted to hundreds if not thousands per table, depending on the size of the group. Later, I learnt from some of the girls who had previously worked in other lounges that this particular night-club is one of the classiest in Singapore because it caters to an up-market clientele consisting of executives mainly.

The bills mount up this way: Cover charge per head is S$20. Drink prices vary, depending on what one orders. Usually, members have their own bottles of whisky or brandy from the lounge, with an engraved silver name plate around the bottle neck. The bottle is produced every time the guest arrives.

The cost for one hostess to accompany one guest is between S$30-S$35 per hour and each drink (there is a separate non-alcoholic drink list for the hostesses: honeydew juice, orange juice, Coca-Cola, 7-Up, Chinese tea or milk) which the hostesses are permitted to order every 45 minutes, is S$15.

Most of the men who came to the club were either in their 30s or 40s. Some were old enough to be my father, certainly, some had children my age, sometimes older, and it amused me when I received propositions and proposals (none of which I ever considered seriously).

With few exceptions, to me they were lecherous, perverted, desperate old bags of wind. My worst (unfounded) nightmare was to meet someone I know or a friend's father in the club.

I suppose the million dollar question every woman, wife and mother asks is: Why do men go to hostess clubs in the first place? Boredom? Relaxation? Entertainment?

Many men I spoke to said it was to entertain business clients and at the same time, they like the atmosphere, the ambience and enjoy being surrounded by women who are there to serve. Most of them come after working hours, tired and not wanting to make a special effort in socializing, so what better place than a club where the girls take the initiative?

If their business contacts don't like it, they can always take them somewhere else. But usually the men like it even if they don't flirt with the girls. It's relaxing to be served.

Kelvin, 31, a bachelor who works in an engineering firm and a regular at my club, said: "For me, business is number one. I don't care much about being entertained by a girl; that's only secondary. Usually, I don't bother getting a girl to sit with me, just my client.

"I want my guests to be well taken care of. as long as my business associates are happy, that's the most important."

"At the same time," Kelvin admitted, "if I feel like 'letting my hair down', being with a mature woman might inhibit me whereas with a young girl, who knows, maybe she will make me feel young!"

Generally, the men prefer to entertain their clients in the club's plush surroundings because it is convenient. "I take them to a fancy place where things are done properly, regardless of whether they expect it or not, just to be on the safe side," said one executive.

However, aside from being a place to entertain business clients, the club is also a contact point for dates, even the brief sexual encounter. Name cards and telephone numbers are discreetly exchanged between men and hostesses (though not all hostesses divulge their telephone numbers), and after working hours, what transpires between guests and hostesses is entirely their own concern.

Dates consist of going to discotheques, lunch, high tea, dinner or supper. "I don't mind socialising with a guest outside working hours, say lunch or dinner, but only if he's nice," said Khai, a hostess. Certainly, the general sentiment is, if a man is pleasant and he is willing to splurge on you, why not?

The cardinal rule which a hostess observes is to give the guests such an enjoyable time, they will return to the club, which means more profit for the company. The hostesses learn their lessons well.

Chiba, 19, said: "A good hostess is someone who is able to entertain her guest and make him come back to request for her... How much a guest likes a girl depends on how well she presents herself, her behaviour, her ability to socialise and how well she carries out her table service - offering a hot towel, mixing his drink, making sure his glass is always dry, lighting his cigarette, changing astrays the moment there are two cigarette butts in it."

Basically, the men are pampered and treated like VIPs. The ladies talk to them, put them at ease, drink with them (but no alcoholic drinks for the girls) and dance with them, while a live band dishes out slow numbers and the occasional pulsating disco hits for those who wish to boogie. Games like backgammon and darts are available too.

What sort of girls work as hostesses?

Many hostesses are school dropouts. Some are divorced mothers who have to make ends meet (the best way they know how); and others who have a flair for entertaining are simply lured by the fast money.

There are also those who hold day jobs and work part-time (for three hours) at night to supplement their income - (rising cost of living in Singapore) and not forgetting those who were victims of molest, rape or incest.

One Wife's Story

'If he's talking about business, why does he need the company of girls?'

It often takes a brave or foolhardy man to own up to his wife that he entertains business associates at hostess clubs. But in the case of women like Tracy, who is a housewife in her thirties with a brood of young children, her financial dependence means that she has no choice but to accept the manner in which her husband entertains.

"When my husband told me that he was joining a club," recalls Tracy, "I was against it because firstly, it's a waste of maoney. It's totally ridiculous to have bills amounting to $3000 or $4000 a month just for entertainment. The money was my main grouse.

"Secondly, I was afraid it would result in him having an affair or keeping a mistress."

Her initial reaction was anger. "Why does he need to go there? He says he uses it as a place for entertaining. If he wants to entertain clients, fine. But if he goes there for the sole purpose of entertaining himself, I'm against it.

"If he's talking about business, why does he need the company of girls? The men are always on the defensive. They say that being a hostess is a decent job. Would he accept the fact if I go to work as a hostess?"

"When he first became a member of the club, he went there very often, about five to six times a week. I didn't see him on most evenings and I wasn't very happy about that. I felt that he wasn't spending enough time with the kids and to think that he prefers to spend his time at the lounge instead just makes me mad!"

"It did cross my mind that he might be having an affair. There was this particular number 69 that kept appearing on the bills. We had a few rows. I thought she was my husband's regular girl. Turns out number 69 is his friend's girl. We talked about it. I'm relieved that 69 isn't Jim's girl."

"The men like to go out in a big group. It brings them back to their bachelor days and when they're together, they get carried away. They play finger-guessing games. It's so infantile. I don't understand why they play it. It's totally beyond me! Totally ridiculous!"

"But, I can't stop him. He's a grown man. He likes the place .... the ambience. I feel that a wife shouldn't jeopardize her husband's business relationships and contacts . I'm not happy about it but I accept it as long as it doesn't get out of hand, as long as he tells me where he goes and what he does."

Book on Chinese student prostitution ruffles feathers in Singapore

Pang Ai Lin

11:36am, Sun: SINGAPORE, (AFP) - A kiss-and-tell novel exposing the double lives of China-born students in Singapore has flown off bookshelves in the city-state and ruffled feathers along the way.

Wuya ("Crows" in Mandarin), details the lives of China-born "xiaolongnu" or little dragon girls who arrive as students but end up as hostesses, mistresses and prostitutes in their pursuit of the good life.

The novel has sold 10,000 copies since its launch on June 3 - a record in Singapore where most Chinese-language novels manage a meagre 2,000.

The book, which Beijing-based author Jiu Dan says is based on fact, has divided Chinese nationals and Singapore Chinese between those who praise Wuya for its brazen honesty and those who say it is entirely fiction.

China-born students receive a lot of support from their families "and would never resort to prostitution," Dooby Wu Li Rong, a student from Guangdong, told AFP.

"Chinese women are known for their integrity. I think Jiu Dan has forgotten that she is Chinese or she should not have been born Chinese."

Kelly Zhou, a former student from Shenzhen who is now married to a Singaporean, accuses the author of sensationalism.

"I have more respect for prostitutes because they sell their own bodies and don't hurt anyone else. Jiu Dan is hurting others for her own benefit.

"China is so big. There must be more rich people in China than there are in Singapore. So why would we come here to seduce Singapore men?"

Passport to a better life

But 22-year-old "Sisi", working illegally as a nightclub hostess while studying for a diploma in English, says Singapore men are a passport to a better life.

"I want to earn as much money as possible before my student pass expires. I want to buy new clothes and I want to buy an apartment when I return home," she said during a break from entertaining customers.

She said her extra curricular activities brought in S$4,000 (US$2,250) a month in tips alone. She denied she slept with clients, but said colleagues who did earned another US$500 a night.

Although Sisi's parents are paying for her studies, some students from China take out loans of up to 50,000 yuan (US$6,000) to get to Singapore where they are prohibited from working legally and need to find ways to repay the money.

Diamond-encrusted watches

Jiu Dan says the student prostitution in Wuya is not autobiographical, but is based on what she saw and heard while studying in Singapore in 1995-97.

"They may deny it, but the dream of every Chinese woman when she boards a plane out of China is to find a way to stay overseas. Otherwise, why not just stay in China?" she said.

In the heart of Singapore's Chinatown, a saleswoman told AFP that every weekend she sees "China-born girls, all dressed-up, going to the KTV lounge upstairs with old uncles in their 50s and 60s."

The manager of a downtown luxury watch boutique said young mainland Chinese students and their middle-aged "boyfriends" were regular clients.

"The girls would come by with some girlfriends close to their birthdays and pick a watch. They would then come back days later with their boyfriends and point out exactly what they want."

He said the diamond-encrusted watches they chose cost at least US$10,000 and "for the prettier girls, the value of the watches may go up to US$20,000."

'Not pornography'

Wuya has sold 50,000 copies since it was first published in China early this year and an English-language version will hit Singapore bookstores within a month.

Jiu Dan, who says she will continue to strip her people bare by writing two new books "in the same spirit as Wuya," is also in talks with Hong Kong and China producers for a film version of the bestseller.

"I was talking to some film directors in Singapore too, but they have stopped communicating with me. Maybe they are bowing to pressure in their country," she said.

Singapore Minister for Information and the Arts Lee Yock Suan has said the government would not ban Wuya in Singapore as it is just a novel and not pornography.

He said readers could judge for themselves if Wuya reflected reality.

Source: Malaysiakini.com, Sunday, August 05,2001.

Prostitute schoolgirl arrested

By R.S.N. Murali

SEREMBAN: She is supposed to sit for the PMR examination in October but instead of studying, the Form Three schoolgirl has been busy providing sexual services over the past six months.

The 15-year-old girl was arrested while soliciting the wrong client on Wednesday.

He happened to be an undercover policeman investigating such cases.

The student, from Taman Labu Jaya, was detained near her school, while in the midst of soliciting.

She was still dressed in her school uniform but wore a jacket over her pinafore and carried a cellular phone.

Sources said the schoolgirl had been charging between RM100 and RM150 per sex session at nearby hotels.

The undercover policeman, who had apparently been looking for her, saw the girl walking towards a foodcourt at 2pm. When she offered her services, he arrested her.

OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Khalid Abu Hassan, who confirmed the arrest, declined to elaborate on the matter.

It is believed that the girl is now under the custody of state Welfare Department officials.

Her 37-year-old father is a lorry driver while the 35-year-old mother is a housewife.

Sources said the mother had also been questioned over her daughter's activities.

Source: The Star Online, Friday, August 24, 2001.

Over 100 nabbed in Orchard Towers raid

The 106 women arrested are suspected to be prostitutes; the operation targeted foreigners who are here to engage in vice

By Julyn Kang

BY DAY, shoppers go to Orchard Towers for bargain clothes and electronic goods but, at night, the place seems to attract a different crowd.

In one of the major anti-vice swoops on Orchard Road in recent months, the police nabbed 106 women on Saturday night who were suspected to be working as prostitutes in the building, which mainly houses small shops, pubs, discos and beauty salons.

The police said yesterday that the operation was targeted at foreign women who entered Singapore to engage in vice activities.

Those arrested came from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The police said that investigations were ongoing. They warned that they would continue to take tough action against those who were found to have entered Singapore illegally, overstayed or to have been involved in vice.

Orchard Towers, a pink building next to Delfi Orchard, has five levels of shops, including nine electronic shops, 11 jewellery shops, 20 beauty salons and 25 tailoring and fashion shops.

When interviewed yesterday, a 49-year-old businessman, who runs a tailoring shop, noted that many of the foreign women would flock to the place at night.

'You can see them after 8 pm until 3 am. It's like a fish pond,' he said.

The building is also a popular hangout for many expatriates and sailors who frequent its nine nightspots, such as the Top Ten disco and the Ipanema World Bar.

But its seedy image has apparently affected some of its tenants.

A wine-shop manager, 26, said: 'Some of my female customers tell me they have been approached before. Sometimes, drunk men come into the shop and I've to throw them out.'

It gets even rowdier when some of the pubs hold tea dances every Sunday at 3 pm and organise beauty contests, she said.

She closes the shop at about 7.30 pm as she does not want to be in the building after dark, she said.

IT consultant Ling Young Hoon, 31, who attends a course there every Sunday, said she was afraid to go to the toilet unaccompanied, adding that people had told her that there could be peeping Toms.

But for others, it is business as usual.

Said a men's wear shop owner: 'A lot of girls walk around so the guys come too and we can catch them. Sometimes, the girls will even recommend us to customers. Then we'll give them a little commission.'

Source: The Straits Times Interactive, Singapore. Monday, December 03, 2001.