Sex, spas, sleaze: what Orchard Road of Singapore hides in plain sight

[masterwanker]

Beneath the veneer of glitzy malls on the Lion City’s favourite shopping belt lies a thriving covert sex trade

By P. Silvam

1 Jul 2018

It is evening on a sultry Sunday and a meandering crowd of families, tourists and food delivery riders jostle for space on the footpath outside Concorde Hotel. Yet all is still and silent inside the building’s shopping wing, except for two units offering massage and facial services.

In one of them, located beside the security desk, a middle-aged lady wearing a lime green halter top and beige miniskirt performs a series of jumping jacks in full view of passers-by.

Her eyes dart occasionally at male tourists, cajoling them to join her. For those who do stop by to chat, she gesticulates towards a partitioned room behind her and indicates that “it’s safer to talk inside” while pointing to the CCTV cameras near the unit.

On the floor above, a group of toddlers run amok at the lobby of Concorde Hotel while other hotel guests read, dine and natter.

Orchard Road, the barber’s pole of capitalism in Singapore, is a conglomeration of contemporary urban lifestyle clichés that is home to world-renowned hotels, Michelin-star restaurants and global brands such as Hermès, Cartier and Apple.

Hong Kong sugar babies, Singapore sugar daddies – but it’s NOT about selling sex, these dating websites insistp

Yet, beneath this well-curated veneer of glitzy malls and high-end living lies a thriving sex trade catering to tourists and locals alike. In a country with strict anti-vice laws and legalised brothel areas, the existence of a covert sex trade in a high-end shopping district touted as the “Milan of Asia” is something of a social anomaly.

“I’ve worked at Orchard Road for more than 30 years and till today I get tourists who get so surprised when they see the seedy side of Orchard Road,” says a 63-year-old tailor at Orchard Plaza who asks to be known only as Richard. “As long as there are desperate men around, there will always be sex even in the cleanest of places – you can be 100 per cent assured of that.”

The open secret

The vice central of the shopping belt is Orchard Towers, only a short walk from the Shangri-La Hotel and St. Regis where US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stayed, respectively, for their recent summit.

Bar hostesses look on from a corridor in Cuppage Plaza. Photo: C Lee

Built in 1975, the 18-storey office building is notorious for its assortment of girlie bars, massage parlours and seedy nightlife that occupy four storeys, earning it the nickname “Four Floors of Whores”.

A visit to the building after midnight on a Friday is illuminating. Four law enforcement officers attend a report of disorderly conduct outside a hostess bar on the second floor, while less than 20 metres away, three massage parlours continue to operate with scantily clad women on high stools calling out to male passers-by.

‘I trafficked women at a famous Hong Kong nightclub’p

Outside the building, taxi drivers roll down their windows and offer to take male tourists to places where they can have “extra fun” depending on their budget.


http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/societ...es-plain-sight

[Camryaltis]

Originally Posted by masterwanker

Beneath the veneer of glitzy malls on the Lion City’s favourite shopping belt lies a thriving covert sex trade

By P. Silvam

1 Jul 2018

It is evening on a sultry Sunday and a meandering crowd of families, tourists and food delivery riders jostle for space on the footpath outside Concorde Hotel. Yet all is still and silent inside the building’s shopping wing, except for two units offering massage and facial services.

In one of them, located beside the security desk, a middle-aged lady wearing a lime green halter top and beige miniskirt performs a series of jumping jacks in full view of passers-by.

Her eyes dart occasionally at male tourists, cajoling them to join her. For those who do stop by to chat, she gesticulates towards a partitioned room behind her and indicates that “it’s safer to talk inside” while pointing to the CCTV cameras near the unit.

On the floor above, a group of toddlers run amok at the lobby of Concorde Hotel while other hotel guests read, dine and natter.

Orchard Road, the barber’s pole of capitalism in Singapore, is a conglomeration of contemporary urban lifestyle clichés that is home to world-renowned hotels, Michelin-star restaurants and global brands such as Hermès, Cartier and Apple.

Hong Kong sugar babies, Singapore sugar daddies – but it’s NOT about selling sex, these dating websites insistp

Yet, beneath this well-curated veneer of glitzy malls and high-end living lies a thriving sex trade catering to tourists and locals alike. In a country with strict anti-vice laws and legalised brothel areas, the existence of a covert sex trade in a high-end shopping district touted as the “Milan of Asia” is something of a social anomaly.

“I’ve worked at Orchard Road for more than 30 years and till today I get tourists who get so surprised when they see the seedy side of Orchard Road,” says a 63-year-old tailor at Orchard Plaza who asks to be known only as Richard. “As long as there are desperate men around, there will always be sex even in the cleanest of places – you can be 100 per cent assured of that.”

The open secret

The vice central of the shopping belt is Orchard Towers, only a short walk from the Shangri-La Hotel and St. Regis where US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stayed, respectively, for their recent summit.

Bar hostesses look on from a corridor in Cuppage Plaza. Photo: C Lee

Built in 1975, the 18-storey office building is notorious for its assortment of girlie bars, massage parlours and seedy nightlife that occupy four storeys, earning it the nickname “Four Floors of Whores”.

A visit to the building after midnight on a Friday is illuminating. Four law enforcement officers attend a report of disorderly conduct outside a hostess bar on the second floor, while less than 20 metres away, three massage parlours continue to operate with scantily clad women on high stools calling out to male passers-by.

‘I trafficked women at a famous Hong Kong nightclub’p

Outside the building, taxi drivers roll down their windows and offer to take male tourists to places where they can have “extra fun” depending on their budget.


http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/societ...es-plain-sight

STOMP reported abt someone who was asked to tail her spouse to Orchard towers n got a video clip of the hostess doing a lap dance and exposing her breasts.

[conquer]

I double checked the date of the article to make sure it was not written in 1998.

[Keita8]

Didn't know Singapore got so many exciting places .

[HoweK3]

This story is like trying to beat a dead horse. We all know how 'frequent' this type of story is written over & over again once every few years. Rolling eyes.

[jgosh80]

A foreign media writing about vice in spore. And it's not even something new or trending at the moment. I wonder what is their motive.

[sionglim]

This news appear in yahoo last week.

1st july news at sg. Yahoo.com

[sionglim]

Originally Posted by jgosh80

A foreign media writing about vice in spore. And it's not even something new or trending at the moment. I wonder what is their motive.

no trump summit in hk.

[sionglim]

Originally Posted by HoweK3

This story is like trying to beat a dead horse. We all know how 'frequent' this type of story is written over & over again once every few years. Rolling eyes.

No every yr have, last one were few mth back, abt orchard rd

[sionglim]

Originally Posted by Camryaltis

STOMP reported abt someone who was asked to tail her spouse to Orchard towers n got a video clip of the hostess doing a lap dance and exposing her breasts.

Yes i saw this at stomp too

[JoesephToh]

Originally Posted by sionglim

Not happy, no trump summit in hk.

Who not happy ???

[sionglim]

3rd july the news appear in new straits times web site

[sionglim]

Originally Posted by jgosh80

A foreign media writing about vice in spore. And it's not even something new or trending at the moment. I wonder what is their motive.

Advertising ask ppl come here
Or is it fake news

[moneytarik]

Originally Posted by JoesephToh

Who not happy ???

Yalor , who ah ??

[deepu]

Originally Posted by conquer

I double checked the date of the article to make sure it was not written in 1998.

Recently anyone from government got dirty news which need to be camouflaged?