Singapore is known to be a "fine" city; clean, green, stable and safe. But in the midst of this wonderful city, there are ugly happenings around. I came upon this article, Sexual Slavery in Decent Singapore (Singapore Democrats), shocked to find out that the place I thought to be safe has its dark side around.
It talks about the jargon of those who fight human trafficking, Thailand is the "source and transit" country while Singapore is the "destination". Recently, a Thai girl came to Singapore, thinking that she was going to work at a restaurant. Instead, she found herself working above a restaurant, locked up and forced against her will to provide sex to customers. Even though we are govern by the rule of law, having strict laws against sex trafficking; yet, somehow the rule of law does not serve to sexual servitude.
As a Singaporean, I've gotten so accustomed to our culture, growing up and thinking that this country that I live in is safe and peaceful where I can be assure that the government will protect each and every one living on this tiny island and having no fear for any injustice. Even when I grew up to find out that there are places which provides sexual services, like in Geylang, I always thought that these girls who are involved in these practices are willing. However, through this article, I've found out that sometimes, things aren't exactly what we see or think.
We learnt through our cultural values which clearly justifies that we should not be engaging in sexual slavery. And somehow, we've programmed our mind to thinking that our society does not engage in such practices. I wonder if these practices will ever come to an end. Roaming down Geylang on saturday night with my friends caused me to ponder if these prostitutes I see on the streets and behind the alleys were forced against their own will to engaged in this business. I definitely hope not. Then again, how often do we read and news on the prostitutes in Singapore being forced into this industry. Is our government stopping the media from publishing on these stories? Or perhaps we do live in a safe and stable society, and that this may just be one story of the Thai girl becoming a victim to sexual slavery.
I agree that most Singaporeans don't acknowledge that sexual slavery is happening in our country, especially so when our culture seems to have everyone abiding the laws. Furthermore, I think that our government seem to have portray a very good impression of Singapore, allowing people from all over the world to think that Singapore is a very decent society; therefore, leading them off guard to defend themselves against such possibility of becoming a sex slave.
ReplyDeleteYes Fiona, I do agree that Singapore's government might have given everyone a great impression of Singapore; however, the media do play an important role as well. The media might have filtered out such incidents on sexual slavery. Thus, many Singaporeans do not know of such happening in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, that are many shaddy deals that happen right under our noses in Singapore that the general public are not aware of. Sexual Slavery is just one of the many local happenings that have not been reported, along with gang fights, road accidents, illegal gambling rings and even suicide.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to govt here i dont say much.how much is being censored so that the ideology that you grew up is being reinforced is a big question that many think about but dont voice. But no matter what society there are always bad apples that break from the norm just to make a quick buck.
ReplyDeleteAll the immigrants that come to singapore in the hopes of finding a job and creating an honest livelihood: the domestic helpers from Indonesia and Philippines, the manual laborers from India and Thailand - they end up being exploited and treated like lesser or second class inhabitants. We hear stories of sexual abuse and slavery and it's just painful to know that it exists here and all round the world, too.
ReplyDeleteto mytake101. I do agree with your thoughts on the under reporting issues in Singapore. And I also feel that it is probably because we're also an Asian country. Probably the media and the government feels that it's better keeping things "behind closed doors". Just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteJustin. Firstly, thanks for your comment. Censorship is quite an issue in Singapore. I was watching on of the MTV awards the other day and when Eminem was invited to performed, most of his rap was censored probably due to vulgarities. Then again, I was listening to the radio last night and again, for another song "I love College" words such as "naked" and "condoms" were also censored. I find it really amusing. Somehow, censorship cuts out the meaning to the songs and even movies.
ReplyDeleteThat's what everyone who leaves the country hopes for isn't it? Leaving their comfort zone, their familiarity, to seek a better life on the other side of the world. However, things do not necessarily happen the way it's expected to be. Then again, there are many communities which are set up to help these immigrants cope and adjust with their new life.
ReplyDeleteIt's really kinda upsetting to realize that our home country has such incidents of diminishing other people's hopes and dreams of a better live when they come over, even though I think every country faces these problems.
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