80 youths - some as young as 12 - were arrested by the Singapore Police Force in July 2011 for being on the records of loansharks. Most of the traumatised school kids were just trying to earn extra pocket money by distributing fliers. To the police they were technically "assisting in the operations of illegal moneylenders".
80 men were hauled up for questioning by the authorities sometime last year - including a head of strategic planning at Police Training Command, a Navy officer, a National Environment Agency senior counsel and a school principal - for being listed in the laptop database of an online vice operation. 44 men, including 9 public servants, have been charged in court.
Their crime is having paid sex with a person under 18. Their foolishness is transacting through an alleged pimp who used to be an adviser to the chairman of Shell International Petroleum. Lulled by the confidence of dealing with a professional with impeccable credentials, the last thing they thought of was to ask the lady to swear on the Good Book and promise to tell the truth, the whole and nothing but the truth. About her age, that is.
Apparently the police have also been lulled into believing it's an open-and-shut case. Lawyers have now pointed out that the age of the girl is not included in the court documents. According to the legal eagles, this means the charges are technically flawed - "The charge sheets should set out her date of birth so we know she was below 18 at the time of the offence." Which means some of the 80 interviewed will not be charged if the liaison dangereuse was concluded an hour or a minute after she turned 18. The pertinent factoid here is that prostitution in Singapore is legal. Sure it's a sin in the eyes of the morally upright, but the law makers here appear to be on the side of the female with a service for hire. Hey, at $850 a session, she has to be the poster child of productivity.
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Hate to sound cynical, but yes, she sure is a model of productivity : LSS would probably want to use her as a pin-up for his Productivity drive.....
ReplyDeleteForgiveable, your sounding cynical that is. I too have become cynical, given the hypocrisy of the MIWs.
DeleteI am mixed about revealing the identity and picture of this girl as some people are baying for blood. Imagine the wives/children of these 48 men , that they are going to see her face and be reminded and compared to for lives..how to heal and move on like that?! Enough damage is already done. The pimp is a snake-oil seller and traitor who mis-used his intelligence on the wrong things.
ReplyDeleteBirdie said that Tang guy is related to someone in PAP..(SHT?) He boasted he has very strong backing..is that why that MP is potentially resigning thus there's a by-election oppty in AMK?
DeleteOnly the girl's age will be revealed.
DeleteNothing else.
There will be a gag order on the rest of her details.
Some website or forum have already started put some pictures of the girl (not fully)..the witch hunt is on, and naming and shaming will start. Who knows if it will be a mistaken identity like the drummer boy again..sigh..
DeleteRichard Wilkinson, on one of his TED slide (when presenting inequality)showed that our little SIN city was ranking top in terms of prisoners per '000 population!! This must be ahead of China even, on our own very league table! Imagine SPF have too much resources to squander on petty crimes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-18/singapore-charges-48-in-underage-prostitution-scandal
ReplyDeleteTip of the iceberg. Still waiting to see some MIW's names....
Yes, early days. There's still another 9 men for sex with underaged Vietnamese girl. And who knows, maybe another 32 more to go (80-48=32)? Get your popcorn out.
DeletePoster child of productivity? Not in Hard Truth's many books - productivity means that when you get your rocks off, the outcome is babies, otherwise it is non-productive (I am not sure about our minister without portfolio's definition of productivity).
ReplyDeleteIn 2010 Hard Truth decried:
"Today, Singapore citizens produce only 32,000 babies in a year when we should have 60,000 just to replace our population"
Why do we find such sins of the libido more common now (a contributory cause of our low fertility rate of 1.11)? I think our romeos have too much loose change - very good pay, especially in the civil, administrative and uniformed services, and a low tax regime. Affluence! On top of other factors.
Look, a permanent secretary can spend $20,000 to learn cooking in Paris, what is $850 for a one hour stand with a cup DD siren? You save on airfare to boot.
If you are the investing type, forgoing a tryst a month can buy you a HDB flat - according to the calculations of the MIWs
ReplyDeleteThe police and the prosecution team must gave a productive year too. So many charges on one case! KPI reached for the last FY and this FY I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI for one, don't see what is with the media frenzy on this case of the 80 men and the little lady. What about the previous corruption case of the two chiefs? The by-election in Hougang? The bus driver that mowed down an innocent woman?
And yes, the girl should be revealed. Fair's fair and in this age of information and Wikileaks, all skeletons in the closet should be brought out.
The timing is carefully planned/executed. They coincide it with the MRT COI to distract people's attention. And by the time we get through this 80 men and their salacious stories, the 2 ex-chiefs will have looked like a walk in the park...why else do you think they can move so rapidly on 80men but would drag their feet on 2 ex-chief? Unless we are talking about a Bourne-Supremacy plot, why would take so long to reveal the case?!
DeleteOur courts are showing more of their weaknesses and prejudices in recent cases. What a shame! Who the hell can you trust in Singapore?
ReplyDeleteLegally you are innocent until proven. But media wise, these people are already guilty unless proven. That's the anomaly of Singapore cocked-up system for you!! Why else are they being 'charged" in court? It is so wrong with our society.
DeleteSo the elites are horny.
ReplyDeleteSo why aren't they making more babies with their elite wives and girlfriends?
Looks like the elite men were also looking for cheaper, better, faster action than what their elite wives and girlfriends can provide.
I guess elite wives and girlfriends talk too much about buying elite homes, choosing the right elite schools for the children, the proper country club to join and etc.
Still. Expensive lawyers and an overseas relocation for a few years can't hurt.
Do western countries grant new citizenship to sex offenders?
Elites or non-elites, people are horny! The list is a testament of that. Not everybody wants to go to Geylang..that's for different segment of clients let's face it. if It's not online, i'm sure there are more classy ring that provide such services, in casinos or rich yatches etc..if there is demand there is supply..simple. Societally, when you try to 'act and pretend' innocence or all white, integrity instead of your true self, that's what happens - people start to lead double lives so that they look 'normal''righteous'. It makes it worse when you have a political culture that even 'promote'' that. Not a healthy trend for a country.
DeleteQuite a wide range of guys been caught for having sex with an under-aged local prostitute, looks like Singaporean wives are not doing a good job in bed. Maybe next time, before marriage, should make them attend some courses on 'how to take care of husband at night'. MIW should pass such law! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThis a sad sex story!
As a lay citizen in the senior citizen category,
ReplyDeleteI am much baffled by the 'help' given by the Authority to hide the identities of law-breakers.
We get to see the faces and bio-data of law-breakers
covered, blanked out, given the mosaic and blurred over treatments to hide the culprit(s) face. Even their voices are given electronic alteration.
Is it not wise to expose anyone who is a threat to society, so that others can be wary and take precaution against them?
the law breakers are the 48 men here..madam.
DeleteMany marriages are wrecked by Third Party
ReplyDeleteand it seems some prostitutes could wreck
more than Third Party as the Case shows.
So much publicity and sensational reports in the old and new medias.
Anyway, when it comes to vice, there should be NO DISTINCTION of calibres. In fact, there is a warning in Chinese that 'wan er yinn wei shou',
meaning sexual gratification is the greatest evil.
Another Saying is 'yin poa si yinn', having a satisfied stomach leads to thought and want of sex. So, sex must be on the minds of the rich and powerful and it is evident in orgies and trading partners reportedly were organized infrequently by the successful people.
That's what happen when you bring in the 'bad money'..to fuel fake growth. Bad money goes with bad activities...orgies, pedophile, trafficking, laundering, gangs, loansharking, rich millionaires, fast cars, hedgies, casino..
DeleteIs called the Gresham's law. Go wiki it. Works the same ways as your population too!
Such brilliant quick-fix for MIW. Is it all worth it?
It is a best way to distract citizens from more pressing issues. What is the big deal about a prostitue who cahrged hundreds for a session. She is not innocent and if she is, the fault lies with the pimp and not the customers. How do the judges expect these guys? Take a checklist before doing the work? Check ID, Check passport, check health cert. Hey, this is not an employment agency you know?
ReplyDeleteCome on, the girl and the organisation behind are the real culprits and should be punished. These 80 men are victims of circumstances. Since prostitution is legal, they probably thought they have done nothing wrong with such activities.
By the way, perhaps they should check if those assets are real or through surgery. Afetr all, it is common for girls to go Korea for a total make over.
It is pathetic seeing the MSM photographers running around and falling over trying to take photos of the accused persons. Honestly, do we really care? It is even more pathetic to see Straits Times (as the main broadsheet) putting this as headline news. You expect such news to make headlines for a rubbish tabloid like The New Paper. I agree with fellow contributors here. The uncanny timing with the SMRT COI cast a shadow on the government trying to distract attention from the COI. And by the way, the Police should tell us when they are going to charge the girl in the Juvenile court or send her for rehabilitation. She was not a victim. She was earning a lot of money off the accused persons willingly.
ReplyDeleteNow that the 'incomes' of the pimp and the under-age whore are more or less known; will the Income Tax Department(IRAS) make them pay their dues?
ReplyDeleteMany do not know this, but the so called "underaged victim" is not exactly a poor child from a broken family trying to make it rich by selling her body. The "additional" reason for protecting her identity at all cost is that she is much more well connected that the men charged. Grandparents are famous people.
ReplyDeleteoh my!! Do hint more..in that case, is that for 'love' of the pimp?!
Deletehttp://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/singapore-family-scion-3-others-charged-with-having-sex-with-underage-girl/512508
ReplyDeleteThink there's a give-away here. That Goh guy who did it at the Telok Kurau house with the girl, might lead to the identity?! Plot thickens.
Excuse me folks...
ReplyDeleteIt is not about just defending the girl...
The law states it clear as daylight...
We need to take note these guys can claim all they want they did not know her age and what not...the only observable logic/fact is it shows those who can see how many of them are willing to do a girl that look young/or underage...do also note quite a number of these guys are old enough to be her father...and these guys definitely on the high probability side has done other underage girls too local or otherwise...
If this case is not addressed in the open and effectively..which other "young gals" will they & others on the side lines then target next...and note not young underage impressionable girls will think it is also okay to go into vice since there is NO ROADBLOCK or seen as AOKAY to do...seeing how their other young friends are doing "well"...
thanks to all these older men who should not only know better...but be the farking adults here...but no...they just could not control themselves...this has to be addressed...else some or more of these "men" will go even further...targeting other underages girls or even "younger"...girls who at tat age are easy to manipulate until too late...insead of protecting them/guiding them positively...it is sad...
Please use an iota of imagination if those men does it to your daughter/niece...what you gonna do...still say it is okay and you are fine with it? Don't be a dickhead.
These men did wrong...and they must pay...why go younger girls when there are adult pros out there...so please stop defending these perverts okay...they want to do pros..fine...do with the adults...not with underage girls who should know better..yeah some same asshole will say she is only 17 years old...tink about those even younger who will "go" into the trade cos it is so easy to make money no thanks to these "older" men who has incidentally shown their true characters to the whole wide world.
Can you imagine this person standing next to your daughter or niece...think abt it a bit...
Sad.
Excuse me sir. The adults paid for a service - prostitution, for reasons best known to the people in charge, is legal in Singapore. The issue is one of false advertising - her descriptive states 18 years old. Unless the prosecution can prove beyond doubt that the victims were aware of her real age at time of transaction, they cannot be faulted. The recent lemon law may have to be tweaked here.
DeleteSo those two MOE scholars who pleaded guilty, they must know she is under 18yo at point of transactions, right? Why else would you admit to charges if not.
DeleteOur laws can sometimes be so unforgiveable in certain criminal cases. If not for the pimp, these guys would never be found guilty. In any case, it seems nobody is forcing this underaged girl to prostitute herself.
ReplyDeleteAlso isn't it kind of ironic ? Many of these guys here are in fact contributing to the revenue of Hotel 81 and on the other side, we have the Hotel founder/owner making a personal donation to NTU.
So can we now say NTU also happens to be funded partly & indirectly from revenue derived from the prostituting patrons & workers of Hotel 81 ?
Damage control, PR exercise. Shouldn't he contributing to that ITE where the girl went to school at. After all, she provided bulk of businesses to him. Hypocrite!
DeleteWhat if you know this girl STHK is from elite family. She started as social escort. Been doing this for awhile since 2010 for vanity or money, who knows. Does it change how you view her 'victim' profile?
ReplyDeleteBottom line.
ReplyDeleteHas any existing law been broken?
If yes, please prosecute.
If not happy with the law, we can always change it later on to say elites will be executed from prosecution.