Fewer alcohol licences, stricter operating hours for businesses among measures suggested
By Amelia Tan, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
By Amelia Tan, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
Geylang Members of Parliament and grassroots leaders want more done to keep the area safe, and say the measures should go beyond ramping up police patrols.
Moulmein-Kallang GRC MP Edwin Tong wants fewer alcohol licences issued, stricter operating hours for businesses near residential estates, and a stop to foreign worker dormitories sprouting near Housing Board flats.
Associate Professor Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC, who has overseen a series of measures such as lighting up dark alleys, believes a comprehensive review is needed.
Geylang has come under fresh focus after Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee said last Tuesday that he was more worried about the area than Little India, where a riot involving foreign workers took place last December.
Testifying at the Committee of Inquiry into the Little India riot, he said crime rates in Geylang were disproportionately high and hostility towards the police rife.
Mr Tong told The Sunday Times that the red-light district, with its many bars and lounges, peddlers selling contraband cigarettes and drugs, as well as shops and vendors which stay open late into the night make Geylang more of a potential trouble spot than Little India and increase the risk of violent crime.
"It is difficult for grassroots-driven initiatives to address these problems," he said. As the people who descend on Geylang do not live there or are foreign workers, mostly from China, "the police have to step up", he added.
He also highlighted the predicament of those living in Blocks 38 and 39 Upper Boon Keng Road, off Lorong 3 Geylang. The HDB flats are beside a row of terraced houses which have been converted into dormitories for workers from South Asian countries.
Many of the workers drink alcohol at the void decks of the blocks late into the night and some urinate at the playgrounds. Mr Tong said the problems have not been solved despite his asking police to increase their patrols.
He said: "I think the solution is to stop the houses from being used as dorms. They are just too near the HDB flats."
Grassroots leader Lee Hong Ping, 45, who labelled Geylang "Little Chinatown", said crowds of foreign workers from China can cause traffic jams when too many of them gather on the pavements and spill onto the roads. Residents have also complained about not feeling safe at night.Prof Fatimah said she has filed a question on security in the area for next month's Parliament sitting. In the meantime, "we will continue to engage the authorities".
Hooligans, prostitutes, gangsters and crooks
"Guest workers of Chinese origin, but also significant numbers of South Asian origin, converge on Geylang, and not just on the weekends - to eat, to meet, to drink and to shop.
"It is also a traditional red-light area which is an attraction in itself, with an attendant set of challenges not found in Little India.
"Geylang is a hot spot for illegal gambling, street cons, pirate cigarette peddling and drug dealing.
"Geylang's nightclubs, beer houses and eating places attract also large numbers of locals...
"Budget hotels advertising hourly rates dot the streetscape of Geylang, which is not the case in Little India.
"And it is common knowledge that the gangsters and the crooks like to congregate in Geylang.
"So all in all, Geylang presents an ecosystem which is complex, which is tinged with a certain criminal undertone, and this is quite in contrast with Little India.
"Unlike Little India, all the indications of potential trouble are there in Geylang. Crime numbers are high and disproportionately so and crimes of particular concern like robbery, rioting, affray remain persistent and always threaten to run away.
"Perhaps most worryingly about Geylang is that there is an overt hostility and antagonism towards the police. You may be alarmed to learn that police officers now and then have been obstructed by hooligan crowds from going about their work in Geylang."
An undercurrent of fear in Geylang
There is more potential for trouble in Geylang than in Little India, according to Singapore's police chief Ng Joo Hee. Walter Sim and Nur Asyiqin Mohd Salleh pay a visit to the red-light district, where some are afraid to talk, for fear of becoming targets themselves
The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
There is more potential for trouble in Geylang than in Little India, according to Singapore's police chief Ng Joo Hee. Walter Sim and Nur Asyiqin Mohd Salleh pay a visit to the red-light district, where some are afraid to talk, for fear of becoming targets themselves
The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
At dusk, like clockwork, streetwalkers in skimpy outfits emerge from alleyways. They flirt with men, both foreign and local, while being watched by minders on the alert for the police.
Off-corner massage parlours and hotels with hourly rates do a roaring trade. Nearby, peddlers sell sex drugs with names such as Super Magic and Tiger's Prestigious Life, while others deal in contraband cigarettes.
This is Geylang, Singapore's notorious red-light district and another foreign worker hot spot now in the spotlight after Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee said last week that the area was a bigger concern than Little India, where last December's riot took place.
"If Singaporeans are irked by the littering, the noise and the jaywalking in Little India, they'll certainly and quickly sense that there exists a hint of lawlessness in Geylang," he told the Committee of Inquiry into the riot.
It is an area where disproportionately more crime and public order offences take place. Last year, Special Operations Command forces were deployed to Geylang on 41 occasions, compared with 16 in Little India.
Last Friday afternoon, auxiliary policemen were seen taking away illegal cigarettes which had been stowed in trash cans in an alley next to a Buddhist temple.
Crowds of hooligans, Mr Ng said, are not afraid of standing in the way of police work. He recalled how an officer was once beaten up when he tried to detain an illegal gambling stall operator.
Residents say some shops in Geylang are just fronts for criminal activities. Gambling dens, for instance, are set up in small rooms behind the main shop area, or up on the second floor.
Many businesses and residents The Sunday Times spoke to declined to give their full names or to be photographed, worried they might "offend someone".
Yet Geylang is also home to many migrant workers who reside in sometimes overcrowded shophouses offering cheap rent.
Electrician Chai Zhi Yuan, 41, from Jiangsu, China, admits it could get "chaotic" at night and on weekends.
"I don't go out much as it can get very messy. Instead, my friends would come to my place for drinks," he said.
Bangladeshi construction worker Tarikul Islam, 20, also prefers to stay in at night "because there is a lot of trouble outside". Added compatriot Sakil Alam, 25: "Every week, I see fighting here, because of drinking. Maybe sometimes because of the girls."
And then there is the risk of being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"When I go out to buy food at night, the police often stop me and ask for my permit," said Mr Tarikul. "Maybe I am somewhere, not doing anything bad or causing trouble, but because they see me there, they think I'm also trouble."
Although MPs, grassroots activists and most residents are calling for Geylang to be cleaned up, the businesses - from coffee shops to KTV lounges and liquor shops - have a different perspective.
One provision shop owner said: "I really think no shop in Geylang will tell you, I want all this crime to stop. If they say that, they are lying. All these activities attract people, attract money."
Mr Teh Hock Koon, 50, who runs a bak kut teh stall in a coffee shop at the end of a row of bro-thels, told The Sunday Times: "The more 'complicated' an area is, the better it is to do business."
Since moving there a year ago, his takings have gone up by as much as 40 per cent.
Added a liquor wholesaler along Geylang Road: "Yes, police patrols will be good to bolster security, but it won't do us any good if the vice is completely stamped out either."
Already, five fast response squad cars are routinely deployed in Geylang every weekend - compared to three in Little India and one in most other estates. Two dozen uniformed officers conduct foot patrols, while plain-clothes police conduct checks on clubs and massage joints.
Mr Ng admitted that more could be done to enhance police presence in Geylang, and hopes to deploy 150 more officers there.
Retiree G. Goh, 62, who has lived in Geylang for over 50 years, said: "In the last decade, there were more foreigners coming. But they are not why there is crime now. There has always been crime in Geylang and the kings are your local fellows.
"The police who walk down the street will stop these foreigners, but they are all ikan bilis (small fish). The big fish, the whales, are all behind the scenes."
Unfair to say foreign workers cause trouble in Geylang
By Amelia Tan, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
By Amelia Tan, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
It is unfair to jump to the conclusion that foreign workers cause trouble in Geylang, said migrant rights groups.
They also believe an event like last December's Little India riot is less likely to happen in Geylang, as the workers who frequent the area gather in small pockets around the neighbourhood.
In contrast, hundreds congregate in popular spots in Little India such as the junction of Race Course Road and Hampshire Road where the riot took place.
"I think it is a difference in culture. South Asian workers find solidarity in numbers while the Chinese national workers are more independent," said Migrant Workers' Centre (MWC) executive director Bernard Menon.
He believes another key reason workers gather in smaller groups in Geylang is that there are hardly any large open fields in the area.
Instead, workers typically hang out in shaded areas at roadsides or in back alleys of shophouses.
And while Geylang has been a key gathering point for workers from China, not all visit the area. Others prefer to spend time in the heartlands, he said.
"They do not have to worry about not being understood, as many Singaporeans speak Mandarin. Most South Asian workers visit Little India because they know that the people there speak their language."
Staff from MWC and Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), which both have offices in Geylang where foreign workers can get help with employment disputes, said they hardly hear and see foreign workers getting into fights in the area.
Home's executive director Jolovan Wham said: "It is unfair to think that much of the crime and violence in Geylang is caused by foreign workers. This is a place where there are brothels, pubs, karaoke lounges. There are pimps and gangsters everywhere."
Mr Menon added that the majority of foreign workers in Singapore are law-abiding.
"Most of them would rather fly under the radar and not be noticed. They definitely do not want to court trouble. It would mean being sent home and not being able to earn money."
Ms Debbie Fordyce, a volunteer at Transient Workers Count Too, agreed that the foreign workers in Geylang want to avoid trouble.
"They go there because there are many restaurants selling cuisine from their hometowns. There are also grocery stores catering to them. Importantly, it is a meeting place where they can socialise with their friends."
The activists pointed out, however, that they see some problems because of the lack of amenities to accommodate the larger crowds on weekends.
Crowds spill out onto the roads and many pedestrians jay-walk - raising the risk of accidents. They suggested that more pedestrian crossings be introduced and some parks and benches built.
Ms Fordyce added that while facilities are important, workers must also feel that they are free to relax and be themselves. "They should not feel like they are constantly under surveillance."
'If you have a daughter, you worry, worry, worry'
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
Engineer John Yeo moved to Geylang as a newly-wed 15 years ago. Now a father of two, the 42-year-old cannot wait to move out.
He and his wife never used to mind walking down streets filled with sex workers, pirated CD sellers and gamblers.
As a young couple, they found it all novel and appealing.
"I didn't mind it. And my wife's even braver than me," he said.
"When we were younger, sometimes men would stop her to ask, 'How much?' She would scold them!"
Now, the couple have a 12-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter to worry about and they want to move into a "good neighbourhood".
They would have moved sooner, but his wife was retrenched and he was demoted some years ago and their plans were stalled.
Now they hope to leave for an HDB estate by the end of this year.
He recalled how his daughter was just eight years old when she asked him why there were so many women "waiting for a taxi" by the side of the road. "I was so shocked. I suddenly realised, this is not the place for children."
Mr Yeo, who declined to be photographed for fear of being stalked by "unsavoury characters" in the area, said he has seen Singaporean women who come for a meal in Geylang being propositioned by men.
"If I just had a son, I'd just tell him, don't do naughty things. But my daughter, what if she gets picked up?" he asked.
"If I just had a son, I'd just tell him, don't do naughty things. But my daughter, what if she gets picked up?" he asked.
"Geylang is not the place for fathers with daughters to live. You will have a heart attack one day because you'll just worry, worry, worry."
'Safest place we've lived in so far'
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
By Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Sunday Times, 30 Mar 2014
Some may see Geylang as an unruly spot in Singapore, but this well-travelled pair is unruffled by its reputation.
American expatriates Lisa and Michael Johnson moved into a row of refurbished shophouses in Lorong 24A back in 2011 - just a street from Lorong 24, where sex workers and their minders line the path.
But the couple, who have lived in America, Japan, India and China, say Singapore is where they have felt safest so far. "Even if this is the most dangerous place in Singapore, it's still a safe place to us," said Mrs Johnson.
Guns were a concern in America, she said, and crime more blatant and widespread outside Singapore. Here, the couple, who both work in finance, have seen police raids that sent crowds of women running past their home in high heels.
"The criminal activities here don't touch us. We see police around and we know they're keeping control. We would never live in a place where we feel in danger," said Mrs Johnson.
They were drawn to Geylang's "culture, colour and chaos", she added, and moved there despite concerns expressed by Singaporean friends. "They'd say, do you know about the neighbourhood? What real estate agent dropped you there?" recalled Mrs Johnson, whose 19-year-old son, their only child, is studying overseas.
"They have this stereotype of the neighbourhood. But there's so much more to Geylang. Good food, lovely people. And it makes good dinner conversation."