POLICY ON PROSTITUTION

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will state what is the policy of his Ministry towards prostitution.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, prostitution per se is not an offence under our laws. This has been so since the colonial days. Singapore is not the only country where prostitution is not an offence. Many other countries also adopt the same position.

Governments around the world and through the ages have tried to eradicate prostitution, but none had succeeded. Criminalising prostitution will only drive such activities underground, resulting in crime syndicates taking control over such activities.

The Ministry of Home Affairs therefore has taken a pragmatic approach of recognising that the problem cannot be totally suppressed or wished away. Our approach is therefore to contain the situation, particularly through continuing enforcement against prostitutes and pimps who solicit in public. Soliciting and pimping in public are offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act and the Women's Charter respectively. The Police also conduct regular checks at known locations and on those involved in the trade to prevent criminal gangs from exploiting the prostitutes, and underaged girls from getting involved.

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask the Minister whether the strict offences created under Part X of the Women's Charter for the suppression of prostitution and living on immoral earnings are strictly enforced or not?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: If Police receive complaint that somebody is living on the immoral earnings of somebody, then, of course, they will take action.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Would the Minister tell us what checks are made to see that hotels do not allow any prostitution in their premises?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, we have maybe close to 30,000 hotel rooms in Singapore and definitely nobody expects the Police to go round checking all the hotels to ensure that they do not engage in prostitution. But when there are complaints against somebody operating a brothel in a hotel, then, of course, Police will go and take action.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Are we to understand that this pragmatic view that the Minister says his Ministry has adopted is that this is something that we cannot do anything about? So is the Ministry considering amending the laws in the Women's Charter?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: What the Ministry has done is to ensure that crime syndicates, gangsters and secret societies do not get involved in controlling this trade. And if they do, then Police will take action. We all know that no country has ever succeeded in eradicating prostitution and therefore we have taken a pragmatic approach in ensuring that only certain areas have such activities taking place. And it is better that the Police know where these areas are and enforcement action can be taken, rather than to disperse these brothels to the whole of Singapore and we have a cat-and-mouse game chasing after them or, worse still, drive them underground, and they will be operating everywhere.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Perhaps the Minister did not understand the import of my question. If it is felt that you cannot control it, then is the Ministry considering legalising prostitution and containing it to just one or two areas in Singapore and keeping a strict watch on the premises which indulge in this?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, there is no need to legalise it but we can at the same time deal with the problem in a pragmatic way.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Does the Minister realise that if you have laws and they are not enforced by the enforcement agencies, it only leads to disrespect for the law?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, the relevant section in the Women's Charter is still being enforced. If there are underaged girls being involved in prostitution, if there are people coercing women or girls into prostitution, they will face the force of the law.

Mr Shriniwas Rai: Would the Minister consider moving brothel houses from the city centre - I am speaking of Little India - to somewhere else?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: I am not sure I heard clearly his point about moving what houses from Little India.

Mr Shriniwas Rai: We all know of the fact, Sir, that Desker Road is a red light area. It is right in the heart of the city. Can we move these brothel houses to elsewhere?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, it is a traditional area. People know about it. If we disperse the brothels there, it will create new problems.