China women
Vice and heartbreak
Seductive, money-minded ones are turning lives upside down, but blame also lies with naive Singaporean males. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Jul 2, 2006

A SERIES of high-profile passion killings in recent months involving fiercely materialistic women from China and local married men has highlighted a growing social problem in Singapore.

Cases of businessmen keeping them as mistresses and retirees being fleeced of their retirement money by younger foreign women, mostly from the China mainland, are on the rise.

Singapore’s “open door” immigration policies have resulted in a steady influx of Chinese mainlanders as well as other nationals, which has contributed to economic growth.

But it also has a negative social impact. Among the inflow are thousands of poor China women who come just to make a quick fortune by exploiting simple-minded males with more money than sense.

Other nationals, too, work in Singapore’s sex trade, but few are as aggressive, wily or family-destructive as their sisters from China.

I must hasten to say that the majority of China women here are simply earning an honest living and are not cheats or prostitutes.

But a large minority is fiercely ambitious, seductive and prepared to use any means to get rich, including seducing men into an affair or marriage, then cheating them and returning home or moving to another man.

Swindle cases are on the rise although some men are too embarrassed to go to the police. The victims range from retirees to middle-aged married men with grown-up children.

This easy use of sex has revealed just how vulnerable Singapore’s older men are despite – maybe because of – their conservative upbringing in which sex was regarded a taboo subject.

After decades of “pent-up” frustration or deprivation, some are becoming easy prey to younger, prettier women intent on seduction.

It also brings into question the sex health of some older Singaporeans. Other men are just lonely souls living drab lives.

A letter from “Elisabeth” says: “I feel worried for the ‘old uncles’ in Singapore. These elders are really simple-minded, blinded by temporary pleasures.

“They thought these Chinese girls really liked them and even gave them their savings. Pity the family.”

It has aroused resentment here, especially among housewives who have repeatedly called for action to keep them out.

“We accept that most mainlanders here are decent folks, but I don’t see why the authorities should allow dubious women to come here and break up families,” one lady blogged.

But others say it is not fair to blame it all on others and feel “lustful” Singaporeans should bear a greater share. The rationale should be: “If you arrest the prostitute, arrest the customer, too.”

Several severe cases have resulted in murder. In a recent botched relationship, a China woman, aged 29, was strangled and stabbed to death in a massage parlour. Her accused killer was charged in hospital after sustaining knife wounds. The case is pending.

Last year a Singaporean executive, a married man, was stabbed to death in front of a Desaru hotel as he was about to check in with a China lady undergraduate.

Jealousy is, of course, a universal troublemaker, but when it involves a senior citizen losing “face” and his retirement money, the combination could be explosive.

In one of Singapore’s most gruesome murders, factory supervisor Leong Siew Chor, 51, was convicted of killing Chinese national Liu Hong Mei, 22, when their relationship soured.

He strangled her with a towel last year, chopped up her body, packed the parts in plastic bags and cardboard boxes, and dumped them into the Kallang and Singapore rivers.

Shocked family members and friends said he was a responsible, caring person. He was sentenced to death.

Since the government began loosening up on prostitution in recent years, more “loose” foreign women have flocked here.

Few, however, can match the enterprising mainland ladies, who have long moved into Singapore’s residential heartland. Some start their own business or become a kept mistress of rich businessmen.

Sex workers come from three general categories of China arrivals:
* Girls on student pass,
* About 4,500 “study mamas” accompanying their children to study here, and
* Tourists on visa-free visits for 30 days.

They work in various ways, plying the street for customers or working in one of these places – nightclubs, karaoke joints, massage parlours (“health centres”) or foot reflexology shops which offer various forms of sex services.

The murder of a China woman (a study mama with a teenage son) in a heartland massage outlet has exposed how deep vice has penetrated into the housing estates.

Hundreds of these unlicensed outlets have sprung up, run by China women who offer foot reflexology or Chinese “traditional” massage, but are really a cover for sex.

Furore over these outlets has resulted in many closures and a tightening of rules governing licensed centres. People, however, are betting they will return, given the strong public demand.

Actually the study mamas (many hailing from China’s poorer regions) are allowed to work but not as a masseuse unless they’re permanent residents.

Most, however, manage to get around the law by registering under a front man.

One such local, for example, is former civil servant Toh Ah Fong, 63, who has lent his name to at least 50 such establishments since 2004, most of them in the HDB heartland.

For every Singaporean who resents them, there are several who admire their gall, hard work and initiatives against whom Singaporeans are ill-matched to compare.

Lately, the China masseuse has come up with a new trick to provide sex in the home: she comes knocking on doors as a karang guni collector of old newspapers.

This was published in The Sunday Star today.