SINGAPORE — Foreigners have been spotted working illegally in the Boat Quay area, even as the authorities continued their crackdown on illicit activities at entertainment outlets around Singapore.
Women from Eastern European bloc countries including Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus have been operating outside a pub in Circular Road, where they get men to buy them a "special" margarita drink at $100 a glass.
It buys the customer time with the women, until the drink is finished. Payment is made to employees of the bar.
The Straits Times understands the arrangement sometimes leads to offers of sexual services for a fee.
Entertainment outlets in the area were targeted in a series of police raids in 2022 and 2023, with the authorities seeking to crack down on illicit activities including solicitation.
In 2022, before Covid-19 restrictions were fully lifted at public entertainment and nightlife joints, police checked more than 350 people and arrested dozens at outlets around town, including in the Circular Road area.
Boat Quay and other entertainment districts like Little India, Geylang and Chinatown were again targeted in raids conducted between Nov 15 and Dec 18, 2023.
Around 6,700 people were checked, with the authorities arresting 523, including women who had allegedly offered sexual services.
More recently, the police and other agencies embarked on a four-day anti-crime blitz from Feb 28 to March 2, again targeting entertainment outlets. In total, 62 individuals were arrested, including 12 women for allegedly providing sexual services.
ST visited the pub in Circular Road over four days. Even on a rainy weekday, when there were few pub crawlers out, the women sat outside the bar for hours, often without drinks.
Some girls were seen darting inside the closed-door bar whenever a police car drove by. A neighbouring tenant, who did not want to be identified, said the bar moved in only about five months ago.
On March 6, ST observed two patrons entering the bar at close to midnight. Three Caucasian women, who were sitting outside, followed the men inside immediately.
About 15 women were spotted every night gathered outside the bar in tight-fitting clothes and heavy make-up.
Some of the women were around 22 years old, and on tourist visas. They said they work six days a week, from 8pm until closing time at 3am.
The women stay in two separate apartments, a residential unit in Orchard Towers and another in Geylang. They said their boss "managed" them but they declined to identify her.
ST understands the women had previously worked at another bar at Orchard Towers, where nightlife outlets once flourished but ceased public entertainment operations after May 31, 2023.
The pub in Circular Road was the only entertainment outlet in the area where Eastern European women were gathered.
A man, who identified himself as one of the directors of the pub, said their clientele largely comprised Caucasian men and people who work in the Boat Quay area.
He initially denied the women were working at the pub, saying they were mostly guests.
But he added: "From what I understand, as long as they have an employment pass, they can work (at the pub)."
He then said he will have to check with his operations team if women on tourist visas were working at the pub.
Foreigners intending to work in Singapore must have valid work visas.
Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, those caught employing foreigners without valid work passes can be fined up to $30,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.
KTVs and nightclubs in Singapore are required to have a category 1 public entertainment licence, which permits singing and dancing.
But the licensee must ensure that patrons and others in the premises do not breach laws, including those related to prostitution. They are also not allowed to employ any foreigner without a valid work permit or employment pass.
As at March 2024, there are around 1,300 public entertainment outlets with the licence.
A spokesman for the Singapore Nightlife Business Association said illicit practices should not be normalised within the industry but acknowledged the organisation's limits.
"Those who want to flout the rules will always find ways to do so. What we can do is to continue to spread awareness and educate business owners on good practices," the spokesman said.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.