Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily
Vietnamese sex workers trapped in extortion racket
Sex workers wait for clients on a street at Geylang, a red-light district, in Singapore April 9
Less than three years ago, a young Vietnamese woman fell to her death from the 10th floor of a block of apartments in Singapore’s Toa Payoh District.
Twenty-four-year-old Pham Thi Truc Linh, who worked at a nightclub called Jazzy 51 in Joo Chiat, was barefoot and topless but had a blue skirt on, according to the Straits Times.
The 39-year-old owner of the apartment had apparently been trying to prevent the 24-year-old woman from leaving when she climbed out of the kitchen window and fell. The two had met in a Joo Chiat pub the previous night and left together around midnight.
What exactly happened in September 2006 is still not clear, but young Vietnamese women are seemingly unaware of the perils involved as they seek in increasing numbers to earn money as sex workers in Singapore.
A Thanh Nien investigation into a red-light district and brothels in Singapore found that many are having to work hard only to have their earnings extorted from the pimps who help them go abroad.
A marriage brokering service in Singapore
At a karaoke lounge on Geylang Street, visitors were told to wait and were served a drink. Young women kept walking in to check if any man was sitting without a partner.
There were between 20-30 women aged from 19-25 at the lounge and most of them were Vietnamese.
The lounge is located at the intersection of Street 38 and Street 44, an area known for having Vietnamese girls working at nightclubs and karaoke lounges.
More bustling activity can be found a little further down the road, between the intersections of Street 6 and Street 20. Hundreds of women from different countries wait to invite passers-by to the brothels, and several pimps offer their services as well.
Anytime a police car passes by, many women run as fast as they can to hidden corners, as they might be working illegally, instead of being registered workers at regulated brothels and nightclubs.
Not so far from Geylang Street is Joo Chiat Road, also known for bars and brothels with Vietnamese girls.
Rich pickings for extortionists
Thanh Nien recently forwarded to concerned authorities a letter from a woman who claimed she was cheated by a ring that helps Vietnamese women work as prostitutes in Singapore.
The woman from Can Tho City, who wished to remain anonymous, said 41-year-old Ngoc in HCMC has been working for four years helping Vietnamese women through the procedures for them to work in Singapore.
The victim was able to get home recently only after her family paid Ngoc VND22.5 million (US$1,315) and gave land-use papers of their land in Can Tho City as security for another VND40 million to be paid.
The girl’s mother also said in a letter to Thanh Nien that Ngoc had hired a house on Clementi Avenue 6 in Singapore as a brothel, and had around 30 Vietnamese women aged between 17 and 30 working there. She also said Ngoc worked as a procurer to supply these women to clients at a karaoke lounge called Westcoast.
She said Ngoc collected VND22.5 million per person to work in Singapore for a month, including passport, flight ticket, accommodation and other fees.
Ngoc also organized gambling card games and sold crystal ice (a type of amphetamine) and ecstasy to sex workers.
The mother also said Ngoc has accomplices in Can Tho City who help supply women to their service in Singapore.
They loan $1,000 to each girl for passing through immigration at the airport in Singapore to legalize their visit for tourism purposes. An interest of $200 was collected on this loan. The women who could not pay the VND22.5 million within 30 days, had interest on this added to the loan amount, binding them even more tightly to the extortionists.
Reported by Thuc Minh