Singapore
defends legalising prostitution
Times
of India. March 7, 2000
VICE is under control in Singapore,
where the government has taken a "pragmatic" approach to prostitution
rather than outlawing it, the government said Monday.
"Governments around the world through the ages have tried to eradicate prostitution and brothels without success," said Ho Peng Kee, minister of state for home affairs. Singapore's government has "thus adopted a pragmatic approach, by confining prostitution to traditional red light areas," Ho said. He was responding to a legislator's questions about the official stance on brothels and whether the number of such establishments was on the rise.
Prostitution itself is not illegal in Singapore, despite the wealthy city-state's reputation as a conservative society and its leaders' promotion of family-oriented "Asian values." Though prostitution itself is allowed, police act against "prostitutes who solicit in public and pimps who force women into prostitution," Ho said. Singapore has several small districts where bars, hotels and other establishments have long been known as places where prostitutes can be approached. (AP)