And let’s do it on my blog, because I bet people will get mad at me if I tried talking to them about it. It’s always like that, people get angry when they feel obliged to discuss things which they don’t want to. Anyway, the Geylang trip made me think a bit about the issues regarding prostitution. I don’t hate them or anything, I never did, because they don’t hurt me. But whenever I talk to anyone about this, I get rather vehement responses. Okay, I think some people will get really pissed when I blog about this, but hell, they can kiss my arse but please don’t get too offended.

It’s easy money, being a prostitute. There’s another area in the West, around Kranji, somewhere around the forested area, where Thai women offer their services to foreign workers. They charge around S$20 per hour, which is more than what some people earn in a day. I’m not so sure about those in Geylang, but I don’t think there’s much disparity between the prices.

It’s a fair trade, I suppose. If you have the goods, and someone is willing to pay a price for it, why not? When I was at the Starbucks interview, the manager told me that I had to “sell yourself” so that he might consider hiring me, based on my attributes (and in my case, the lack of). The hookers try to sell themselves, so that they might be hired for their services. Both cases are similar: I have something you want, and you have something I want. Fair enough, let’s trade then.

Some people argue that those women cheapen themselves by prostituting, because they place a price on their bodies, but how is this different from organ donation compensation, where people are paid to donate? People who donate their organs are compensated for the loss of income, people who sell their bodies do it for the income, and both involve money in exchange for body parts. Is it because organ donation benefits the society, and society stands to gain from this, while prostitution benefits no one but the hooker and her client, and does not change the lives of others for the better, so people are able to accept organ donation but not prostitution?

When I was still a kid, my mother used to tell me to be careful and not to talk to strangers or to follow them around because they might just bring me overseas, chop off my limbs, and make me beg for money. Was this what happened to some of the prostitutes too? Were they tricked into it? If you go to Geylang, you’d have noticed that most prostitutes there are Chinese from China. And as we know, sexism is still prevalent in today’s world. Due to China’s One-Child policy, some parents kill the infants if it’s a girl, because male children are more highly regarded (and just look at the way my brother gets to have his own room), and hence, females are of lesser importance compared to males. Coupled with little or no education, what else can they do? Wait for their husbands to provide for them? But what if they’re the ones who have to bring home the bacon? Perhaps prostitution puts them on equal footing with the men, giving them the extra leverage to negotiate deals with men. Not highly possible, though. It’s more like they need to support themselves and their families, and not because of the feminist streak in them.

I cannot understand why some people get upset whenever this topic is brought up. I suppose religion plays a big role? A long time ago, Joanne (who is a Christian) and I were talking about gays on the MRT, and she got kind of agitated, because she said that it’s just wrong, and gays are “unnatural”. About a month ago, my friend, Alwyn (who is, coincidentally, a Christian too), and I were arguing a bit over prostitution. He said that prostitution is disgusting, and is just so wrong. He, however, could not tell me what was wrong with it. I guess they’ve been brought up to believe in what’s considered “right” and “wrong”. That’s one of the reason why I avoid talking about anything sensitive with religious people, because I might just insult them without knowing.

In Christianity, prostitution is wrong because it is a sin, because the persons involved are being unfaithful to God, and well, I don’t know? “Don’t profane your daughter, to make her a prostitute; lest the land fall to prostitution, and the land become full of wickedness.” (Leviticus 19:29). Clearly, it shows that they consider prostitution a sin. “For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.” (Proverbs 6:26). No wonder Alwyn was so agitated when we had that heated argument, and I had to change the topic to pacify him. Maybe he was right, I am submissive. I should have gone, “Screw you, stop disagreeing with me, why won’t you just listen?” instead of, “I guess you have your point. Ooh, look at that!” But it’s hardly my fault that I try to avoid conflict, if possible. Me, I’m a peace-loving person, yeah? Okay, maybe not. But that frustrated me for days, and I finally get to vent now! Grr!

Islam is more confusing. I find it a little similar to Christianity. Like, Islam rejects prostitution, however, temporary marriages are allowed, whereby a “legal union” is arranged between a male and a female for a fee, and the temporary marriages can last as short as an hour, because the Koran permits a Muslim man to have 4 wives at a time. “Marry such as you please, of other women, by twos, threes and fours; but if you apprehend that you shall not be able to deal justly with them, then marry by one only.” (Qur’an 4:3). So, polygamy is allowed in Islam, but the temporary marriage thing sounds suspiciously like prostitution to me, with payment for the marriage and the duration of it. Buddhism does not support prostitution, because it is considered an unwholesome act, but it does not entirely condemn prostitution. But I bet if I asked my mum (who is a Buddhist, I think) if it’s okay to be a prostitute, she would immediately say no, and I predict her reason would be, “Because it’s wrong.”.

But what is?!

I most sincerely hope that killing is a sin too, so that the religious people out there would not plot to kill me. I admit, I’m hardly a religious person, so pardon me for my ignorance. I’m kind of reluctant to delve into this, because I have a really bad feeling about discussing religion, sort of like a taboo topic for me.

Alwyn could not understand why some women had to resort to prostitution. He could not understand why they didn’t want to choose another profession. I argued that some of them are simply victims of circumstances, and he was like, “Then work as something else!”

Question is, how? While filling out my application forms (for jobs), I noticed the sections that asked for information about your previous job/s, your previous income, and your education level. So do the reformed prostitutes write “Prostitution” as their previous job, and maybe “S$20 per hour” for their pay, and “None” for their education level? I doubt they’d be hired, so what should they do? Starve? Alwyn said that if he were the manager of say, McDonald’s, he will hire them. So maybe they should start hoping that he becomes a manager, huh?

Okay, sorry about that, it was unwarranted and uncalled for. I’m getting increasingly irritated, and may soon spew out some feminist thoughts, so if you don’t want to know, go away, in case I end up arguing with like, the whole world or something. Sorry Alwyn, if you’re reading this (but I doubt you would be), I didn’t mean to diss you, but hey, I didn’t get to explain myself fully the other time – you wouldn’t let me!

Anyway, would society accept the prostitutes? “Yes,” you say, “as long as they change!” I say that’s bullshit, and you know it too. Will they be able to get rid of the social stigma? People will always label them as “cheap”. Like, what happens if you find out that a staff working at McDonald’s used to be a prostitute, and has HIV? Would you still dare to be served (oops, not in that sense!) by her? Anyway, people with diseases like that are not allowed to work in the F&B industry.

My point is, they’ll be segregated, because they’re not like us. Like the uproar over the building of the foreign workers’ dormitory. Because we get decent housing, decent jobs, decent pay, decent lives, we consider ourselves far superior (which is true, I have to admit) because we have more access to commodities than they do. If we cannot tolerate foreign workers in our midst, imagine having an ex-hooker as your neighbour.

Sure, prostitution devalues their morality, but it gives a value to their bodies. By putting a price on their bodies, they are degrading themselves to nothing more than objects. If they don’t mind, why should we? What’s wrong with trading goods?

I’m also wondering what happens if both the prostitute and the client do not have any religion? Does it mean that it’s okay for them to proceed with the transaction, because how can they commit sins if they don’t even believe in it? But I guess not, it’s still wrong for them to do so, given all the responses I’ve been getting. Which means that their actions are judged by others’ faith, instead of theirs? It’s like you believing that having a maid is okay, and me telling you that you’re evil and heartless to indulge in slavery, and so you should send your maid back to where she came from, because I think that it’s wrong.

I really don’t know what’s wrong with prostitution, and people keep telling me that it is wrong because it is wrong! But why? By saying that, it does not make me a hooker. As I’ve said before, you don’t have to be part of something to accept it, like, you don’t have to be a gay yourself to accept homosexuality.

And if my future employer ever reads this, please don’t think of dismissing me. Okay, the previous sentence was random.