SINGAPORE – More than 100 residents and other participants turned up at the PAP Women’s Wing’s April 18 listening session centred on ways to achieve a wholesome neighbourhood.
Held at Tanjong Pagar Plaza, the session largely focused on the emergence of massage parlours that offer vice activities in neighbourhoods.
The talking point comes on the back of a report by The Straits Times that revealed a rise in the number of beauty and massage businesses in the heartland, according to the panel’s moderator.
The community dialogue session was held with PAP Women’s Wing chairwoman Sim Ann, the advocacy group’s central district adviser Elysa Chen and the head of the PAP Women’s Wing safety and respect arm Bernadette Giam.
Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang and Jalan Besar GRC MP Shawn Loh also took part in the dialogue.
Ms Chen, an MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, said she had been wrestling with the issue of unsavoury businesses showing up in her ward in January, before a resident reached out to her.
The resident had claimed that her husband contracted a sexually transmitted infection after visiting a massage parlour that positioned itself as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shop in her constituency.
After hearing the story, Ms Chen said she spoke to her colleagues, and they soon realised that other residents may also face similar issues. This led to her arranging meetings with the relevant agencies.
“There’s increasing feedback from our residents, which is why the MPs have decided to take action. We were engaging the agencies first to strengthen our enforcement, to see what we could do first in our own capacities as central district MPs,” said Ms Chen.
