Sing City: What Drives Singapore's Underground KTV Industry? | Undercover Asia | CNA Documentary

[Music] during the pandemic ktv bars were ordered to close but many adult-only outlets found ways to operate illegally i'm in front it looks like it's closed but it's fully operational on the inside underground kpbs operates all around singapore [Music] so what's going on inside these secrets of establishments we go kdb has someone hugging you telling you don't worry next time will be better [Music] we can't stand to be lonely how far do they go to avoid being caught you have to telegram traps if anyone will get caught they can easily just create a new user and carry on why does ktp lounge culture persist undercover asia looks behind the closed doors of singapore's adult-only ktp lounges uh we need to go tour first place we're going to orchard darling before the pandemic taxi driver michael worked the night shift for two years he knew where to pick up late night revelers leaving ktv bars because he'd been a regular ktv customer himself for almost 20 years this is the famous supreme kdb this kdb most singaporean has been to ranging from very young to quite old not surprising to see army boys and then to like those coffee shops in the town area that is covering from bundling all the way until like monkeys right we might have at least around 30 kdps [Music] michael noticed the number of ktv bars surge in singapore some 20 years ago [Music] just this road on the two side right easily more than 30. the big one the small one this building on the left upstairs yeah the sun is still there [Music] the craziest i heard they tell me that this ktv outlet right there's 13 nationality ladies there all the lambo you know all the bellini salary they'll be parking now we have like 158 empty lots before i think not even the single lock [Music] in 2019 it's estimated there were at least 600 ktvs operating in singapore singapore's alert for the novel coronavirus has been raised to the second highest level workplaces across singapore have shut as the country begins what's being called a circuit breaker as it did with most businesses the circuit breaker also shuttered all ktvs 10 000 local workers including waitresses bar staff and bouncers were left unemployed but even as circuit breaker measures ease in june ktvs along with all other night spots had to remain closed half a year into the shutdown the government announces that night spots are still a high risk dashing all hopes that ktvs will reopen soon the following month authorities roll out a scheme to help night spots pivot some ktvs finally reopen but as f b outlets singing is still bad and so are hostesses for fear they would spread covet 19. but in july 2021 worries mount over the emerging ktv cluster potentially huge that's how health minister ong yikong described the fast-growing corvette 19 cluster our strong suspicion is that must of activities have occurred in these contexts and the struggling ktv industry was dealt another ham of them on july 12 2021 a cluster of three cases linked to hostesses at three ktv outlets were recorded and within days 120 cases have been linked to ktv lounges making this the life's top stories daily covert 19 infections saw to a 10 month high caught in the eye of the storm was denise she came to singapore to work as a hostess she shared with project x a non-profit helping sex workers that authorities came knocking just over a week after the ktv outbreak i was about to go to the door [Music] but because it was working so hard i panicked i thought it was a robbery so i quickly ran into my bedroom i didn't know who they were because they were wearing plain clothes they kept asking me where my busbox was excessive was traveling and living with my boyfriend denise says the police found a text history with obama's son on a phone in those text messages were instructions for hostess gigs for denise denise was arrested for working illegally the raid was part of enforcement checks on some 27 ktv outlets and other vice-related activities conducted in the wake of the outbreak the police came down hard on ktv bars illegally offering singing and hostessing activities that were banned due to the high risk of covet 19 transmission these raids cast a spotlight on a long tolerated and deeply entrenched industry in many parts of southeast asia karaoke or ktv has two faces one more wholesome experience is where friends and family come together to sing this is called family style karaoke the other is what's called ktv bars or commercial ktvs and they are strictly for adults only if a ktv got hofstra services it's considered a commercial one the market needs for commercial ktvs in singapore market is much bigger than family concept karaoke the origin of adult-only ktv bars dates back four decades in the china of the late 1980s singing mostly took place in banquet halls that changed when china opened its first commercial ktv bar thanks to a japanese businessman the japanese were trying to break into the emerging chinese market their strategy was to woo chinese officials with luxurious karaoke bars it was 1980s a lot of the chinese officials make meager salary they invited the chinese officials into the character bars and form relationships with the official seal which is green light for the japanese products to flow into chinese market in large quantities the key dynamic is that women were hired to serve the man in the character bars the women hide are commonly known as hostesses they are not just waitresses they are paid companions who drink and talk to male customers zhang worked as a karaoke hostess in a chinese port city for two years she wanted to study the nuances of this emerging asian business dynamic for her phd field research a lot of activities involved in the lines between businessman officials is in gray area of the law so if one member say was interrogated by the police they don't want that member to be able to just break down and tell the police about everybody else with the stake so high japanese businessmen use these ktv encounters as a pressure test if a man just falls in head and heel or a woman just because she's so beautiful that man would be seen as too emotional and that kind of man would be easily break down and tell the police everything [Music] the practice of relying on female entertainers to help facilitate business deals echoes both the japanese geisha and chinese courses and culture [Music] as asian businesses grew ktv hostess culture spread across the region and became an accepted practice in japan taiwan south korea china and singapore singapore's first commercial ktv bar reportedly opened in orchard towers in the mid-1980s also by a japanese businessman over the next few decades ktv bars flourished in singapore they became a new way for men to conduct discreet business deals and size up the competition when i bring him to such place achieve is a test we can know this person can trust cannot trust or only just play [Music] i get you drunk your natural self actually comes out but some people even at the drunk stage they can hold themselves that is real control in business they can succeed because self-control is there at the heart of this business are the girls also known as the ktv hostesses ktvs are not brothels although some hostesses may choose to offer sex in exchange for money to the men they favor but any such off-shift encounters take place outside the karaoke room at high-end singapore ktvs hostesses are greatly valued for their companionship you cannot do any hank panky thing as for the girl i'm chatting with somebody who is really really young it's not easy so all these girls they are really smart you talk to him make him feel very comfortable i clinch the deal your tips will be two thousand dollars instead of 600. so that is the high-end game that they are playing michael has witnessed ktv high rollers in action splurging tens of thousands in a single night on the room drinks and hostess tips all to impress their business partners if you're talking about people who is in the oil and gas industry in the building materials supply industry they are talking about millions of dollars on track [Music] a handful of high rolling ktvs dominated the singapore industry in the early 1990s soon lower end ktv bars emerged catering to the masses including a younger crowd looking for hard action we are so into sex we are so hyper so in camp nothing to do five days is discussing we can book our after news of singapore's ktv covet cluster broke in july 2021 the men frequenting these bars became a national joke an image they resented it's not just a establishment for shady characters to hang out in you know normal people the neighbor next door the office worker that you transport the bus they work a full-time job and once every weekend they want to go somewhere to relax so what is the appeal of ktv bars in singapore and is what happens inside as controversial as many imagine undercover asia spoke to three ktv regulars a common ktv origin story they all share is national service i got my first paycheck from ns and there was the first time that i saw a four digit sum on my bank account and i was overwhelmed i didn't know how to spend that money we are so into sex we are so hyper so in camp nothing to do five days keep discussing we can book out go where you must have that one fellow that has already been to such places know the ropes paid goals yeah kdb easy definitely you can get one even if you are not handsome all i have to do [Music] is from other forms of nightlife entertainment you wouldn't just go up to a woman and outright talk to her or even touch her perhaps some people do but it's not as normalized as you would in a ptv setting [Music] [Music] they all just line up along the walls and then you know the girls will just make [Music] we have drinks we play games we sing [Music] all of this shrouded over intoxication [Music] in spite of the hedonistic atmosphere of alcohol and beautiful girls ktvs have strict rules and are run like clockwork [Music] hostesses are disciplined timekeepers and they will butterfly in clubs this means each hostess visits multiple rooms in one night spending just 15 minutes with each customer at any one time and what they do with this time depends on the type of ktv bar the hostess operates in are certain unwritten rules for example for some ktv is somewhat more conservative [Music] the girls that have a lower marking rate will usually just be there to have conversation with me ktv customers pay hostesses tips to sit with them at low end ktvs where women only drink with you the tip is around thirty dollars most probably because of their age second maybe they are married they listen to your complaint and then maximum what you can do ask them for a supper after that papaya [Music] at the high end women who drink and socialize with business clients can expect to make around five hundred to six hundred dollars per tip the amount of money the hostess can make is also pegged to her age usually at all these high-end ones the girls cross 23 years old this makes if you still look good dress good maybe you can maximum stay until 35 then you drop here you go to the second level third level slowly drop so that is so called a return rule [Music] at mid-tier ktvs the typical market rate for a tip is 50 dollars and what does fifty dollars get a customer different places have different limits or playability playability is simply put while the ktv hosters willing to do with you where exactly are you allowed to touch okay in case can you help her can you do even more restating sweeper within the confines of the ktv he's like a paid date of sorts first you start with someone toasts your sweet talk to the girl and then when alcohol makes everything loosen up nearing to the end of a session that's where the lady will ask you the golem question do you want to go somewhere more intimate [Music] what excites men when they go to ktvs is that they don't know whether they will be able to bring the hostess to the hotel room at the end of the session she might have six or seven people buying for her tonight who she go with or will be paying her the same price you know definitely she choose the one that she had better feelings with her if really men goes to kentv to look for sex i think to camp in general and not to aim these people in ktv people always think but it must all be about the sex actually when you talk to people in the nightlife industries the most texting part of the work is having to engage in the conversation to make sure that the client is not bored but also you have to be a good listener when your heart is broken who you like to talk to same gender or opposite sex most of the time we look for opposite sex we go ktb have someone hugging you telling you don't worry next time will be better michael met his wife for four years at a ktv after his first marriage ended in divorce i feel that the girl that i talked to on the first night quite comfortable maybe about four or five times i say like should we go hotel [Music] she just told me one thing she's here to earn money she drink she play she chat but she don't do that eventually she tell me that you can meet me if we go supper but don't keep coming here waste money i start to be open i share with her my stories then that's how we get closer let's face it humans are social being men always need a company of a woman not everywhere is going to be handsome not every man is going to be charismatic or rich where are they going to refuel their voice they need an avenue where they can find another half who's willing to sit with him for standard periods of time we can't stand to be lonely [Music] there are no official figures on the size of the adult-only ktv lounge sector in singapore some insiders estimate at least 3 000 hostesses were employed in the sector before the pandemic it's an industry that's shrouded in secrecy but there are some clues to how it's run [Music] for most visa definitely financially there'll be someone on the very top even i think the boss who runs this skating video doesn't know who this real boss is the company that free singaporean has to open it the managers mostly are singaporeans followed by monies mummies or mamasans are freelancers and each managers 10 to 15 hostesses we see singapore goes followed by malaysian after that china vietnam just before kovic i see cambodia for hostesses in mid-tier ktvs one night can bring in 300 worth of tips but it's work that comes at a heavy price wendy's singaporean husband died four years ago and she was left to bring up their two children alone with little money and few job prospects wendy turned to work as a ktv hostess [Music] wendy's a permanent resident who's lived in singapore for 15 years she met her husband in vietnam and followed him back to singapore he was estranged from his family and his death left wendy stranded the pandemic only made things worse [Music] [Music] when newly pivoted ktvs opened as f b outlets in november 2020 wendy returned to hostessing although it was now illegal pivoted ktvs were not allowed to offer singing and hostessing if caught wendy could lose her residency and like other foreign ktv hostesses she risks deportation but with the borders closed foreign hostesses couldn't leave singapore even if they wanted to in fact at least 16 foreign hostesses were deported following raids on ktv lounges after the covet 19 cluster broke out undercover asia follows the trail of the deported hostesses to find out how they were recruited in the first place [Music] working illegally on tourist visas is what most hostesses do because few legal options are available to them in singapore pre-covet hostesses could apply for the performing artiste permit this is valid for six months and is specifically for singing and dancing but as of july 2021 there were fewer than 50 holders of such permits in singapore compared to the estimated 3 000 hostesses operating in ktv bars undercover asia has discovered the majority of hostesses come to singapore on short-term visit passes this allows them to stay for 30 days but they aren't allowed to work so how are these girls recruited into this trade to find out undercover asia followed the trail to one source for hostesses vietnam i mean look they weren't thinking about um [Music] works with marginalized communities within the city [Music] nearly two decades ago singapore and vietnam started 30-day visa-free travel since then suns noticed an emerging trend involving young women from the mekong delta provinces they come to ho chi minh city before transiting on to singapore [Music] ho chi minh's bars massage parlors and cafes are the perfect hunting grounds for recruitment it's here that many poor rural women will seek out work they're usually recruited by women who once worked in singapore as hostesses the recruiters lure them with the promise of earning a small fortune in um recruitment by former hostesses in various asian cities helps to feed singapore's ktvs with a constant stream of fresh-faced new girls [Music] denise came to work in a bar in ho chi minh in 2019 she's the main breadwinner for a family of seven and eventually traveled to singapore to work as a hostess she shared her story with the singapore ngo project x just before she was deported [Music] i want to make enough money so that when i have children they can go to university have a career and not do on this only job like me i hope my parents won't have a hard time and when my mom needs money for medical treatment i want to be able to say don't worry i can help through face-to-face recruiting at bars and massage parlors in ho chi minh recruiters put the women in touch with their broker partners in singapore but that's now also complemented by online recruitment that's how denise found the broker who helped her enter singapore in singapore brokers include former vietnamese hostesses for between one to three thousand dollars they provide a 30-day tourist immigration package this includes the flight money for an airport taxi access to a cheap place to stay in singapore and a 700 one day only cash loan nicholas leneth is an expert on these transnational links he spent a decade studying how vietnamese sex workers and hostesses enter various southeast asian countries when they arrive to singapore they can be asked by ica officials to show that they have enough money to can be up to 700 [Music] if there is a suspicion they're asked to open the luggage so if they carry many sexy clothes what is required to stay in singapore for a month that's very suspicious there might be a rejected note so what they often do is they purchase a one week return ticket so they if they are asked by ica officer they're saying just come here for a week you see my luggage there is almost nothing [Music] laneth learnt about the vietnam singapore broker hostess network [Music] after spending six months undertaking field research in singapore in 2015 during this time he rented a room in a juliet shop house with a vietnamese mamasan and her girls i participated to all activities going to church going to the pagodas helping them to send money translating the messages from vietnamese into english teaching english also [Music] it was during this time that laneth discovered the tricks of this trade he realized that the initial one to three thousand singapore dollar immigration package fee paid by the girls would buy their membership into a discount club of sorts so let's say that a woman purchased the package she stays one month in singapore she repays after 10 days then for 20 days and any other money she makes is for profit she returns to ho chi minh city and three months later she returns again to singapore she only needs to make a phone call or send a message to the broker hey i need a ticket i need to show money and i need accommodation and the broker will provide these these services at a much lower price than the immigration package will be 150 or 200 sim dollars for the ticket and the accommodation is always ten dollars a day few of these women get to play tourists even for a day wendy got to know many of them during the two years she spent working as a hostess before the pandemic is michael is married to a former hostess and he tells us that before kovit posted this word after two or three working stints on a short-term visit pass start looking for more permanent options to work here maybe they have some skill like manicure panicky or get the word for me come in and then daytime they go under a company but at night they were actually part-time working outside the law means that hostesses are very vulnerable when things get out of hand inside a ktv turning to the police for help is not an option [Music] i have seen guys that are totally unruly and disrespectful to the posters the moment they come into the room the guy will start having his hands all around the lydia at every possible part of the body of the lady hydrochianti one of the things pre-pandemic that the women faced was excessive drinking right they were forced to drink copious amounts of alcohol in order to hit certain quarters to the extent that some of them might black out some of them come to us and said vanessa i don't know what happened last night but i think a customer did something to me can you get me an sti check right now not sure right if i got something and there was no recourse that they had ironically with heightened scrutiny after the covet 19 cluster the women are now even more vulnerable as ktvs go underground to evade the law underground kpbs operates in many places all around singapore from office spaces residential units like your lender properties condominiums the police are aware that unlicensed public entertainment outlets are operating despite covet 19 restrictions after the kgb cluster we really notice upsurge of raids we see continuous rates of underground bars and clubs and karaoke joints a lot of short-term pass-holders have already been arrested and deported as a result in this time of covet 19 regular ktv activities like singing and hostessing are banned but in november 2020 some ktvs reopened as fnb only operations undercover asia investigated some of these new bistro bars we did not enter for legal reasons but ktv regulars informed undercover asia that some of these bistro bars are still flouting the rules but with that they still incorporate those elements of having justices maintaining their patrons restaurants that operates legally in a day receiving customers with their doors wide open and then transiting to a night operation after hours with the front shutters down undercover asia understands that demand for hostesses is still robust and far outstrips supply this mass arrest of short-term visit pass holders left a vacuum in the industry the demand really won't go away just because there aren't any more hostesses in singapore what we have observed is that there has been a slow increased number of locals entering into the industry julian is a long time ktv regular since the height of the pandemic he's noticed a shift in business operations while some illegally operating ktv bars masquerade as bistros others have moved into industrial and residential areas information on these new bars is shared by telegram chat groups so the moment you're in you can see there's over 10 000 members all of these promotions will be posted daily on chat most of the promotional posters we see are pictures of alcohol but if you see pictures of the ladies you you understand that more likely than not they will also be able to provide hostesses and explicitly mentioning you know having many people with yourself and then use the word private this will be an example for a private setting ktv in a single message from a public group chat they have all the information that any person would need you have to address the rates you even have the nationality of the system is it surprising to you to see them post so openly on the platform when it is still in some sense ben i don't find any surprising even before covid these avenues of a discussion of such sensitive topics i have been around even in this period now i don't think anything will really deter them if a particular customer is not a regular user of the platform or a regular patron that the mamasan knows highly likely they will not entertain any requests from this anonymous user you will have the authorities that are tapping on these platforms to fish out whatever that they need to know as a user does that worry you not really i mean that's anonymous sir camera this is just a anonymous account if anyone will get caught in this domain right they can easily just create a new user and carry on with their promotions during the pandemic there have been some benefits for hostesses who continue to illegally work at pivoted bistro bars [Music] wendy worked in the food service for a decade until her singaporean husband died she turned to hostessing in 2018 to make up for the last income during the pandemic wendy worked in a pivoted bistro bar but fearing covert infection she quit after a few short months she then returned to a different business model that has gained popularity hostessing one-on-one at private homes this is known as out call hostessing you no longer go to the physical unit you will set out call services via telegram wechat friends all kinds of social media platforms are probably the customer may have prior contacts with the mama and then the mama would then share that you know i do still have my few of those they are available for alcohol now you want to have fun in your own private setting there are two tiers of outcall hostessing the first is pure companionship this is where a few hours of drinking costs four hundred dollars the second tier is where beyond companionship some hostesses offer sex as well for an added upfront fee this outcome model is more lucrative but can be more dangerous for hostesses the hosters now are venturing into unknown places of where the customer asks them to go they have zero protection over what happens you know in the ktds you still can run away right you can still shout for help but now imagine if you're walking into the house unit of a person she's entirely helpless this very dangerous force of events if a lady agrees to go she better be damn sure that she can protect herself because there are no more ktvs to work at some of these workers actually have to resort to doing full service sex work the problem with this is that they never anticipated to do full service sex work right they might not have access to knowledge on how to negotiate condom use right which then is a problem for the women but also for society and public health at lunch since the pandemic vanessa ho and a team at project x have doubled their efforts to reach out to these woman my [Music] we often think about how can we protect the businesses but we never thought about okay what about the hostesses the waitresses how do we protect the workers when night life opens again how do we protect the workers who have been forced underground uncertainty remains over when ktvs will be allowed to fully reopen legally and the future of the industry looks bleed can ktvs survive the pandemic and if they do is it time to overhaul this industry [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: CNA Insider

Views: 658,807

Keywords: KTV, hostess, nightspot, nightclub, nightlife, karaoke

Id: iJ65wOUuQDE

Length: 47min 8sec (2828 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 02 2022