The Choicest Rotten Meat (2)

Sex Business Is Booming In Singapore      
By Philip Lim 

SINGAPORE, Friday 4 March 2011 (AFP) - Standing outside a harmless-looking two-storey terrace house, a middle-aged man with a balding pate and wispy white goatee greets people walking by with a constant refrain.

"You want to see my girl? Come in, come in!" he exhorts every man in sight, pointing to skimpily-clad Asian prostitutes waiting in a softly-lit sitting room along a back street in Geylang, Singapore's red-light district.
The tout says more than 50 customers patronise his business daily.

"Our customers are international, anybody can come as long as they can pay," he says, brushing aside a reporter's suggestion that the police might not approve of his operation.

"We're legal!" he scoffs loudly.

Despite its prudish reputation -- the government still bans magazines like Playboy and Penthouse -- Singapore allows prostitution to thrive in strictly designated areas, and Geylang is the largest and most famous.

Brothels operating out of houses -- one calls itself "Heaven on Earth" -- operate in the district alongside budget hotels, sidewalk cafes, community associations and even Buddhist temples.

Despite the presence of legal prostitution, foreign women on short-term visitor passes also ply their trade on the streets and lanes of Geylang, and there seems to be enough business for everyone.

More than a fifth of the island state's population of five million are foreigners, the majority of them blue-collar and manual workers.

And one million tourists a month now visit Singapore thanks to a booming casino industry.
The local sex trade came under the spotlight in June last year when the US State Department downgraded Singapore in its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

The report said some women from China, the Philippines and Thailand were tricked into coming to the city-state with promises of legitimate employment and then coerced into the sex trade after arrival.

Singapore authorities issued an indignant reply, saying their efforts to curb trafficking had not slackened and asking the US government to look at its own immigration record before commenting on other countries' situations.

In Geylang's licensed brothels, customers pay an average of Sg$50 ($38) for sex inside cramped cubicles, according to operators who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Their primary customers are the masses of testosterone-driven guest workers from China, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia.

Business is best on weekends when hordes of foreign men on their day off throng its narrow lanes looking for fun.

Like other businesses in Singapore, the sex trade has clear rules.

Brothels can only hire Malaysian, Thai and Chinese girls between the ages of 21 and 27, said one tout.

Prostitutes are also required to make customers wear condoms and report for monthly medical check-ups, he added.

Streetwalker Dan Dan, a Beijing native who refused to disclose her real name, said an increased presence of plainclothes police was deterring customers from taking up her 100-dollar "guaranteed good" service.

Foreign women like Dan Dan who work freelance in the sex trade and bring customers to motel rooms cannot be arrested unless they are caught offering their services out in the street, or violate immigration and other laws.

For a first offence, Dan Dan faces a fine of up to Sg$1,000 if she is caught soliciting in public, with subsequent convictions carrying higher fines and potential jail terms.

But Dan Dan, who has been working Geylang's alleys since she came to Singapore three months ago, said she was willing to brave the consequences.

"The money's good on busy days," she said.

Local women's rights activist Braema Mathi advocates protection of prostitutes in Singapore and closer regulation of the industry.

"All we want is for the women to be protected and not judge them for the work that they have decided to take on," she told AFP.

"We believe that one of the better ways to protect women is to ensure that they work in licensed brothels, where there is a fee structure and condoms," Mathi added.

"This way the women can be protected from exploitation and from succumbing to diseases."

With a regulated sex industry, Singapore authorities can turn their attention to women forced into prostitution, she said.

"We see more women in the trade and definitely not all of them are willing."

Source: My SinChew - March 4, 2011

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The Brothel in Singapore: Karin's True Story of Slavery 
by Amanda Kloer


Traffickers lure victims in a number of ways, but one common technique is to promise a job opportunity, often abroad.  Sometimes, that job turns out to be slavery in the industry the promised job was in, and sometimes that job is forced prostitution.  This is the story of Karin, from the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Karin, a young mother of two, was looking for a job in Sri Lanka when a man befriended her and convinced her that she could land a better job in Singapore as a waitress. He arranged and paid for her travel. A Sri Lankan woman met Karin upon arrival in Singapore, confiscated her passport, and took her to a hotel. The woman made it clear that Karin had to submit to prostitution to pay back the money it cost for her to be flown into Singapore. Karin was taken to an open space for sale in the sex market where she joined women from Indonesia, Thailand, India, and China to be inspected and purchased by men from Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, and Africa. The men would take the women to nearby hotels and rape them. Karin was forced to have sex with an average of 15 men a day. She developed a serious illness and three months after her arrival was arrested by the Singaporean police during a raid on the brothel. She was deported to Sri Lanka.

Sadly, not many stories of trafficking end happily, or even with the victim getting needed services.  Karin's story illustrates the vast work which needs to still be done.

Source: News.change.org - April 1, 2009

Towards Lesser Crime In JB (8)

Foreigners And Drug

Three Mexican brothers Luis Alfonso Gonzalez Villarreal, 43, Simon Gonzalez Villarreal, 36, and Jose Regino Gonzalez Villarreal, 33, are natives of Culiacan, Sinaloa.
Culiacan, Mexico, is considered a cradle of the drug trade.
The brothers are accused of being part of the Sinaloa cartel and members of an international network for the production and distribution of methamphetamine in Southeast Asia.

The three men, together with a Singaporean, Lim Mun Wang, 54, and a Malaysian, Lee Boon Sian, 46, were arrested at 3.15pm in March 4, 2008 at the IPL Packaging Industries Sdn Bhd factory in Jalan Idaman 1/5, Senai Industries Park, Senai, Johor Bahru.
It is a secluded factory in the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia's southern Johor state.

Police found a drug laboratory and approximately 240 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The lab was believed to have been operating for about six months before the raid.

All five were charged with trafficking in 29,460.17gm of methamphetamine worth RM44 million.
They face the mandatory penalty of death by hanging if convicted.

The judge hearing the case, Justice Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, said that based on the evidence by a prosecution witness, a chemist, it was proven that there were traces of drugs at the scene, on the various processing equipment as well as on the clothing and on the accused.
He said based on the evidence by witnesses, the court also found that the factory was used to make and process drugs.
Justice Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh is known for his strict adherence to the law and in recent years has condemned more than 30 people to the gallows.

The High Court ruled in February, it was unreasonable to conclude that it was a mere coincidence that the Mexican brothers were at the factory during the raid.
The accused, who are charged under section 39 B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, were represented by lawyer Kitson Foong, who has been on the case since January.

The attorney offered an outline of how the brothers ended up in Malaysia.
They were seafarers,working and  travelling on ships.
They came over to Vietnam first in search of work, and then were promised jobs on a merchant ship in Singapore.
While they were waiting to board the ship in Malaysia, they found employment for a couple of weeks cleaning factories.
They are in Malaysia on tourist visas, but facing the death penalty for alleged drug trafficking which had been adjourned until June 2.

The Gonzalez brothers have been held in a maximun security prison since their arrest in 2008.
During the nearly three years the brothers have been in custody, they have received no visits from relatives.

The only  visit was from the Mexican Embassy.
Embassy personnel have met several times with the men, and have been in contact with their lawyer.
The lawyer has been called to the Mexican Embassy in Malaysia to update authorities on the case.
A report in the Milenio newspaper spread their story to a wider audience.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry, in a statement said, it has offered and will continue to offer consular assistance to the brothers.
The Mexican authorities offered to support them in obtaining legal representation, but the three opted to get their own counsel.
Last January, using their own resources, the defendants hired a new lawyer.

The Mexico's Foreign Ministry, in a statement said Mexican authorities have also been in touch with the Gonzalez family in Mexico to offer advice.
The family denies that the government has briefed it on the case.

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Prosecutors have presented drugs and paraphernalia that were allegedly found at the trio's location the night of the raid.

But police have lost a third to a half of the seized drugs.
Four policemen are under investigation for the loss, and one committed suicide, the lawyer said.
Lawyer Foong dismissed the evidence as unpersuasive.

Because the evidence had been tampered with, it should not have been admitted in court.
The judge accepted the evidence, to the utter surprise of everyone.
Now, the three terribly scared Mexicans are pleading for a fair trial.

Lawyer Foong rejected any suggestion that the Gonzalez brothers exemplify the growing reach of the Mexican drug cartels.
Not every Mexican is a drug trafficker, as there is no evidence of that in this case.
Mexican drug cartels are known to have spread their operations into Central and South America.
Although there have been reports of activities in Asia, but activities in Asia is very limited and not very well tested or sourced.

Under Malaysia anti-drug laws, any person found in possession of at least 15 grams (1/2 ounce) of heroin, 200 grams (30 ounces) of marijuana, 40 grams (1.4 ounces) of cocaine and 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of methamphetamine is presumed by law to be a drug trafficker.
A mandatory death sentence is the punishment if convicted of violating its strict laws against drug trafficking.

The brothers'  lawyer has urged that a translator be sent help prepare the defense.
The lawyer said that the three have no ties to any drug trafficking organisation and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If the defense attorneys are unable to convince the judge of the brothers innocence, they will be convicted and sentenced to death.
A plea was sent to the Mexican media for help after his attempts to request assistance from the Mexican Embassy.

The Mexicans' other brother, Jose Gonzalez Villarreal, from the western city of Culiacan, has urged their country's government to help them, saying the family has only spoken to the three suspects twice since their arrest.
They have little knowledge of developments in the case.
Their parents are in despair over the situation.
The mother of the three Mexicans jailed in Malaysia is pleading for authorities to intervene in their case.

Referring to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Carmen Villarreal Espinoza, the mother, as quoted from CNN said, "I ask that he lend us a hand to get our sons out of there."
And she added, "I ask God to help us, to give us strength."
Mother Villarreal said the last time she heard from her sons was after their arrest in March 2008.
They called to say that they had been mistaken for drug traffickers and arrested.
She learned they faced a death sentence only when she read a newspaper article.
She like to see them, but a heart ailment and lack of funds mean she cannot fly to visit them.
Being poor and lacking of resources, they have not been able to do anything.

"My sons -- thank God, who never have traveled down a bad path -- they have no criminal history, nothing," she said.
Her sons used to make bricks for a living in Mexico but left in February 2008 for better opportunities.
They told her that a friend had invited them going to a job, without telling her where they were going.
They would likely be back by Mother's Day.
But well, they never came back.

If there is no possibility of acquittal, then hanging is the only other one sentence prescribed by law.
Even if the brothers are convicted, they would still have two layers of appeals that could last three years before they are exhausted.

The three brothers from Sinaloa have no criminal record in Mexico, a major drug trafficking hub and the cradle of a powerful Mexican cartel of the same name.
But in Malaysia, they were charged with violations of Malaysia's Dangerous Drug Act.

The U.S. State Department warns potential visitors that “Malaysia strictly enforces its drug laws.
If you possess, use or traffic in illegal drugs in Malaysia, you will be sentenced to significantly longer prison sentences and much heavier fines than in the United States [or Mexico].
Malaysian legislation provides for a mandatory death penalty for convicted drug traffickers.
 If you are arrested in possession of 15 grams (1/2 ounce) of heroin or 200 grams (seven ounces) of marijuana, you will be presumed by law to be trafficking in drugs.”

The Malaysian legal system enforces this law and had executed several foreigners.
Several drug traffickers from Australia have been convicted and executed in Malaysia.
In 1986, Australian citizens Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers convicted of trafficking heroin, were hanged.
The Australian government did attempt to defend Barlow and Chambers,but polling indicated little sympathy for the pair among the Australian public.
Even with the intervention of appeals from Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Foreign Minister Bill Hayden, the executions went on as scheduled.
In 1993, another Australian, Michael McAuliffe, was hanged for drug trafficking.

Besides the Gonzalez Villarreal brothers, a Philippines female college lecturer and another two Zimbabwean women are other foreigners facing trafficking charges now.
Malaysia, unlike the United States, where there are many Mexicans, appeals may fall on deaf ears.

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Taiwanese Men On Drug Trafficking Charge Escape Gallows

JOHOR BARU: Four Taiwanese men escaped the gallows when the High Court acquitted and discharged them on a charge of drug trafficking.

Judicial Commissioner M. Gunalan made the decision after defence counsel Naran Singh and G.K. Sritharan managed to raise a reasonable doubt in the case against Chung Sheng Wen, 37, Chang Min Yen, 36, Chang Yun Sheng, 32, and Wu Sheng Yuan, 32.

The four were charged with trafficking Nimetazepam (or Erimin) weighing 43.033 grammes in March last year.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at a factory at No 12, Jalan Angkasa Emas 6, in the Tebrau Industrial Area 2 here, at about 5.30am on March 22, 2009.

They were charged under Section 39B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under Section 39B (2) of the same act, and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Umar Saifuddin Jaafar, in his submission, said all the accused, who were arrested at the factory, were involved in processing and trafficking the drugs.

However, Naran Singh said that during the raid on the factory, all his clients were on the upper level of the building and were unaware of the activities which took place on the ground floor.

"The prosecution only relied on certain evidence. Besides, there was no specific evidence to prove the direct involvement of the accused in the drug processing activities, or that the accused knew anything about it," he said.

Naran Singh said the prosecution also failed to call the key witnesses in the case - the security guard and tenants of the building - to testify.

In his judgement, Gunalan said the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused and their involvement in the case.

"The prosecution succeeded in proving that all the accused were in the factory, but failed to prove that they were involved in drug-processing activities.

"It also failed to prove the direct involvement of the accused in the possession of the tools and exhibits seized from the premises. Therefore, all the accused are freed of the charge," he said.

Source: Malay Mail - Monday, December 27, 2010

The Haj - From Japan To Mecca

Road To Hajj - Islam In The Land Of The Rising Sun 

The road to Hajj in the Land of the Rising Sun begins with the little known fact that there are ethnic Japanese Muslims.

Everyday the call to prayer is made in different corners of the predominantly Buddhist country - unobtrusively within the confines of its 50 or so mosques and approximately 100 musollas or communal prayer rooms.

Twenty-six-year-old Kubo-san prays at a small musolla in the agricultural district of Saitama, about two hours outside the capital, Tokyo.

Built 15 years ago by Bangladeshi workers, Kubo is the only ethnic Japanese in the congregation.

"I was born into a very ordinary Japanese family," he says. "We did not have a strong sense of religion."
Kubo's upbringing mirrors that of many Japanese - their attitudes and philosophy towards life shaped by the ancient religion of Shinto.

An ancient polytheistic faith, Shinto involves the worship of nature and is unique to Japan.

While divination and shamanism is used to gain insights into the unknown, there are no formal scriptures or texts, nor a legacy of priesthood that structures the religion.

After the Second World War, Shinto suffered a huge setback when the emperor was forced to denounce his status as a 'living god'.

While many historians would claim that the Japanese people lost their faith after this, recent surveys suggest that at least 85 per cent still profess their belief in both Shintoism and Buddhism.

'Special meaning'

"The first I knew about Islam was in my school days," Kubo says.

"The schools in Japan usually teach history. I knew about Islam in such history classes. Although I knew only a little bit, it shook my soul strongly."

His interest in Islam developed as he read more about it, but it was only when he began to meet expatriate Muslims in Japan that he considered converting.

Now, he is preparing to go on Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, for the first time.

"We Muslims pray five times a day towards Mecca. And pray 'peace be upon Prophet Muhammad'. He was born in this town and started Islam in Mecca. So for Muslims, it has a special meaning to go to Mecca. I feel honoured that I have this opportunity to go there."

'First step'

But just five years ago, Kubo's pilgrimage would not have been possible.

Reda Kenawy is Egyptian but he moved to Japan when he was in his twenties. He worked for a travel agency and decided to branch out to form his own agency specialising in organising Hajj pilgrimages for Japanese Muslims.

Japan's small Muslim community is tightly-knit

"All my staff said I was crazy when I wanted to plan the Hajj trip," Kenawy says. "In terms of business aspects, there must be a demand in the market to cover the costs. It would not work if there are no Muslims going."

"So I told them someone has to start, someone has to take the first step, then others could take it from there."

But, it was an uphill task, particularly when dealing with the Saudi Arabian authorities.

Kenawy says they told him: "We've never heard of Japanese Muslims and we've never heard of Hajj trips organised from Japan."

"So I told them there were Muslims in Japan and I was there as a Japanese. I have the Japanese nationality and I was representing Japan and wanted to bring Japanese pilgrims for Hajj.

"They said I couldn't and that my passport was forged and I looked Egyptian."

'Honour and happiness'

Kenawy persisted in his quest to take Muslim pilgrims from Japan to Mecca and five years on, his travel agency is one of only two registered companies that have been sanctioned by the Saudi government to organise Hajj pilgrimages for Japanese Muslims.

The number of pilgrims using Kenawy's agency has grown year on year, but for him the most encouraging development is the increase in ethnic Japanese Muslims.

"Right now, we have 90 per cent foreigners and 10 per cent [ethnic Japanese]. My dream is to have the opposite - to have 90 per cent Japanese or maybe 99 per cent original Japanese and only one per cent foreigners."

Abdullah Taki is a 36-year-old former body-piercer who converted to Islam in 2006. He made his Hajj pilgrimage in 2007.

"For me, the meaning of visiting the Kaabah is not to see a building but to visit God's home, to meet God," he says.

"At first, when we reached the country by airplane, we entered Madina before entering the city of Mecca. Although I could not see the area because I was in the airplane, when I heard the announcement that we [were there], I shed tears unconsciously.

"I felt an indescribable sense of honour and happiness. I was very deeply touched."

Camaraderie

Like Kubo, Taki's contact with Muslims in Japan started mainly with the expatriate community.

Every Friday, Muslims from Turkey, the Middle East, Central Asia, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Japan pray together in Tokyo's Cami Mosque, which is modeled on Turkey's beautiful Blue Mosque.

Kubo learnt about Islam from Muslim expatriates in Japan

There are no official records of the number of ethnic Japanese Muslims but some estimates put it at 10,000 - about a tenth of the country's total Muslim population.

The community of Japanese Muslims is so small that when they meet new faces for the first time, a sense of camaraderie is immediately established.

Higouch-san is 73 years old and has been a Muslim for more than 45 years. Mahmuda Saito is 63 and converted more than 30 years ago. Both know how difficult it can be to practice Islam in Japan.

When Higouch and Saito became Muslims there were only two mosques in the whole of Japan.

"It was very difficult. We Japanese have our own culture and traditions so it is quite difficult to carry out five prayers a day and fasting for a month," Higouch says.

'Planting seeds'
Saito is preparing to go on Hajj for the first time. As for many other Japanese Muslims, this involves a lot of self-study.

"It is not a normal holiday so I try to start from the preparation of my heart," she says.

"To learn how to prepare my mind to carry out the Hajj rituals, I read the books regarding the Hajj everyday at home. I would like to absorb the knowledge of the Hajj as much possible before the trip.

"It could be my last Hajj ... [so] I visit this holy city to try to feel the life of the Prophet and his companions of a long time ago."

Kenawy will be leaving Japan with 120 pilgrims - seven of whom are ethnic Japanese and going on Hajj for the first time and he is hopeful that this number will continue to grow.

"Like when you plant a seed and watch it grow, it can easily die or grow to be a big tree with many branches which cover everything. But it's not a tree yet. It's very easy to be broken now," he says.

"But with all the people's support, I think 10 or 20 years from now, maybe I'm not here, I can see there will be an organisation like a ministry for Hajis like in Singapore or Indonesia."

Source: AlJazeera