At Karimun, Singapore paedophiles can get virgins for up to $1,000. But the days of the sex trade could be numbered when laws are passed here to prosecute those who go overseas for sex with minors headline missing. By Arlina Arshad
 |
| Ilustrasi |
EVERY weekend, the ferry disgorges 50 to 100 Singapore men at Tanjung Balai port in Karimun. They arrive on Fridays and usually stay until Sunday.
Ask them what they are there for and they give vague replies like 'eat', 'shop' or 'gamble'.
The fact is, the island, 90 minutes away from Singapore by ferry, is well known among paedophiles in the region for its young girls, termed ABG or Anak Baru Gede.
Located in a secluded part of town is a place known as the Villa. It comprises 58 double-storey terrace houses, each guarded by two pimps and a bodyguard.
In each house are between 20 and 50 young women and girls who come from various parts of Indonesia. Almost half of them are under 18 years old. Some of them were duped into prostitution.
Between 9am and 9pm every day, the women hang out at the bar on the lower storey or the balcony in sexy mini-skirts and tight-fitting tank tops, waiting for clients to book them for 300,000 rupiah (S$53) to 800,000 rupiah a day.
Virgins are priced anywhere between $500 and $1,000.
And the younger they are, the higher their booking fee, said local non-government organisation Yayasan Kaseh Puan's director Rina Dwi Lestari.
She said: 'The very young ones are usually booked by Singaporeans, who can afford the price.'
Whether Singaporean men can continue to indulge in child sex will be a big question after new legislation is drawn up here soon enabling authorities to prosecute paedophiles who have sex with minors overseas.
NGOs which watch the child sex trade say Tanjung Balai in Karimun and Tanjung Batu in Kundur - another island further south within the Karimun district - are focal points for paedophiles from Singapore and Malaysia.
Just last month, three girls under 17 were rescued from the Tanjung Balai Villa, after serving 24 men, including eight Singaporeans, for 15 days.
In November last year, Kundur police rescued seven minors from a Tanjung Batu brothel. Two of them, aged 15 and 16, said Singaporeans had paid five million rupiah each for their virginity.
Police chief Edward Indharmawan, of the criminal investigation department in Karimun district, said there were four cases of Indonesian minors being sold to brothels last year. But since July last year, Yayasan has handled 48 such cases.
Anyone convicted of child trafficking can be jailed for five to 15 years and fined up to 300 million rupiah under Indonesian law.
For the moment, the flow of men continues, though it has dipped slightly in the last few months because of a clampdown on gambling dens by the local authorities.
Mr Indharmawan said: 'In the past, the Singaporean men told their wives they were here to gamble. But now, they can't.'
In 2004, 229,459 visitors came to Karimun and spent an average of two days there.
'A majority of the visitors, sadly, are here for sex,' said Madam Rina.
Last Thursday, this reporter was one of only two women on board the ferry from the HarbourFront ferry terminal to Karimun.
The other was the Indonesian girlfriend of an elderly Singaporean. There were close to 40 men.
Sources told The Sunday Times that pimps call their Singaporean regulars whenever a new load of 'fresh faces' is shipped or flown in from Medan or Jakarta.
Turnover is high. Some of the houses at the Villa receive three 'new faces' each week. The 'old' ones who have completed their six-month contracts are free to go, but many end up at Paya Labu, another sex spot 7km away, or go to other parts of Riau.
When the Singaporean men arrive at Tanjung Balai port, they are picked up by cars with tinted windows. Some head straight to the Villa to choose the girls, who will then be ferried to their hotel rooms.
'But most men will just wait at the hotels for the girls to be sent, as they may have made prior booking with the pimps,' said Mr Agung Purwantomo, Yayasan's programme officer. 'Singaporeans are quite careful. They usually visit the girls during the night.'
Many of the men are middle-aged and dress casually in T-shirts, bermudas and slippers.
Unlike their regional counterparts, they do not like going to discos, preferring to treat the girls to meals at restaurants and shopping at department stores.
They are also generous, said Mita, who at 19 years old is classified a 'Villa senior'. She will be completing her six-month contract in several weeks.
Pointing to several gold rings and chains she was wearing, she said they were gifts from her Singaporean boyfriend.
'He visited my parents in Java and repaired our wooden house. He also sends them money every month,' she said.
Singaporean men The Sunday Times spoke to feigned ignorance when asked if they knew the girls were minors. One even claimed to be Malaysian, even as he was holding the familiar red Singapore passport.
It might well be that some Singaporeans are ignorant that the prostitutes in Tanjung Balai are mere girls.
Child traffickers tell the girls to lie about their age and make fake identification documents for them.
Lejan, 17, who was rescued last month, said two of her Singaporean clients suspected she was underage, although she followed her pimp's instruction to say that she was 19.
She said: 'One did not ask further after I assured him. But the other was not convinced. He told me I behaved like a child because I kept saying he's cheeky when he wanted to get close.
'He told me he could get me out of the brothel, but still slept with me. So I was confused.'
An Indonesian client aided her escape. She borrowed his mobile phone and called her brother in Batam, who alerted Karimun district police.
Two syndicate runners have been caught and police are hunting for the ringleaders.
Karimun district police and NGOs welcomed Singapore's move to prosecute citizens having sex with Indonesian minors.
Mr Indharmawan said Karimun and Singapore police have worked together on other issues before and he hopes that the history of cooperation will help tackle the child-trafficking problem too.
He added: 'Sometimes, we suspected the girls to be underage, but when we interviewed them, they denied it.'
NGOs agreed, saying it is hard to tell the age of the girls based on their looks alone, especially when they are dolled up.
Mr Ramches Merdeka of Perhimpunan Rekan Anak Indonesia (Prai), an Indonesian NGO dealing in child-trafficking issues, said the Indonesian and Singapore governments, police and NGOs should first establish a good working relationship because there is 'not much contact now'.
Madam Rina suggested that Singapore authorities could log the profiles of regular visitors to the Riau islands and find out why they visit Tanjung Balai or Tanjung Batu so frequently.
Singapore police could also visit Karimun to trail and catch offenders, she added.
'Next time, if we hear of any hanky panky, we won't just call Karimun police, but also Singapore NGOs so they can alert Singapore police.'
On the Singapore side, Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Indranee Rajah suggested video-conferencing could be used to enable witnesses to give direct evidence in court.
Ms Braema Mathi, president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), suggested a hotline for the public to alert the authorities on child-sex activities.
Officers handling the issue should also be trained to understand how the trafficking business works.
But there is a challenge, she said.
'We may be sincere to do something right, but another country may not. These are problems and we should do this in a systematic manner.'
'Sexpat' Haunts
Credits AsiaOne (20/03/2006)
