Indian man vomits

Singapore may have had a more sleazy reputation at points in its past. However, today in this country where so much is controlled by an intelligent and watching government, these parts of history don’t get much play. Like most good port cities, Singapore circa WWI was full of good times: gambling, prostitution, and the sailors who love them. There was also a bored European aristocracy who held fancy cocktail parties most nights, and a stream of rich Europeans sailing over and stopping by to go “oriental.” It was the imported labor (Chinese and Indians) and the Europeans-on-the-sly frequenting the prostitutes and opium dens.

I read a novel set in Singapore in the early 70s, called Saint Jack by Paul Theroux, that styled Singapore as a destination for some alcohol and prostitutes amongst soldiers looking for some r&r during the Vietnam War. (Click here for some lyrical, but not prurient, musings by Theroux on 70s Singapore.)

Prostitution is legal to some degree in Singapore. I went to Geylang where skinny girls in short skirts stand in alleys. Legally, they’re supposed to only be in registered and government regulated brothels, I think. I was there because that neighborhood also has 24 hour hawker stalls, and I was hungry at 2am. For dessert I had durian, which is a creamy fruit that comes in a violently spiky husk and smells like rotting compost. It’s actually tasty, but it’s a taste that must be acquired. It’s now illegal to buy a prostitute under 16-years-old, and I read about the first arrest made under the new law last week. The guy had a family and job and cried in court. I think one (and maybe two) of my non-English speaking apartment mates are mistresses. You can buy alcohol 24 hours in at least some parts of Singapore. I bought beer at 4:20am from a 7-11 on a Friday morning. I think opium is probably passé, and casinos, having been outlawed for 50 years or so, will be opening again soon (but they’re much more 1990s Las Vegas than 1970s Las Vegas – meaning, very glossy, not very sleazy).

All in all, Singapore as SIN city (SIN is its airport abbreviation) doesn’t really fit with its “soft authoritarian” image, where you can be executed for possessing heroin, and bratty American teenagers get caned. (for a good, general, short, and readable overview of changing Singapore, try this)

Last night I got off a bus in my neighborhood in front of a large Chinese grocery store. It’s a busy thoroughfare. I ran into an American guy I know from NUS, and we stopped and talked for a while on the sidewalk. A middle age Indian man, plain as day, was walking past, and he began vomiting. He was standing upright, vomiting large amounts of clear-ish liquid; he didn’t hunch over like most pukers. My friend and I were like, “?!” Then dude begins walking away, now with an unsteady swerve. About ten steps later, dude dropped his bag, hunched, put his hands on his knees, and began hacking up some remnants. A few moments earlier, it was one of the most casual pukes I’d ever seen, but now dude was feeling sick.

This was funny because it was on a busy street in front of a busy grocery store. But I’m not sure Singapore is a true SIN city. I think Bangkok may be what sinners are looking for.

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