Dear Mr. Tan,
I am writing to you to request your kind assistance to talk to our Prime Minister Lee in looking into recent commercial sex with minor. I am one of the person was charged and feel very depressed and stressed. Do you think we deserve to be shamed over in internet and newspaper. Our career and life has been ruined and we are not giving any second chance.
I really hope you can urge our government to look into our law - is it fair to the man? The prostitute lie and her identity still get protected. All of us are been cheated by the pimp and prostitute. We did not purposely go for under-age girl. I really hope you could stand up and speak for us.
We, as the accused, are not in position to speak for ourself and how we are going to survive in Singapore after all this shame? Frankly speaking, I already planned to leave Singapore after this issue is settled. We are not given a second chance and condemned once we are charged.
Dear
I have already posted this article in my blog.
http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-am-concerned-about-decision-taken-by.html
I have also sent it to Today paper. I hope that they will publish it. I have also asked Temasek Review Emeritus, a social blog, to publish this article.
I am sure that someone will bring this to the attention of the Prime Minister, as I know that someone is monitoring my blog. So, you can be sure that the message has gone up to him.
I wish you all the best, and hope that this issue will be forgotten without too much harm to the people who were charged.
Tan Kin Lian
10 comments:
I think the shaming of the 44 people is getting out of hand. What have they done? Have sex with a prostitute, a young prostitute who was under aged . Her age only known after some time. Is it fair to continue shaming them? Daily there are thousands of people, proffessionals, civl servants, executives, workmen, ordinary folks engaging sex with prostitutes in geylang , in hotels, in posh outfits.
What is the difference? age of the prostitutes happened to be below the age of 18. It was 16. What if it is raised to 21 later?. Why turn it into a such big issue?
The whole saga is disproportionate to the saga which is they have sex with a young "under aged" prostitute .Under aged is man legislated age or statutory age an arbitrary age. The prosecutor should consider the fact that she was marketed online and as young girl who had started getting horny about sex ,a merchandise that gaurantees satisfaction.
The girl should also be prosecuted for prostituting without a license, without a proper designated place for the purpose of prostituting for money.
I wonder what they are up to.
A heartfelt plea for help.
Agree with TKL, the Govt has gone over the limit this time.
Dun see what's the big deal having a fling with an underaged but highly experienced sex worker.
She wanted the dough, and the men wanted to satisfy their sexual urge outside of their yellow faced wives at home, simple as that.
A fallacy to expect all hot-blooded but bored males to be saints.
Given the chance of a temptation, bet all men would give in, but judgement lies in the hands of their wives and girlfriends, not with the law, we are not talking about a frightened underaged virgin girl. We are dealing with "an old hand" who are far more experienced than the men's wives or partners.
So why stage such a big wayang show for the public to see. What's the Agenda behind. Dun people say Singapore is now a big sin city. It's not like all the men charged are pedophiles. The girl and the men are as adults as normal.
Let's presume, if one of the men is a PAP MP or Minister, would the Govt resort to such pushing the boundary. Let's put a stop here right now.
I don't see how those accused and their careers are ruined. Take a cue from that ex-principal or howard shaw, face it like a man. No need to hide your face from cameras with masks or plastic bag LOL.
If u say your lives are ruined, u probably mean your personal life right? Like maybe your marriage or relationships with friends and family members may be affected? Well u should have thought about that first when u go for a prostitute. No point crying over spilt milk now.
u guys are just flavour of the month. Soon no one will even remember who you all are or care.
On previous occassions, there were already reports of one or two individuals who were charged in court for underage sex with a minor.
Regardless of whether they actually knew the partners were minors, they were named by the press.
There is no reason to withhold the names this round just because the numbers of those accused are higher.
If the accused does not feel ashamed for his deed, naming him in the papers cannot actually shame him.
What really brings shame to a person?
What the person does or making it known?
If a person does not feel shame unless the deed is made known, then no sympathy from me to the person.
As for the career - how is it in ruins? Is the person dismissed for being convicted for unwittingly breaking a crime?
The same can be applied to previous cases when there was only one or two charged in court.
It is not for the press to be the judge to "give 2nd change" by withholding names - second chance should come from society at large.
If Singapore is a mature society, will not condemn anyone forever based on a single instance of underage sex.
The Prime Minister is not in the position to presume on behalf of all Singaporeans whether it is okay or not okay to withhold the names of those charged in court - that's not his job, and he had better not think he has that right.
If your life is in ruins, it's through your own deeds.
If your friends shun you because of this "stigma", then you had better choose some other friends who are not so superficial.
If your relatives shun you, then consider yourself better off without them too.
Indeed, the government has gone overboard, disclosing names, ages, occupation and times of transaction to distract from the disgraceful revelations of incompetence at the C.O.I.
To the author: be strong, we will pray for you. Morally, it may be a mistake, but legally, it was the hardcore prostitute who is guilty of false declaration. Prostitution is legal in Singapore, thanks to the incumbent government. If they are the upright moralistic citizens they pretend to be, they should do away with prostitution altogether. They can't wear white, if their souls are dark as night.
Most employers would have a clause in the terms of employment that if the employee has been convicted ( regardless of the crime )the employer reserves the right to terminate employment.
This alone is very worrisome, since the newspaper releases the names.
( but we did ask for freedom of speech did we not?)
The next point is that since there is a conviction, future employment is now subject to telling the truth or for the prospective employer to conduct background checks.
The best approach would be to face up to the conviction squarely and move on. Through time, people will forget.
The experience will never be forgotten, yet believe in yourself and that you do have values to contribute to society, your family.
"Look forward towards the sunshine and the shadow of your past will fall behind you"
Tough times do not last,
but tough people do.
I have posted the letter from the accused in the Facebook wall of PM Lee. I hope that he will get his assistant to contact me, or to look into this matter. That is the best that I can do - to pass the message to the Prime Minister.
The law is unfair, my sympathy is with the accuseds too, but even ammending the law in the next Parliament sitting won't save them. The law won't be applied retrospectively, i.e. one would be charged under the law when it happened, not the law as ammended.
Prostitution has always been legal in Singapore since the days of Sir Stamford Raffles. Legal but subject to control and regulation, e.g. licensed brothels, no street solicitation etc. Clients have to walk in on own free will.
The profiles of the accuseds suggest that they're reluctant to appear in such "houses of ill-repute," that's why they resorted to internet and SMS pimp-chain of booking hoping to be discrete.
Sadly and unfortunately, it backfired and backfired morbidly as the girl turned out underaged.
To R Ong and S Beagle....
I don't want to sound negative but it would seem that both of you lack empathy for others.
Mr Tan, kudos to you for doing what you did.
It should be emphasised that prostitution is not a crime in Singapore, However, the social reality here (and in many other places) is that there is a stigma against sex workers and their clients. It is therefore naive to question the claim that the lives of the men have been unjustly affected for their widespread crucifixion in the media.
1. Do we favour prostitutes between the ages of 16 and 18? The legal provisions were intended to protect women who were forced into prostitution, not women who voluntarily engaged in the same.
2. Where consent is not an issue, women above the age of 16 have no special protection from the law. Hence, for the crime of incest, a girl above the age of 16 faces the same charge as her partner from within the prohibited degree of relationship.
3. Why is there a gag order imposed to protect the prostitute from this on-line vice ring? Is the AGC classifying her as a victim? Here is someone who has engaged in prostitution as an occupation, a pursuit of choice. By protecting her and others of the same persuasion, is the AGC giving the message that they condone such behaviour?
4. The fact is that this prostitute can now ply her trade without hindrance as she has already turned 18. Would she have been forced to change her ways if her particulars had been made public earlier on? Would other girls have kept out of the trade if there was a threat of publicity?
5. It is time for an amendment to this provision relating to prostitutes under the age of 18. In particular, victims should be distinguished from willing/professional parties.
6. With respect to the 40+ men charged, it cannot be denied that they have suffered immeasurable harm. The AGC should therefore drop all the preferred charges unconditionally and educate the public on the true intent of the said provision.
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