- Geylang Road
Geylang Road (Chinese: 芽笼路 ;
Malay : "Jalan Geylang") is a major trunkroad linkingSingapore 'scentral business district with the eastern suburban areas. Deriving its name from the area ofGeylang where the road cuts through, it is fronted on both sides by low-riseshophouse s protected statutorily from urban redevelopment in keeping with its history and urban heritage.It is famous for its long history of
prostitution . Geylang had over 50 lanes at one point inhistory . Rumor has it that every lane is guarded by a different Hokkien triadgang which controlled thepimp ingtrade . Each lane had femaleprostitute s catering to a specific niche in terms of theirlanguage spoken,nationality , age,experience andsexual position performed. For example, each street could be exclusively filled with Thai, Filipino,Macau ,Chungking (Chongqing) prostitutes, and another with Korean, Japanese or Japanese-looking ones. One street would be forvirgin prostitutes and another for virgin customers. Redlantern s would light up in the night in seeminglypristine mansion s discreetly announcing that they arebrothel s open for business. Normally, clients can only afford the working women in cubicles or corners. Themansion s are reserved for exclusive business or corporate personnel as the fees charged for the same services rendered are beyond the reach of any normal working-classindividual . Unlike inHong Kong andTaipei , male prostitution for women clientele andgigolo s are not popular with the Singaporean market. As such,Geylang is exclusively targeted towardsheterosexual male clientele from all over the world. The Geylang prostitutes are routinely rounded up by police for check-ups, health screenings and illegals deported.The road itself starts from where it meets the eastern end of
Kallang Road over theKallang River , cutting almost parallel to the east until it meetsChangi Road at the junction withGeylang Serai andJoo Chiat Road . Initially the only main thoroughfare leading to Changi, it has since been converted into a one way street as traffic mushroomed and led to the building of a parallel road,Sims Avenue to the north for traffic in the opposite direction.References
*Peter K G Dunlop (2000) "Street Names of Singapore" Who's Who Publishing ISBN 981-4062-11-1
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