Woman annoyed husband solicited on 2nd floor of Tanjong Pagar Plaza, home to some 25 massage & beauty parlours

More than 25 massage parlours and beauty salons are operating on the first two floors of Tanjong Pagar Plaza, with the majority concentrated on the second floor, Shin Min Daily News found out.

This was after Foo Cexiang, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC, revealed that residents have complained that there are too many of such establishments in the plaza and were worried that some operators are engaged in illegal activities.

The plaza, connected to five blocks of flats, also houses a tuition centre and a few pre-schools on the second and third floors.

Shops started after pandemic

Several shop owners told Shin Min that shops engaged in beauty or massage services increased significantly following the pandemic.

These shops, it was noted, will undergo a change of ownership after operating for a short time.

Opened till early hours of morning

A female shop owner said some of the shops on the second floor remained open until the early hours of the morning.

According to Shin Min, foreign women, believed to be from China and Vietnam, were suspected of living in some of the shops on the second floor and allegedly provided sexual services.

Due to poor soundproofing, noise from within can often be heard outside, it was reported.

The shop owner said: "Some even openly solicit customers outside the shop during the day. They're incredibly brazen."

Legitimate businesses affected

A Chinese medicine hall owner, who has been in business for over 20 years, blamed the black sheep in the plaza for affecting legitimate businesses.

"My customers say some shops have their doors locked tightly, making it impossible to see what's going on inside, which is very suspicious," she said.

She added: "Over time, the public has lost the ability to distinguish legitimate shops from illicit ones, and has simply stopped visiting."

Once, a prospective customer entered her shop, but asked if illicit services were provided.

That made her angry.

Woman's husband solicited

A resident, who lives above the plaza, said her husband was once solicited by women there.

The woman, who witnessed what happened, said she was walking a few metres behind her husband on the second floor of the plaza when she saw several women soliciting customers.

They apparently reached out to grab her husband's hand, the woman claimed, which annoyed her.

She said, "There are hundreds of residents upstairs. Who would want a store like this downstairs? Furthermore, there's a kindergarten and a tuition centre here with children frequently visiting. It's a truly detrimental influence."

Tenant mix due to sale of shops in 1990s

Foo explained in his post that the retail mix in the plaza stemmed from the sale of a "significant number of shops" with about 80-year leases in the plaza by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in the 1990s.

As a result, "HDB has limited regulatory levers over these shops", Foo wrote.

He added that, given the current relatively low footfall in the plaza, "only a small range of businesses" can afford to pay higher rent – specifically, massage establishments and beauty salons.

Police raids on vice activities see action taken against the masseurs and business owners if they are complicit, "but the shop owners typically are not implicated as they are much less likely to be complicit", Foo wrote.

He added: "The shop owners may then find new business owners of similar trade to let their shops to."

Given this arrangement, it is not "so straightforward to address the issue", Foo wrote.

However, he also revealed that he has met with several stakeholders from the police, HDB, the TPP Traders Association and town council to discuss the strategy on how to refresh the retail mix.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News