It was stated in Parliament that of the 1,200 licensed massage establishments in Singapore, less than 3 per cent were found to operate vice activities based on police discoveries in 2016, and that there were about 300 massage establishments in HDB estates.

I often see women's undergarments hanging at the back of massage establishments which operate in residential areas, and wonder why this is so when I don't see similar laundry behind coffee shops or nail salons where women are also employed.

Is this a subtle marketing ploy?

I applaud the authorities for their efforts to crack down on vice activities, and urge them to channel their finite resources to police massage establishments in residential areas, too.

Some suggestions include having more undercover policemen visit massage establishments in residential districts more frequently to uncover any vice activities. The authorities should also disallow such establishments from covering the shop front with opaque wallpaper, which would not compromise privacy since massages are conducted in rooms out of sight of passers-by anyway.

Let us not allow vice to thrive in the heartland, and prevent the young from being tempted at close quarters.

Darren Ong Soon Siong