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The shifting sex industry and the need for better screening for sex workers
Health screening programmes developed decades ago should be updated to keep up with shifts in our demographics and industries.
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By modernising our public health programmes, Singapore can continue to uphold robust health standards, says the writer.
PHOTO: PIXABAY
Rayner Tan
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“Prostitution is not an offence in Singapore... Forcing it underground will lead to the greater likelihood of involvement by triads and organised crime, the trafficking of women, and public health risks.”
These remarks by then-Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee in Parliament in 2009, underscore a recurring principle in Singapore’s policymaking: on complex issues, moral discomfort cannot outweigh practical realities and pragmatic solutions on the ground.
