Lim - Invisible trade II: secret lives and sexual intrigue in Singapore

Gerrie Lim is the bestselling author of Invisible Trade: High-Class Sex for Sale in Singapore, his expos of the escort business in Southeast Asia, Invisible Trade II: Secret lives and sexual intrigue in Singapore, an expos of sexual commerce in Singapore, and In Lust We Trust: Adventures in Adult Cinema, his memoir of a decade spent covering the erotica industry in Los Angeles, California, where he previously lived for fifteen years as a freelance writer contributing to Billboard, Details, LA Style, LA Weekly, Penthouse, Playboy and The Wall Street Journal. His most recent book, Singapore Rebel: Searching for Annabel Chong, offers an in-depth look at Singapores most famous pornstar.

Several people were instrumental in making this book a reality, and Id like to thank: Natalie Thompson, my editor, for her eagle eye, encouragement and enthusiasm; Alishia Yusman, my assistant, for accompanying me on some of the interviews and fact-checking certain essential details; Vivienne Yeo, friend and famous poet, for offering her comments and insights on some of the chapters; and, not least of all, my fellow scribes and kindred spiritsMeihan Boey, John Burdett, Isabella Chen, Mark Hillman, Barney Hoskyns, Brenda Scofield, Mika Tan, Paul Theroux, Bjorn Turmann and Jeff Wozniakfor their hours of conversation on the subject of escorts and the ethics of escorting.

If Ive left anyone out, its probably for your own personal safety and reputation.

Thanks also to Sheridan Prasso for our discussions following her own excellent book The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, and Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient, which Id recommend without hestitation to anyone with even a remotely fetishistic interest in the subject of Asian exotica. I am also indebted to Jonathan Lobban and Christian Barker for their camaraderie when they were my editors at August Man magazine, for it was under their brave aegis that certain portions of this book were previously excerpted.

None of this would have been possible at all without the participation of all the interviewees quoted (and since all names were changed, only you know who you are). I would, however, like to apologize to two young women who initially agreed but then declined; one had cold feet and stood me up, the other was apparently getting married (and so both obviously decided that exposing the past might not be such a good idea after all!)to both of you, Id like to say that I had no intention of ever freaking you out and I sincerely wish you both well, now that youve both left the business.

A special word of appreciation, in this light, to Maya, who kept in touch with me despite changes of cellphone numbers, and who trusted in my discretion despite the details of her almost imaginary and very complicated life.

And, as always, to P.H., for her ongoing trust in me whenever I embarked on yet more field research in the name of armchair anthropology. I think weve redefined the term high-fidelity (as first defined by Nick Hornby).

Nina Hartley once told me that the difference between erotica and pornography is lighting. Id like to add, being devoid of cameras, that its also hopefully in the writing.

Inside the Outsider:

A Decade of Shooting the Pop Culture Breeze

* Invisible Trade:

High-class sex for sale in Singapore

Idol to Icon:

The Creation of Celebrity Brands

* In Lust We Trust:

Adventures in Adult Cinema

Absolute Mayhem:

Confessions of an Aussie Pornstar

* Singapore Rebel:

Searching for Annabel Chong

* (published by Monsoon Books)

She loves the sound of her chosen name, she says, and didnt know until much later that it means illusion. But its so very fitting, of course, since thats exactly her job description.

Maya laughs. Shes proud to be a high priestess of illusion and even came up with a running joke in honor of her name: By day, she works in public relations but by night she works in, misspelling intended, pubic relations.

On one occasion, however, the joke was literally on her instead. One guy wanted me to shave in front of him, to shave my pubic hair, she recalls, and yes, I did it. Some guys like girls shaved and others dont like that, so I dont know, its hard to accommodate everyone. Some like me bare, some like me with a lot of hair.

Some hair down there looks more natural, doesnt it? I think so. Anyway, this guy wanted me bare and paid me an extra S$50. It was my first time actually doing that. I should have asked him for more!

Pubic relations, what kind of work was that for a sweet girl like her? Well, she could quit her day job if she wanted to, from the rave reviews shes received from her customers, not to mention the somewhat disproportionate income gap that results from such adoration. Hot damn, surely she must be good! Why else would so many of these guys keep calling to book her again?

Moonlighting for Maya, it seems, has really become a way of life. At the escort agency where she works four nights a week, she brings in the most repeat business of any of the girls. Clients have whisked her away to New York and Hong Kong and several places in Australia, and she even enjoyed an island retreat off the coast of West Malaysia with a famous Hollywood movie star. She remembers digging her nails into his back, and wondering if those marks would ever show up on-screen.

Back in Singapore, shes her agency bosss numero uno go-to girl for the big overnight jobs, where she stays with a client in his hotel suite till the next morning. She has, at any given time, between twenty to thirty regulars and she estimates shes had sex with at least a hundred guys. The exact number eludes her since she doesnt keep track anymore, because shes lost count. Just like the number of taxis ferrying her across Singapore, and the many hotel suites shes slept in.

Well, being an escort is about pleasing people, so it is a form of public relations, she quips. Her daylight hours are spent at a small firm specializing in banking and technology. My title is public relations consultant. I do research for presentations and Im still a junior executive so Im still learning. I started out as a part-time receptionist, as an intern while I was still in school, and then got a full-time job after I finished my diploma in mass communications.

The job, she knows, affords the perfect cover for her. Naturally, Im a friendly person, but my escort job has taught me to go one step higher. And when Im not working, I do see my friends and some of them now ask me, What do you do? What are you working as? I tell them I work in P.R. Im on Friendster and I have my pictures on there and I go overseas all the time so when they check the site, they notice that I go overseas a lot and thats why they ask me what I do. A lot of these people are very kaypohsuch busybodies! I tell them I have to go overseas for travel, for my public relations work. Even my mother was asking me about it. But she doesnt anymore, not since I moved out of the house to live with my boyfriend.

Her boyfriend?!! Talk about leading a double life.

Indeed, while everyone knows about her respectable day job, nobody knows what she does after she leaves the office. Not her office colleagues, not her parents and definitely not her boyfriend. She even started escorting two months after she started dating him, and she gets away with it simply because they dont actually live togetherhe sleeps over at her condo only two or three nights a week and thats exactly how she likes it. Any more would seriously cramp her lifestyle.

And all this deft, illusory sleight-of-time is enhanced by the fact that she is a young Singaporean Muslim woman who actually grew up in Geylang Serai. Her father is of Indonesian descent, his ancestors hailing from Bandung, a town southeast of Jakarta, and her mother is pure Singapore Malay. The paradox is not at all lost on her.