Sex trade scaring off customers
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BAD FOR BUSINESS: Foreign prostitutes offer their services in broad daylight
A recent Streets check found the illicit activities were taking place openly inside the mall.Several shady spas and gambling dens can be found in the mall, which is popular among school and college students.
Our eye-opening experience began when we entered a large open arcade in the mall.
Initially, it looked like any other arcade with video games and basketball machines.
As we walked further in, we saw a line of slot and pinball machines, beside which were four computers linked to online casinos.
Even on a weekday afternoon, the gambling machines were almost fully occupied.
Curious, we asked the staff at the counter if we could gamble and was told that the online casinos in the arcade were reserved for those who spend a minimum of RM50.
"If you want to gamble with a smaller amount, you can go to the shop in the middle of the mall," said the operator.
We followed the operator's directions and found ourselves at a heavily-tinted door. We rang the bell and waited to be let in.
Inside, there were rows of computers linked to online casinos. As we sat down, we were offered free beverages.
We left after a while and continued walking around the mall. At one point, we came to a row of shops which had their shutters closed.
Standing suspiciously at the end of the row, a foreign woman who looked East Asian approached us.
"You want massage?" she asked.
We said no and as we left, we saw other women soliciting for customers.
We stopped at two massage parlours where we were offered a variety of sexual massages.
At one parlour, the clear glass doors were locked after we entered.
The other parlour, with a sign indicating "reflexology massages", had a room with partitions. The rooms were dark, lit only by a small bed light.
While our shoulders were being massaged, we were repeatedly asked to consider sexual massages.
"You will like it," said one of the foreign girls, explaining that tips received from the sexual massages were their only source of income.
Some of them told us that they made around RM200 to RM500 daily from their illicit services.
The most disturbing part of the entire episode was that numerous families and children could be heard through the thin walls.
When contacted, the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ ) enforcement director Major (Rtd) Mohd Rasip Rasul said the council continuously conducted operations at the mall.
However, it was a continuous challenge for them as the outlets would reopen under a new registered name and licence holder.
He added that after each operation, they would inform the police as only the police could arrest the sex workers.
In Kuala Lumpur, the presence of foreign prostitutes in the commercial area opposite Wisma Indah in Jalan Tun Razak is also tarnishing the image of the businesses operating there.
Raid after raid by enforcement officers from the Immigration department has not brought any permanent results as the prostitutes will return to the streets openly offering illicit services to customers.
Business owners operating there are fed up with their continued presence. A check by Streets found foreign women, believed to be prostitutes, loitering in the area.
A sundry shop owner, who only wanted to be known as Taha, said most of these prostitutes loitered around the entrances of the shop lots, making the walkway narrow and difficult to go through.
"Despite the raids by the authorities and complaints, the problem still persists," he said, adding that the prostitutes have been around for more than two years.
"It is very embarrassing that we have to go through this situation every day. My business is affected as even my regular customers hardly come to my shop because of the prostitutes," he said.
"Previously, there were two commercial banks in the area. The banks shifted because these prostitutes would approach the customers and offer their services," he claimed.
Taha said the prostitutes would begin offering their services as early as 10am.
A private sector employee who did not want to be identified said that numerous complaints have been sent to the Immigration department as well as to the Prime Minister's department.
"However, the problem still continues as after each raid, the prostitutes usually return a week later and back to their activities," he said.
"I hope that the authorities will take more stringent action next time."
