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Prostitution and the Politics of Venereal Disease: Singapore, 1870–98

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

James Francis Warren
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Prostitution in Singapore was linked to economic factors in rural China and Japan. Congenital poverty, weak family economies, and rising economic expectations were all part of a set of prevailing conditions that created a vast source of supply of Chinese and Japanese women and young girls for international traffic. Life in both countries was exceptionally difficult in the second half of the nineteenth century. Although China had considerable wealth, most lived a hand to mouth existence in the over-populated rural areas. Poverty in the villages and outlying districts of southeastern China, where many agrarian families lived on the edge of starvation, not only drove women and girls out of the countryside into the ports but acted as a lever on parents already bowed under financial strain. Privation was a handicap which struck hardest at the daughters of peasants and rural labourers. Unable to feed the many mouths they were responsible for, and suffering from chronic economic insecurity, parents sold their daughters to would be benefactors, totally unaware of the future fate in store for so many of them who were taken to Singapore. Poverty and desperate hungry Chinese families were root causes of brothel prostitution in Singapore at the end of the nineteenth century.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , September 1990 , pp. 360 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1990

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References

1 League of Nations, Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the Traffic in Women and Children in the East (New York, 1933), p. 132Google Scholar passim; S.E. Niccol-Jones, “Report on the Problem of Prostitution in Singapore” (1941), p. 23; Ching-Hwang, Yen, A Social History of the Chinese in Singapore and Malaya, 1800–1911 (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 250Google Scholar; Hane, Mikoso, Peasants, Rebels and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan (New York: Pantheon Books, 1982), p. 6Google Scholar; Yamazaki, Tomoko, “Sandakan No. 8 Brothel”, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (1975): 56–57Google Scholar.

2 Ah Ku is a general term of address in Cantonese for woman or lady irrespective of age. Ah ku was the polite way to address a prostitute. Loh Kui or “whore” was the opposite denigrating term in Cantonese. Karayuki-san was the word used traditionally by the Japanese of Amakusa and Shimabara, Kyushu Island, to describe rural women who emigrated to Southeast Asia and the Pacific in search of a livelihood. The ideographs comprising karayuki-san literally mean “going to China”, as Kyushu, the place where most of the women were from, was the part of Japan closest to China. Karayuki-san in common parlance nowadays has become a popular term for describing women from the poorest sectors of society during the Meiji period who lived abroad specifically as prostitutes. See Warren, James Francis, “Placing Women in Southeast Asian History: The Case of Oichi and the Study of Prostitution in Singapore Society”, in At the Edge of Southeast Asian History (Quezon City: New Day Press, 1987), pp. 148–64Google Scholar; on Chinese migration see Warren, James Francis, Rickshaw Coolie: A People's History of Singapore (1880–1940) (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 14–19, 161–65, 249Google Scholar; Ee, Joyce, “Chinese Migration of Singapore, 1896–1941”, Journal of Southeast Asian History 2 (1961): 37Google Scholar; Hirata, Lucie Cheng, “Free, Indentured, Enslaved: Chinese Prostitutes in Nineteenth Century America”, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 5, no. 1 (1979): 5–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 N.274, Minute of Mr Meade, in Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, June 27, 1883, CO 273/121.

4 Appendix O, Testimony of Registrar General A.V. Cousins, November 21, 1876, CO 273/91.

5 N.25, Memorandum by Secretary for Chinese Affairs, G.T. Hare, June 12, 1898, in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, September 8, 1898, CO 882/6.

6 N.321, Testimony of Mr C. Phillips, Inspector under the C.D.O., in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

7 N.25, Memorandum by Secretary for Chinese Affairs, G.T. Hare, June 12, 1898, in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, September 8, 1898, CO 882/6.

8 For a classic social history of the state regulation of prostitution and the successful campaign for the repeal of the Acts, see Walkowitz, Judith R., Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class and the State (London: Cambridge University Press, 1980)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and McHugh, Paul, Prostitution and Victorian Social Reform (New York: St Martin's Press, 1980)Google Scholar.

9 House of Commons, Vol. LVII, 1887, Contagious Diseases Ordinances (Colonies), enclosure 3, Principal Civil Medical Officer to the Colonial Secretary, February 28, 1887 in Sir F. Weld to Sir H.T. Holland, April 20, 1887; Sir H. Ord to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, July 1, 1868, CO 273/20.

10 The exception to the rule was India, where, in order to preserve the health and vigor of the British soldier, cantonments, or permanent military camps were established with Lal Bazars and lock hospitals. See Ballhatchet, Kenneth, Race, Sex and Class Under the Raj: Imperial Attitudes and Policies and Their Critics, 1793–1905 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980)Google Scholar.

11 House of Commons, Vol. LVII, 1887, Contagious Diseases Ordinances (Colonies), enclosure 3, Principal Civil Medical Officer to the Colonial Secretary, February 28, 1887 in Sir F. Weld to Sir H.T. Holland, April 20, 1887.

12 N.132, Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

13 Ibid.

14 N.42, Sir H. Ord to the Earl of Kimberley, February 13, 1873. CO 273/65.

15 N.132, Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

16 N.132, Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

17 N.132, Testimony of A.F. Anderson, Colonial Surgeon, in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

18 N.132, Testimony of C. Phillips, A.V. Cousins, R.F. Anderson in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

19 N.132, Testimony of J.W. Wheatley in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

20 N.132, Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

21 N.132, Testimony of Mr J.E. Cooper in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

22 N.274, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, August 27, 1883, CO 273/121.

23 Ibid.

24 N.227, Memorandum of Dr M.F. Simon in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

25 N.132, Testimony of J.H. Robertson, M.D. in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21,1877, CO 273/91.

26 N.132, Testimony of L. Schrieder in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

27 N.132, Testimony of R.A. Miles in Lt Colonel Anson to the Earl of Carnavon, April 21, 1877, CO 273/91.

28 N.25, Memorandum of Dr Welch in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, September 8, 1898, CO 882/6; N.227, Testimony of Mr Wispauer in Sir J.A. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

29 N.4, Sir F. Weld to Edward Stanhope, January 10, 1887, CO 273/143.

30 N.274, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, August 27, 1882, CO 273/121.

31 N.274, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, June 27, 1883, CO 273/121; N.285, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, July 4, 1883, CO 273/121.

32 N.274, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, August 27, 1882, CO 273/121.

33 N.285, Sir F. Weld to the Earl of Derby, July 4, 1883, CO 273/121.

34 Walkowitz, , Prostitution and Victorian Society, pp. 113–36Google Scholar.

35 Ibid.

36 Petrie, Glen, A Singular Iniquity: The Campaigns of Josephine Butler (London: Macmillan, 1971), p. 205Google Scholar; Morton, R.S., Venereal Diseases (London: Penguin Books, 1966), p. 32Google ScholarPubMed.

37 Walkowitz, , Prostitution and Victorian Society, pp. 233–45Google Scholar; Petrie, , A Singular Iniquity, pp. 144–45Google Scholar.

38 Statistics of the Registration Office, Contagious Diseases Ordinance, 1888, CO 275/33.

39 House of Commons, Vol. LVII, 1887, Contagious Diseases Ordinances (Colonies), Enclosure 2, in Sir F. Weld to Sir H.T. Holland, April 20, 1887.

40 Enclosure 1, ibid.

41 Ibid.

42 Testimony of Mr C.J. Irving in Enclosure 2, ibid.

43 N.128, Sir H.T. Holland to Sir F. Weld, July 2, 1887, CO 275/34.

44 Ibid.

45 N.373, Sir F. Weld to Sir H.T. Holland, September 10, 1887, CO 275/34.

46 N.128, Sir H.T. Holland to Sir F. Weld, July 2, 1887, CO 275/34; N.215, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, May 17, 1888, CO 273/152.

47 N.552, Sir C. Smith to the Colonial Secretary, December 30, 1887, CO 275/34.

48 Annual Medical Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Straits Settlement Annual Report, 1888, p.2.

49 N.451, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, September 21, 1889, CO 273/161.

50 N.210, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, May 3, 1889, CO 273/160; Annual Medical Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Straits Settlement Annual Report, 1890, p. 2.

51 N.210, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, May 3, 1889, CO 273/160.

52 Annual Medical Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Straits Settlement Annual Report, 1890, pp. 2, 8; N.274, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, June 15, 1892, CO 273/181.

53 N.368, Lord Knutsford to Sir C. Smith, November 5, 1889, CO 273/161.

54 N.311, Sir C.B.H. Mitchell to the Marquess of Ripon, September 25, 1894, CO 882/6.

55 N.227, Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6; Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 882/6.

56 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 273/232.

57 Ibid.

58 Llewellyn-Jones, Derek, Sex and V.D. (London: Faber & Faber, 1974), p. 83Google Scholar.

59 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 243/232.

60 Annual Medical Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Straits Settlement Annual Report, 1892, p. 3.

61 Ibid.; N.274, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, June 15, 1892, CO 273/181.

62 Annual Medical Report of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Straits Settlement Annual Report, 1893–97; Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 882/6.

63 N.569, Sir C. Smith to the Earl of Knutsford, December 20, 1889, CO 273/162.

64 Ibid.

65 Ibid.

66 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 882/6.

67 Ibid.

68 Testimony of Dr Mugliston in Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 882/6.

69 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 273/232.

70 N.227, Testimony of Dr Mugliston in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

71 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 273/232.

72 Ibid.

73 Morton, , Venereal Diseases, pp. 54–55, 58Google Scholar; Llewellyn-Jones, , Sex and V.D., pp. 14–15Google Scholar; N.227, Testimony of Dr Mugliston in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

74 N.227, Testimony of Dr Mugliston in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

75 Ibid.

76 N.227, Testimony of Mr Wispauer in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

77 Morton, , Venereal Diseases, p. 112Google Scholar; Llewellyn-Jones, , Sex and V.D., p. 12Google Scholar.

78 N.187, Sir C. Smith to Lord Knutsford, May 7, 1888.

79 Ibid.; House of Commons, Vol. LVII, 1887, Contagious Diseases Ordinances (Colonies), Enclosure 3, Principal Civil Medical Officer to Colonial Secretary, February 28, 1887, in Sir F. Weld to Sir H.T. Holland, April 20, 1887.

80 N.295, Sir C.B.N. Mitchell to Mr Chamberlain, September 1, 1897, CO 882/6.

81 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 882/6.

82 N.227, Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

83 N.552, Sir C. Smith to the Earl of Knutsford, December 9, 1889, CO 273/162.

84 Ibid.

85 N.227, Testimony of Dr Mugliston and Mr Wispauer in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

86 N.113, Sir C.B.H. Mitchell to the Marquess of Ripon, April 8, 1895, CO 882/6; N.227, Testimony of Dr Mugliston in Sir J.H. Swettenham to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1878, CO 882/6.

87 Ibid.

88 N.113, Sir C.B.H. Mitchell to the Marquess of Ripon, April 8, 1895, CO 882/6.

89 Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, November 8, 1897, CO 273/232.

90 N.227, Straits Settlement Association to the Colonial Office, September 1, 1898, CO 273/237; N.227, Sir J.H. Swettenham, to Mr Chamberlain, August 5, 1898, CO 882/6.

91 N.35, Mr Chamberlain to Sir C.B.H. Mitchell, February 18, 1898, CO 882/6.

92 Ibid.

93 N.121, Mr Chamberlain to Sir C.B.H. Mitchell, April 28, 1899, CO 882/6; N.110, Mr Chamberlain to Sir C.B.H. Mitchell, May 11, 1899, CO 882/6.