Sunday, August 30, 2009

Moments

I saw this sign at a residential apartment in Geylang area. I didn't quite understand what it meant by 'hookers' and I thought it is more commonly used by Westerners. I wondered why this sign was here in the first place and what the objective would culminate into. How does the apartment management affirm that a potential tenant is a 'hooker'? To my knowledge, brothel owners apply licences (yellow card) for sex workers they hire but street walkers do not have one. So I wondered how would one identify a woman/man as a 'hooker'?  
On another note...


Met with Ai tonight at Geylang. She shared about being in the sex work business since 16. She shared about how her family don't check in on her enough. She shared about how she talked to God most of the time and sometimes even to herself. She loves her pets, always going home early to feed them. Ai is Singaporean, she doesn't like kissing men since young because she does not like the moist left on her lips.

An is also Singaporean, over 40. She shared today that her own daughter ran away from her many years ago with her money. She has an adopted daughter which she cares for a lot. She takes anti-depressants and says she thinks about her daughter a lot.

When Ai and I crossed the road, Ai she held my hands. She held it and I remember holding hands with my dad and mum and grandma. I was conscious of pressing her hand too hard as I didn't want to hurt her. She stared at me as if she knew that I was uncomfortable. We parted ways after crossing and I said I'd see her next week.

Maybe I'm not used to getting close to anyone not even family members. But I truly liked Ai and An, their stories are bizarre and how they work through their days intrigued me. I wondered if they could cook and if I could learn from them some dishes to make.