Police raids mop up sleaze in Duxton area
Eclectic mix of tenants now hope area will regain its vibrancy
By Teh Joo Lin & Mavis Toh
THE sleaze that oozed out of the pubs, lounges and karaoke clubs in the Duxton area has just about been cleaned up.
Those public entertainment outlets, which began congregating there about five years ago, have been sent packing, following a slew of police raids.
At the peak, around 2008, about 110 such establishments filled the precinct between Neil and Maxwell roads.
As at July, only about 60 were left.
In their place, an eclectic mix of tenants have moved in - restaurants, cafes and dance studios among them.
When contacted, police spokesman Lau Kian Keong said about 50 public entertainment licences, required for the nightspots to operate, were revoked after 'breaches in licensing conditions'.
The police did not specify the nature of those breaches, but nightspot operators are required to keep the nocturnal fun clean on their premises.
It is apparent many did not.
On a typical evening three years ago, scores of Filipinas would be milling about. Valets enjoyed brisk business. Pushing through the doors of any pub there, customers - overwhelmingly male - would be ambushed by bevies of women. Behind those doors, women were summarily exposing their breasts. At least seven Filipinas were caught doing so between 2008 and last year and were fined.
Booze-fuelled fights and din were common, and neither the area's residents nor Member of Parliament Christopher de Souza liked what they saw.
He was moved to report to Parliament that an evening drive along Duxton Road and Duxton Hill made it clear that prostitutes were operating 'well beyond the artificial borders of Geylang'.
Now, 21/2 years on, he is glad the place has been cleaned up, given that it sits next to the Central Business District, and that thousands of residents have moved into the nearby 50-storey public housing development, Pinnacle@Duxton.
With the unsavoury bits gone, he said he hoped to see the area, with its two- and three-storey conserved shophouses, resume its vibrancy.
This may take time.
When The Straits Times visited the place this week, 'For Rent/Sale' banners hung from at least six shopfronts.
Mr Ricky Chua, the president of the Tanjong Pagar Business Association and owner of a pub in Duxton, said some rogue nightspot operators had allowed vice in their premises.
But with there having been as many as three police raids a week, 'Duxton is now peaceful and there hasn't been a fight for an entire year', he said.
But the bad image seems to have stuck. The takings of pubs which are still there have plunged by up to 70 per cent.
Another pub owner who has been in Duxton for a decade said the frequent raids have turned customers off: 'We're struggling to get by. Every day, the place is quiet. The only busy day is Friday.'
Rentals have dipped. A 2,100 sq ft unit which used to cost $21,000 to rent in 2008, when the influx of girly bars drove rentals up, can now be leased for $8,000 a month, said property agents.
Even with lower rentals, some businesses are wary about moving in and being housed between bars. Retail tenants are worried about low human traffic.
But some businesses do want in.
They include advertising agencies, fine-dining restaurants, cafes and a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outlet.
TCM physician Zhang Mao Ji, who opened Long Zhong, a Chinese medicine clinic, a year ago in what used to be a bar, said Duxton's location near Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar drew him there.
His manager Sharon Tham, 47, said: 'The place is decent now and you don't see raids at all. That's why we dare to use a glass door for the shopfront. Previously, we would have been warned that a glass door would be smashed in a brawl.'
Ms Celina Tan, owner of Celina's GastroBar, which moved in 11 months ago, is another tenant who is upbeat about the future of the area post clean-up: 'The area is quaint. There are fewer bars now and an interesting mix of businesses.'
She said the working crowd in Tanjong Pagar and Shenton Way now made up Duxton's clientele base.
As the Duxton landscape changes, the pubs which were there before the sleazy bars came in hope they will not get squeezed out of business.
Mr Chua said: 'I can understand the concern of residents five years ago because too much mayhem was going on. Since then, it has been cleaned up.'
He said the level of sleaze is now negligible and the last few errant pubs are on the verge of closure, adding: 'We hope the authorities can give us the space to breathe and do business. It's not fair for the rest that, because of one or two bad apples, everyone suffers the consequences. We're still living on a knife's edge.'
joolin@sph.com.sg
mavistoh@sph.com.sg
The vice may be gone, but the bad image seems to be stuck. The takings of pubs in the Duxton area which are still there have plunged by up to 70 per cent. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN
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