Welcome to the very real, largely hidden, and often surreal world of high-class sex for sale in Singapore, where the sexual desires of this tiny island run the gamut from simple missionary zeal to the cracking of the whip. Never before have outsiders been offered such a fascinating look into the weird and wonderful, delightful and sometimes depraved world of five-star, high-class prostitutes that operate in Singapore's flourishing sex trade. Featuring real stories of American models moonlighting as high-class escorts in Asia, and American businessmen in search of exotic Eastern promise! #1 non-fiction bestseller at Borders Singapore and Kinokuniya Singapore (Southeast Asia's largest bookstore.)
Invisible Trade
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
For those writing about the sex industry, there is always the danger that the story will become as exploitative as its subject matter. In this survey of high-end sex workers in Singapore, Lim (Inside the Outsider) manages to avoid this trap by giving the workers space to speak for themselves. Emily, one of Lim's subjects, describes her first time with a client: "On my first job I was very frightened and didn't know what to do. ... I didn't know how to do a massage or how to talk to a strange guy." But now, she says, "If you think about the money you can do anything." The book collects the accounts of a variety of sex workers, including poet and former male escort Cyril Wong and dominatrix Empress Victoria. But by and large, readers are left to draw their own conclusions regarding the relative pathos of these sex workers' situations; Lim's focus is on the complexities of the trade and the Singaporean society. As he points out, there is a hierarchy to sex work in Singapore, with its own set of rules and contradictions. It is, after all, the "Nanny State of Asia"-while pornography and oral sex between consenting adults is illegal, prostitution is legal and regulated. Though this book hit number one on bestseller lists in Singapore, it's appeal in the U.S. seems limited. With its narrow scope and just-the-facts approach, Lim's exploration offers some insights into the sex trade, but not enough to entice many readers on this side of the pond.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
One of the hottest-selling books here these days is about trade -- but it has nothing to do with Singapore's exports of semiconductors or petrochemicals. 'Invisible Trade' is a ground-breaking book on Singapore's sex industry. (Roberto Coloma )
At last, after thirty years of my avoiding the city-state, this book restores my faith in the Singapore character and gives me reasons to return. (Paul Theroux )
Frank, fascinating, weird and unputdownable! (Harper’s Bazaar Singapore )
Smart, funny and intoxicating! Who knew that sex in Singapore could be this interesting? (Annabel Chong )
Lim's ability to capture the essence of his subjects makes for engaging reading. Mixing humour subtly into the text allows the curious reader to flit over the subject matter without getting too drawn into the pathos of the issue. (The Business Times Singapore )
For those writing about the sex industry, there is always the danger that the story will become as exploitative as its subject matter. In this survey of high-end sex workers in Singapore, Lim (Inside the Outsider) manages to avoid this trap by giving the workers space to speak for themselves. The book collects the accounts of a variety of sex workers ? But by and large, readers are left to draw their own conclusions regarding the relative pathos of these sex workers' situations; Lim's focus is on the complexities of the trade and the Singaporean society ? this book hit number one on bestseller lists in Singapore. (Publishers Weekly )
Invisible Trade is a expose of, as the subtitle says, High-class sex for sale in Singapore. While it is no surprise that such things go on even in squeaky-clean Singapore, what makes Invisible Trade stand out it could actually have been written-and published-at all in the city-state. Although it is positioned as a matter-of-fact descriptive study, there are more than enough explicit details to give a potential protector of public morals the shakes. Lim's journalist style is to affect the present tense-the subject shudders, remembers, says, exclaims, grunts-creating a sense of immediacy and, indeed, intimacy while providing his subjects with a sort of timelessness that they probably don't achieve in reality. (The Asian Review of Books, January 2005 )
At last, after thirty years of my avoiding the city-state, this book restores my faith in the Singapore character and gives me reasons to return. (Paul Theroux )
Frank, fascinating, weird and unputdownable! (Harper’s Bazaar Singapore )
Smart, funny and intoxicating! Who knew that sex in Singapore could be this interesting? (Annabel Chong )
Lim's ability to capture the essence of his subjects makes for engaging reading. Mixing humour subtly into the text allows the curious reader to flit over the subject matter without getting too drawn into the pathos of the issue. (The Business Times Singapore )
For those writing about the sex industry, there is always the danger that the story will become as exploitative as its subject matter. In this survey of high-end sex workers in Singapore, Lim (Inside the Outsider) manages to avoid this trap by giving the workers space to speak for themselves. The book collects the accounts of a variety of sex workers ? But by and large, readers are left to draw their own conclusions regarding the relative pathos of these sex workers' situations; Lim's focus is on the complexities of the trade and the Singaporean society ? this book hit number one on bestseller lists in Singapore. (Publishers Weekly )
Invisible Trade is a expose of, as the subtitle says, High-class sex for sale in Singapore. While it is no surprise that such things go on even in squeaky-clean Singapore, what makes Invisible Trade stand out it could actually have been written-and published-at all in the city-state. Although it is positioned as a matter-of-fact descriptive study, there are more than enough explicit details to give a potential protector of public morals the shakes. Lim's journalist style is to affect the present tense-the subject shudders, remembers, says, exclaims, grunts-creating a sense of immediacy and, indeed, intimacy while providing his subjects with a sort of timelessness that they probably don't achieve in reality. (The Asian Review of Books, January 2005 )
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting insight into a Singapore vice,
By
This review is from: Invisible Trade: High-class sex for sale in Singapore (Paperback)
Mr. Gerrie Lim tackles in this book the various different ways that sex is sold in the island nation of Singapore. A place where one can be fined for chewing gum or even for failure to flush the toliets. That being said like every place else in the world sex sells. Mr. Lim shows the different ways sex sells in Singapore. Everything from the high priced escorts that are paid for out of businessman's expense accounts and ordered even before they arrive in the country down to some of the red light districts in the city. This isn't a tell all book nor is it a how to book. Rather this is just a quick insight into some of these people. He interviews a professional dominatrix who though she loves her job she can't seem to have a stable relationship. Interviews an Austrialian woman who starting to escort while going through school and broke free of being an escort primarly because she was feeling empty inside from not doing anything productive with her life. A Karoke bar girl is interviewed in a chapter and after reading his description of her life, you can see that even though she enjoys her work, there is a sadness in her life becuase she hides what she does from her family. He even interviews a few of the male escorts and the change in thier lives from getting into and then out of the business.
Overall a very good and suprising book to read. Really challenged some of the ways I saw the sex trade in the world.
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