INDONESIA: Sex Industry is Island’s Tourism Lure

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Mohan Srilal

TANJUNG PINANG, Indonesia, Jun 4 1998 (IPS) - It does not have the mystique of Bali, but this Indonesian island just an hour-long ferry ride from Singapore is bringing in hordes of tourists.

Indeed, Bintan island, just south of Singapore and to the east of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, is popular among Singaporeans looking for a place to unwind. It is not, however, the wholesome tourist playground many travel agents tout it to be.

This schizophrenia of sorts can be seen from the fact that up in the slick north, accommodations are luxurious, with hotels offering amenities and activities that have families in mind.

Down here in the south, especially in the capital of Tanjung Pinang, the attractions are mainly in the form of young women from other Indonesian provinces.

The northern resorts attracted as much as 78,000 Singaporeans last year, mainly families taking short breaks. But the southern part of Bintan welcomed almost twice that number of Singaporeans, many of them male.

This may not have been what the Indonesian and Singapore governments had in mind when they signed a joint economic agreement in 1990 to develop Indonesia’s Riau islands, which border Singapore, into a key tourist destination.

The northern part of Bintan, which is the jewel of the Riau islands, quickly attracted investors’ attention. These days, the area is filled with upscale golf courses and resorts, and still other major projects are being built.

But many male visitors to Bintan are bypassing such playgrounds and heading straight to the south where, as one hotel manager puts it, there is a high degree of tolerance toward the flesh trade.

Zakaria, a local hotel supervisor, says, “It’s hard to separate girls from tourism. It’s dominant here”. Adds another hotel executive: “Finding a girl for a guest is a service we provide here.”

When asked about the sex industry in Bintan’s tourist trade, though, Bintan Tourist Promotion Board (BTPB) head Azhar Syam denied it existed at all. “All hotels, bars and discotheques have to register with us and if we find them running brothels, we’ll de- register and close them,” he told IPS.

In fact, there was a recent series of raids on brothels here. According to one hotel personnel, the sex workers have been asked to relocate to the so-called ’24-mile complex’ outside Tanjung Pinang. This virtual suburb of brothels located in the middle of nowhere has been around for four years now, say locals.

The complex is guarded by the police, and there is an entrance fee of about 12 U.S. cents. Once “booked” by a customer, a woman has to pay a tax of 1.60 dollars to the police in order to get out of the complex.

“This money is called ‘uang lapor’ (report money) and part of it goes to the village authorities and another part to the police,” says one hotel personnel. Another local says the recent raids were really nothing more than the police trying to wrest more money from the ‘mommies’ who run the brothels.

Likewise, the hotel executive says the sex trade has actually been a shot in the arm for Bintan tourism. “It has created many jobs for taxi drivers, in hotels, in restaurants, karaoke bars and for food sellers,” he says.

Behind the bustle of tourism, however, lies the fact that many women in the sex trade came in search of jobs but found themselves lured, forced or duped into this line of work. Many come from other parts of Indonesia like Java and Sumatra hoping to get domestic or factory work.

Yet, the hotel executive says, the women also know that they are making better money than if they stayed in their hometowns or worked as domestic helpers or factory labourers. He admits though that most were lured into the trade under false pretenses.

Such was the case of Fifi, a 20-year-old from Bandung. She had lost her job as a fabrics designer and her husband had also left her for another woman. An acquaintance persuaded her to come here, promising her a job at a hotel. Instead, Fifi was sold to a brothel supervisor – called a ‘mommy’ here.

“Mommy took my IC (identity card),” says Fifi, “so I couldn’t go back.”

She says the brothel women are given dormitory accommodations and food by the mommy who takes about 75 percent of their earnings. They are held in virtual prison conditions, she adds. Since she was “hired” about two months ago, Fifi has been booked out by customers almost everyday.

“It’s a mixture of sadness and anger,” she explains. “I have to do this job. I have already earned over six million rupiah (750 dollars) in tips alone and a Singaporean even offered to pay off the mommy. But she says I have to work here until the end of July.”

Fifi says she still prefers earning just 50 dollars a month at a garments factory than doing what she has to do now. “What’s the point of money when you are looked down upon by society? There’s a term here, ‘ayam’ (chicken) they call us,” she said. “I will earn less (at a factory), but live in dignity.”

Aneke, from Western Java, was promised a job as a waitress, but on the ferry over the man who recruited her said she would be working in a brothel. “I hate this job and would like to leave as soon as possible, after I have paid my dues to the mommy,” she says.

With demand for sex workers apparently growing here, there is little chance that Fifi and Aneke will be let go that easily — or that there will be less of women like them in Bintan soon.

On any given Saturday, the ferries at the terminal here unload hordes of men looking for a ‘good time’. “Room occupancy is very high during weekends,” says a local hotel supervisor. “We have regular guests mostly from Singapore who come here two or three times a month.”

Says Ganesh, a computer salesman from Singapore: “You can spend three to four nights here and still spend only 300 dollars. The food, the pubs, the entertainment are all very cheap here.”

Tong, a painter, notes: “Singaporean girls are too sophisticated. They are into fashion, very materialistic. These girls are simpler and easy to get on with if you can speak Malay.”