Source : Straits Times - 17 Nov 2008
FROM Jan 1 next year, all hotels in the Joo Chiat Road area will be banned from offering hourly rates in a bid to crack down on sleaze in the heritage area. The ruling requires hotel operators to let rooms at full-day rates. It will apply to the nine hotels there now and any new hotels opened in the area.
The Joo Chiat area boasts several Peranakan restaurants, many conserved shophouses and a notorious 50m stretch of Joo Chiat Road noted for prostitution. Residents and legitimate businesses have long complained of vice in the area.
A ‘Save Joo Chiat’ group was formed by local residents in 2004 to preserve the area’s heritage. They had been alarmed at the sudden proliferation of bars and the large number of scantily-clad women wandering into their estates in the evenings.
The Hotels Licensing Board (HLB), which is imposing the full-day rate condition, said the affected hotels were informed about the condition in mid-July. ‘The big objective is to see how we can improve the appeal of Joo Chiat,’ said a member of the board, Ms Caroline Leong, who is also the Singapore Tourism Board’s director of travel and hospitality. ‘On STB’s front, it will be to allow more tourists to visit the area.’
It is not the first time that HLB has imposed restrictions of this type. On Jan 1, 1998, it banned more than 50 hotels in the Geylang red-light area from letting out rooms for less than a day.
However, that ban was lifted just three months later. Geylang hotel operators suffered a 50 per cent slump in business after the ban.
When it was lifted, they attributed the slump to ‘bad times’ as the tourism industry had been battered by the Asian financial crisis. All hotels affected by the latest ban are budget hotels. At Hotel 81-Sakura, for instance, rates start at $30 for the first two hours, and $79 for a full day.
Of the nine affected hotels, six are under the Hotel 81 group. Five are under the Hotel 81 brand along with New Changi Hotel. The others are Joo Chiat Hotel, Gateway Hotel and The Fragrance Hotel.
Seven of the nine affected hotels are on Joo Chiat Road. One Hotel 81 outlet is on Onan Road and the New Changi Hotel is on Changi Road. A Hotel 81 director acknowledged that the firm had been informed of the new rule but did not want to comment further.
Another affected hotel operator, who declined to be named, said that business would be only slightly affected by the new ruling as they had switched from being a transit hotel to a tourist hotel a few years ago.
‘Save Joo Chiat’ spokesman Colin Chee said the ban is ‘wonderful news’. ‘We cannot stop prostitution but at least we make it less convenient for them. It is one step towards making the area more conducive for residents and tourists,’ he said.
Currently, Joo Chiat ranks too low on tourists’ itineraries for any visitorship data to be captured.
But STB feels the area has a lot of appeal, with its rich cultural heritage, and wants to promote the Peranakan experience for tourists.
Joo Chiat was gazetted as a conservation area in 1993 as the Government wanted to retain the heritage and architecture of key buildings in this area. STB’s Ms Leong said she and the other authorities involved had visited Joo Chiat to get a better feel for the issues there.
While the condition was imposed to enhance Joo Chiat’s appeal, it would also address the vice situation there, she said. ‘This area is not among the top visiting spots in Singapore, which is a shame.’ Mr Chee said the ‘Save Joo Chiat’ group had written to publisher Lonely Planet after they realised that the guidebook had lumped Joo Chiat in with Geylang, saying it was a red-light district.
Earlier this year, the group hosted a trip by a Lonely Planet writer, who will be devoting pages originally meant for Chinatown in next year’s edition to Joo Chiat, he said. ‘We communicated this to the authorities.’
But a key issue is whether the enforcement of the new condition will be effective, he noted.
‘I think the decision on daily rates is a good one but enforcement will be difficult and there will be widespread lapses,’ said a businessman in Joo Chiat who declined to be named.
‘Joo Chiat’s proximity to Geylang hotels and boarding houses will still mean that the man can pick up in Joo Chiat but go to Geylang to complete the transaction.’
Ms Leong said HLB will monitor the situation. ‘If hotels go against the restriction, HLB can revoke their licence.’
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