Ah Ku and Karayuki-san Prostitution in Singapore 1870-1940

by Warren, James Francis

• ISBN13: 9780195886160
• ISBN10: 019588616X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-07-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This history describes and analyses brothel prostitution in Singapore between 1870 and 1940. The vital role of Chinese and Japanese prostitutes in sustaining Singapore's pre-war economy and society has not been fully recognized. Starting with village backgrounds in rural China and Japan, andthe hazards of the trade in women and children, the author follows the prostitutes through their encounters with brothel life in general, and in particular explores their routines and crises of earning, spending, social relations, leisure, mobility, diseases, and death.

Author Biography

James Francis Warren is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Modern History, Murdoch University, Western Australia.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements
Appendices
Tables
Maps
Plates
Brothel Prostitution in Singapore	p. 1
Prostitution, Singapore Society, and the Historian	p. 3
Poverty, Patriarchy, and Prosperity	p. 25
Brothels and Prostitutes	p. 38
Human Traffic and Brothel Prostitution	p. 67
The Contagious Diseases Ordinance	p. 100
The Venereal Disease Pandemic	p. 122
Abolition	p. 153
Ah Ku and Karayuki-san: Their Lives	p. 181
Hardship in the Village	p. 183
The Flesh Trade	p. 198
The Brothel Family and Daily Life	p. 225
Clients: The Carnival of the Night	p. 257
The Other Side of Midnight	p. 290
Crossing Over	p. 319
Bitter Harvest	p. 341
Conclusion: Retrieving the Prostitutes' Lives	p. 378
Appendices	p. 391
Glossary	p. 412
Bibliography	p. 414
Index	p. 429
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.