Race, sexuality and prostitution in colonial Singapore: reading J. G. Farrell's The Singapore Grip

ABSTRACT

The brothel business flourished parallel to industrial and commercial growth in colonial Singapore during the early twentieth century. This article explores the British Empire's role in proliferating prostitution in colonial Singapore as depicted in James Gordon Farrell's historical novel, The Singapore Grip (1978). It argues, as the novel describes, that the British administration in Singapore played a vital role in promoting prostitution for its ulterior economic and political motives. Fuelled by a fallacious notion of racial supremacy, the British authorities in colonial Singapore compromised the lives – social, economic and physical – of girls and women inducted into prostitution. The article concludes with a section on the role and contribution of the prostitutes in the making and sustaining of Singapore, which has been overlooked in traditional, patriarchal historiography.

KEYWORDS:

• Prostitution
• colonial Singapore
• J. G. Farrell
• Ah Ku
• Karayuki-san

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers who have meticulously read the manuscript and suggested further needful changes. The authors thank the participants of the Historical Fictions Research Network Conference (2021) and 12th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12), especially Samira Aziz and Cynthia Gretel, for their comments, where earlier drafts of this article were presented. The authors express their gratitude to Bede Scott of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, for his support. The authors also acknowledge the feedback and help from chief editor Rachel Harrison, managing editor Rowan Pease, production editor Louise Evans and production assistant Muruga Vel.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Even as Farrell criticizes Empire and racism, one comes across several instances in the novel where his own racist attitude is suggested by his depiction of Asians. Such depictions have been quoted in this article as they appear the novel.

2 Kathleen Barry notes that the report, which was to become the basis of testimony at the conference, was based on testimony of patients the doctor had treated, who had been held in Paris's maisons d’abattage. It indicated that the women were ‘detained indoors without ever having the right to move outside unaccompanied, were subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment’ (4). For more see Barry's Female Sexual Slavery (1979).

3 Communism posed a threat to British Empire in Singapore, as Communist leaders from China and Malay were working to overthrow the British authority there. Singapore was the hub of British Intelligence in the Far East. See Aldrich (1994).