'Little India' still big on vice

BRICKFIELDS: Residents and business owners in 'Little India' feel the government should do more to make the place vice-free, especially at the red-light area of Jalan Thambipillay.When The Malay Mail checked the area on Nov 23, we saw prostitutes and pimps openly soliciting for customers, many of whom were foreigners.This was a far cry from the vice-free scenario in late October when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, visited the area.

Long-time Brickfields resident Goh Ah Moi, 76, said Jalan Thambipillay had been a haven for prostitution since the 1970s."The red-light area used to be at Jalan Scott but when the old buildings there made way for redevelopment, the vice activities moved to Jalan Thambipillay," said Goh, who moved here in 1955 soon after getting married. Her husband passed away in 1987 and she now lives with her daughter.

"In my 55 years here, I have witnessed about 50 vice raids. If the government is serious about restoring the reputation of Brickfields, they should demolish the old buildings in Jalan Thambipillay. It's as simple as that."
S. Gunasegaran, 51, was ashamed of the sordid image Brickfields had become."Last week, when my sister and nephew from Johor Baru visited me, I advised them not to walk along Jalan Thambipillay as they would be approached by prostitutes and pimps," said Gunasegaran who runs a pub here since 1990.

"Tearing down brothels is not effective as the culprits always return. The government should take over the old shoplots and redevelop them into places for legitimate businesses."Rahman Hussain, 67, a former Brickfields resident who had since moved to London, England, said the government should eradicate vice activities in the area."It can be achieved if the authorities work with residents and property owners," said Rahman who left Malaysia a quarter century ago.

On July 11, Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Deputy Minister, Datuk M. Saravanan, said Brickfields would be "vice-free" by year-end. He said the government wanted to improve the image of Brickfields as KL's 'Little India', adding that the transformation of Brickfields had several stages and the first stage was to relocate hawkers, including illegal ones.

In early October, when The Malay Mail accompanied Saravanan on a spot-check to Brickfields, he was repeatedly solicited by prostitutes and pimps.

Source :http://www.mmail.com.my/content/58974-little-india-still-big-vice