Invisible Trade II
Secret lives and sexual intrigue in Singapore

by Gerrie Lim

In this long-awaited sequel to the Singapore bestseller Invisible Trade, journalist Gerrie Lim seeks to unravel and demystify two major aspects of the sex industry in modern Singapore: the secretive double lives led by the beautiful, upscale escorts and the reasons why men habitually need to spend money to pay for sex. Both, he discovers, involve addictive behavior fed by deep existential forces fraught with anger and pain, often disguised as carnal longing.

There’s the girl who works at a public relations agency by day and moonlights as an escort by night, the karaoke-bar mamasan who deals in wild and wanton girls from mainland China, the American male escort who gets paid by visiting Shanghai socialites for his companionship both in an out of their hotel bedrooms, and the Singaporean university student who freelances as a bondage model. Male customers include the Englishman who went on a rabid sex spree in the red-light district of Geylang following his divorce, and the self-proclaimed diehard sex tourist from Los Angeles who came to Southeast Asia to sample its professional paragons of feminine perfection, finally facing his nemesis among the nightbirds of Singapore.

As with Invisible Trade, this is investigative reportage with a startling difference—smart and sardonic, based on true lives and vivid memories, often evocative and haunting.