50 Shades of Corruption

I've a confession to make.

I hated reading the newspaper when i was younger. As a result, my general knowledge is very poor and i can't point out countries on a globe.

Today, 4 year olds can do that if you enrol them in a $1000 per month for extra cirriculum class.

The times i HAVE to read, i'll flip through but stop at scandalous titles reporting murder or sex. Alas, hard-nosed news are not written like a detective novel. Details are scarse.

I asked my journalist friends and they informed me that news need to be objective, neutral of a stand. If they are too descriptive, they influence the reader. So they directed me to the tabloids, but my parents don't subscribe to TNP.

I was sorely disappointed, if only ST would be filled with descriptives, the one reason that'll make me read ST and feel informed......


with lurid details.

Today, hard nosed news have become what i wished for!

To my surprise and enjoyment, Channel News Asia reported a pretty detailed summary of the scandalous corruption case headlining the past few days. Words like "pushing aside panties" and "fellatio" were used (no cunnilingus?) My dad asked me just now what DIY means, he guessed it must be something sexual. I replied him, "it means do it yourself", he immediately exclaim, "OH! Masturbation!" #ThatAwkardMoment....

Interestingly, while i was searching for latest news about the scandal with keywords Sex for Contract, Singapore, guess what came up?

Sex contract jobs in Singapore on Recruit.net? Alas, it was a misleading search result. I clicked and none of the jobs was about sex. They were technical positions.

However, the recent sex for contract scandal, whatever verdict it may be, reminds me of my personal encounter in my first job.

My first marketing job at 19 was with a fashion retailer. I was meant to acquire merchants onto the loyalty card programme we had, albeit like credit card merchants. My boss put me in contact with someone she knew. He was the manager of a well-known club, my job was to get his club to agree to be my merchant so that it can be a win-win situation for both company's patrons.

I made an appointment and i met H. He had spiky golden hair, just hit 40 but looking like Andy Lau. He is from Hong Kong but grew up in the States. He ran a successful strip club there however, i didn't know why he came to Singapore. He is also short like Tom Cruise.

We hit off candidly and because it was a late afternoon meeting, he asked if i wanted to join him for dinner to "continue this business discussion".

It was my first job, i was performing well and while i don't have a sales target neither do i get commission, i suppose i did want the praise from my boss when i return. While I have made many good friends from business contacts after, i was a bit more naive starting out in my first job. I didn't want to be someone who knock off promptly at 6, so i agreed to have dinner with H.

After agreeing, he said he needed to go to Chinatown first to collect a toy he placed an order for. I was a little disgruntled, i thought "ok, this is OT already, can't i just finish dinner and go? Now, i still have to go with you to Chinatown first?"

However, being the very accepting me, i smiled and nod. We took a taxi to China town and after collecting the toy (i can't remember what figurine it was), H said he needed to go home to drop the toy off first before dinner! He was testing my patience. 

This time, i protested. Saying can't we have dinner in Chinatown, why are we going all over Singapore bla bla bla.

But he insisted his house wasn't far AND he don't feel comfortable in work pants AFTER WORK. He NEEDS TO BE IN JEANS FOR DINNER.

He made it seem like his legs were going to grow sores any moment trapped in linen work pants.

So we boarded another cab and head to Toa Payoh where he lives.

My mother taught me not to visit strange men's house. I don't judge 40 year old men who collect toys, neither did i thought he was a stranger since he's my boss's friend (or so i thought). I resisted visiting his house, saying i would wait below. But i didn't resist hard enough. He persuaded me to come up for a look and at 19, dating my first boyfriend, i didn't want to seem like a scaredy cat.

I wanted to be seen as an executive, someone who is capable at doing business.

I reluctantly followed him into his lift, down the corridor and into his home. The moment i stepped in, a feeling of dread overcame me. None of his windows were open, he shut the door after we entered, locked and STUFFED THE KEYS INTO HIS POCKET!

Now, alarm bells were ringing. It is abnormal that someone after returning home wouldn't place his keys on the coffee table or somewhere near the door. It couldn't be just a habit of mine right? Also, with no windows open, my screams will be muffled.

I stood near the door and folded my arms. I hurried him to go change his jeans, the reason why we're back in his home for.

He motioned for me to follow him as he gives me a tour of his place. I rolled my eyes, if that will speed up the process of him getting change, i'll do a courtesy sweep of his place. With my arms folded, i hmm and ahhh as he showed me his kitchen (he pointed out his washing machine), and his bedroom. At some point, he mentioned about being able to perform the helicopter sex position. I laughed nervously.

Getting out into the living room, i inched towards the main door, arms still folded. I asked him kindly to get his jeans again. This time, he slithered over in front of his TV and sunk down into a red velvet bean bag. He lit a cigarette, took a puff, pat beside him and drawled, "Come, sit here and relax for awhile."

I HATED CIGARETTE SMOKE. Plus it's in a room with no open windows!

I replied with my arms still folded (a defense stance) and grumbled, "I'm fine here."

THEN HE TURNED ON A DVD AND IT PLAYED AN OLD FILM OF NAKED WOMEN CHAINED AND KNEELED DOWN IN FRONT OF NAZIS.

I stood, appalled at what I'm seeing and in that moment, he must have snuck up behind me because the next thing i felt was him hugging me from behind and his wet tongue was running along the side of my neck.

I immediately whipped around, pushed against his chest and demanded to be let out. Like a dejected cat, he went to his bedroom, changed his jeans and we went out for dinner.

YES, WE STILL WENT FOR DINNER.

Confident, outspoken and an extrovert as i may seem to be, at 19, I don't think i handled such situations well. Even when i was mildly molested in the trains, I didn't make a whim.

We went to Harry's Bar at Novena Square and H was absolutely disrespectful. He didn't apologize for what just happened, and he sat with his legs up at our table.

That was quite an experience and i was grateful it didn't turn out to be something worse. This set the precedence and i was extra cautious about visiting anyone's homes alone thereafter. When i tendered my resignation 2 years later, i recount this incident to my boss at my farewell lunch. She was appalled and asked why didn't i tell her immediately the day after but wait till my last day at work. I thought since nothing bad happened (unless his saliva is contagious) and i wasn't taken advantage off other than getting my neck licked (i pretend it's a dog), i'll sweep it under the carpet. Besides, if he was her friend (which i thought he was), i didn't want to talk bad about him.

I found out that he was merely an acquaintance of my boss. What do you think i should have done in such a situation?