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As Singapore’s Orchard Towers closes its nightclub doors, sex workers worry for their futures
- In its heyday, Orchard Towers – known locally as ‘4 Floors of Whores’ – was full of go-go bars, strip clubs and discos that drew crowds
- Now, those nightclubs that remain have until the end of the month to move out, leaving exotic dancers, live bands and sex workers in the lurch
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Bryan Ong grew up in Singapore. His upbringing was anything but typical.
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His father, Murray, was a seaman who often travelled to Brazil and dreamed of bringing the country’s electric parties to the city state. In 1998, when Ong was 9, his dad opened a nightclub and named it Ipanema after the bossa nova song The Girl From Ipanema.
But what really sets the nightclub – and Ong’s childhood – apart was the club’s location.
Ipanema is in Singapore’s Orchard Towers. In its heyday, the building was full of go-go bars, strip clubs, and discos that drew in hordes of people seeking a good time. Locally it’s known as “Four Floors of Whores”.
“In the ‘90s, I grew up in a childcare centre right here in Orchard Towers,” Ong said. “It was packed. There were people everywhere, on all four floors.”
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Orchard Towers has since “toned down massively”, Ong said. It’s still home to Singapore’s most famous unofficial red-light district, where freelance sex workers ply their trade, but time is running out.
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