AFTER darkness falls, what goes on behind closed doors at the many chalets around Singapore may shock parents.
With the curtains of the chalet unit drawn, out comes the cocktail of alcohol and illegal drugs to be shared among10 or so teenagers, including girls as young as 14.
Once they are high, they cast their inhibitions and clothes aside, and start getting intimate, progressing from French kissing to heavy petting to sexual intercourse.
Gang violence in Singapore
Some of the girls are willing partners, some are too wasted to be aware of what's happening and sometimes, those who resist end up getting raped.
When morning comes, they pack their bags and check out of their unit. The guys may go through the same routine a few months later with new girls, or "fresh meat" as they are called.
Such chalet stays, organised by some members of gangs in Singapore, are getting more common, several former gang members told The New Paper.
An 18-year-old former gangster, who gave his name as John, said: "We would tell our parents that we were going for a barbecue, but we didn't even take any charcoal or chicken wings with us."
John, who left the gang last year after he was arrested for theft, said he had attended such sex-and-drug orgies twice, but claimed he didn't take part.
Former gangster shares what he witnessed at chalet stays organised by gang members.
'High' and violent
"I don't do drugs, so I would go home when the rest got too 'high' and became violent or started taking their clothes off," he said.
He said most of the gang members at these parties were in their teens.
"It was too much for me to see them having sex at the same time in the same room.
"They simply didn't care who was watching when they became 'mabuk' (drunk in Malay)."
Speaking in a mixture of Mandarin and Hokkien, John described the girls who take part in the parties.
"We call some of them 'lor kway' (Hokkien for streetwalker) and some of them 'ah dai' (fools)
"Lor kway" are girls who are considered to have loose morals, he said, while "ah dai" refers to newbies who attend the chalet parties with no inkling that drugs and sex are involved.
Sometimes, the revellers have no recollection of the night before as they were under the influence of drugs such as ketamine and "ice".
The parties would usually have more males than females, said former gangsters.
Such situations occasionally lead to several men sharing one woman and can even result in gang rape.
A 28-year-old former gang member , who wanted to be known as Peter, said: "The victim is usually a gang member's girlfriend.
"After everyone gets high, the boyfriend offers her to the rest of the guys."
Peter, who is a social worker now, said he has not seen such a gang rape before, but he has heard of four or five such incidents among his former circle of friends.
"It is not just happening in chalets...such activities can also take place in pub shophouses or in the homes of the gang members," he added.
John pointed out that not all chalet outings organised by his gangster friends involved sex and drugs.
The "healthier" outings are usually organised by a birthday boy and the number of people attending, which could be as many as 50, depends on his influence in the gang, said John.
At such outings, underage drinking, gambling and even fighting are par for the course, he added.
Social workers contacted by The New Paper said they have counselled teens who have had sex in chalets as part of their gang activities.
They said that those involved may not necessarily come from broken or low-income families, a common stereotype in the past.
But there's a common thread - these teens usually suffer from an emotional void at home.
Miss Faith Png, 39, a social worker with YouthReach, said: "Some parents give too little affection and neglect their children because they are busy, while others give too much attention because they are authoritative.
"Both will drive their children to seek freedom and love outside of the family and sometimes, the children befriend gangsters."
Worrying trend
Mr Alfred Tan, 50, the executive director of Singapore Children's Society, said: "The media's portrayal of casual sex, and easy access to pornography have caused our youth to become more promiscuous than in the past.
"This is a worrying trend as there may be peer pressure to have sex.
"Instead of being harsh to their children, parents should get to know their friends."
Mr Jeffrey Mak, 45, a social worker with The Silver Lining Community Services, said: "There is usually a ring leader in such illegal gang activities.
"The rest are just the 'kah kia' (sidekicks) and not real gangsters.
"If we give them a listening ear and a second chance in life, many of them can become successful as adults."
In Singapore, it is illegal to have sex with children under the age of 16.
If the victims are between 12 and 14 years old, it is considered statutory rape and offenders can be jailed upto 20 years and fined or caned.
If the victim is above 14 but below 16, offenders can be jailed up to five years and fined $10,000 for carnal connection.
The maximum penalty for rape is 20 years' jail with possible caning.
Security stepped up at chalets during holidays
CHALET operators here said they have not come across sex-and-drug parties on their premises.
Mr Vikas Gupta, 22, manager of Goldkist Beach Resort at East Coast Park, said: "To the best of our knowledge,we have not come across any such incident so far."
Mr Steven Tang, director of Costa Sands Resort, which has two outlets in Pasir Ris and one in Sentosa, said his management has also not come across such parties.
He added: "It has always been our practice to step up our security presence during our peak periods, such as the June school holidays, to deal with the additional visitors."
Mr Vikas also said the frequency of security patrols in his resort will increase by 50 per cent during peak periods.
Drug possession
Crimes in resorts go back several years.
In a 2000 case, 13 young people, including a 12-year-old girl, were arrested at a Pasir Ris chalet for possessing six sachets of ketamine anda packet of cannabis.
Last November, four youths were arrested at Costa Sands Resort in Pasir Ris after two of them were found to have choppers.
The police state on their website that a key concern is combating youth crime.
While the total number of youth arrested for crimes dropped slightly from 4,271 in 2009 to 4,176 last year, the number of those nabbed for rioting rose from 468 in 2009 to 531 last year.
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