Invisible Trade II

by Gerrie Lim Monsoon, HK$128

Gerrie Lim tells us Invisible Trade II is the much-requested sequel to his 2004 book, subtitled High-Class Sex for Sale in Singapore. He then explains that this time around he seeks to demystify the secretive double lives led by the women who sell their bodies and the reasons some men 'need to spend money for sex'. Readers might wonder why he has bothered clarifying his aims when the chapter-length answers prove unsatisfactory. Others may question whether there is anything mysterious in the first place about women who work as prostitutes while masquerading as faithful wives or girlfriends, or men who prefer to pay for their jollies. What follows in this 'investigative reportage', in which names and nationalities were changed, are chapter-length stories that sometimes read like composites, about people called Tiffany, Maya, Dave Robinson and Mike Sadwick. Tiffany married one of her wealthy clients and no longer needs to work but prefers to do so because she likes 'variety'. Dave has a thing for Filipinas and Mike enjoys buying sex because 'there's no emotional attachment'. Unfortunately, that's all you'll know because the book doesn't offer anything much deeper.