I am a local, teen girl, planning to take a solo trip to venture around Geylang.. my parents are worried as Geylang is notorious for being a red light district, and Geylang from my brief research doesn’t have the best rep.. but not that worrying at the same time?

most threads I found have been from 5 years ago so i kinda want a fresh take on this esp after the pandemic.

i also heard geylang has 2 sections.. one being the red light district. i think I’m going to spend most my time around lorong 16, should i be worried?

any precautions to take?

Replies by netizens

Broad daylight should be ok but avoid the small quiet lanes, create distance if any unruliness breaks out and scream if you get into trouble. The pimps should be out and ready to help.

Because no kidding they want their business to be trouble-free too.

Even number lanes including 16 are red light, but you are unlikely to get more than stares. Just walk normally, and ignore any stares that come at you – Singapore is pretty safe in that regard, including geylang in my opinion. People who go there know better than to hit on or cause trouble to themselves and strangers in my opinion.

Reply by netizen living in Geylang

I have been living near Geylang for the past 15 years, so here are some tips

1- Go with someone alongside you

2- Avoid going near alleyways at night, both alone or with a buddy, just don’t do it. Because from my experience some alleyways actually leads to dead ends while some is a short cut to the next district, but whatever it is, just avoid alleyways because it is unpredictable.

3- Don’t wear too revealing, and by that even some shorts also try not to wear. Best to wear long pants, oversized T-shirt. Had a female friend that wore shorts and tank top walking with me to go to Singpost, the uncles there are legit no fear, they literally can pretend to bump into you, touch you inappropriately and say accident. Some may even take you as one of the ladies that are providing “services”, not even kidding.

4- Don’t anyhow blast music especially EDM music, most famous one “Million tears” Geylang area is infested with a ton of ‘ah bengs and ah sengs’ and they specially pick and like those techno music to go with their chants, so if you anyhow go and blast one, they may mistake you as trying to mock or rival their group and may start trouble with you.

That’s all that I can think of at the moment, but to be honest Geylang has its nice parts, like food. Just go during the daytime and peak periods, best if go at times where you can see police officers prowling.

Don’t go there at night.

Image source: Google Maps