Richard's Teo argument is not without facts.

But let me tell you something based on personal experience growing up in a brothel in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1980s when I was a child.

Many of the prostitutes were there because of money, obviously.

However, more than half were cheated or forced and even sold into the trade. Many Kelantanese girls were promised better jobs in KL by their 'abang' but ended up in the brothel. Many Chinese and Indian girls were bought and sold by the triads.

Whether or not they have a 'role to play', prostitution has to be stopped. Everyone has the right to live better.