One host promises our reporter... 'I'll make you feel like a woman again'

WHILE most of the club performers do not end up in bed with their woman customers, some welcome the extra income.

When The New Paper on Sunday team first visited one club, one of the men offered 'more personal attention away from the public eyes' - for $150 an hour.

Number 70 - as he was introduced - also promised the reporter: 'You won't be disappointed with my service, guaranteed to make you feel like a woman again.'

All the 22 women customers who spoke to us insisted they did not have sex with the male hosts.

But the men told a different story. Most claimed that some women would drop hints about taking the entertainment to another level. And there were others who asked about rates openly.

Budget hotels were the most common rendezvous spots.

To prove he would be worth the money, No. 70, who is from Shanghai, provided a referral - Madam Wang.

He pointed to her and said: 'I saw you talking to her, you can ask her what she thought of my service.'

When we asked Madam Wang, she initially insisted that she only chatted with him.

But pressed further, she added: 'He was good, I was happy, but it's not all the way like you think it is.'

She did not want to give more details and subsequently avoided our calls.

But for the men at the club, extra activity can only happen after work.

The 26-year-old man did not want to confirm if the club owner knew or approved of his moonlighting.

He said: 'Let's just say we keep each other mutually happy with whatever arrangement we have.'

There was also the personal attention this reporter got from another host, Number 89 from Thailand.

He has been here for about a month and has picked up Cantonese from a fellow Thai.

Going out for supper was fine, but No. 89 hesitated when asked if he'd consider other activities.

He claimed: 'I usually like to keep it clean and simple for first-time customers, until I'm really familiar with you.'

But that did not keep him from giving us his undivided attention.

And when we left abruptly on the first night while he was on the stage, he looked genuinely dejected.

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On our second night, he came by our table and said: 'Oh what happened that night? You didn't even tell me you were going off.'

And when he realised we had spoken to two other boys, he smiled sadly before walking away.

Later, when we revealed that we are journalists, No. 89 claimed he 'knew there was something different about the group'.

Added the 28-year-old host: 'I felt you were special but I didn't realise how 'special'.'

While he professed his eagerness to make a new friend, No. 89 declined to be photographed.

He was only willing to share 'stuff that were not trade secrets'.

The hosts don't have a basic salary and most of them are here on social visit passes.

He claimed: 'Those who don't have a permit are told to claim they're customers if there are any checks.'

The real money they make, he added, comes from the garlands and sashes, and the drinks that customers order for the night.

Said No. 89: 'The percentage varies from boy to boy, depending on our popularity. The hotter ones get a bigger cut.'

On an average, they can easily earn $3,000 to $4,000 a month.

He added: 'But the really popular ones can make up to even $2,000 a night.'

Not all the men are comfortable with physical flirting or teasing. Jeed, 28, a Thai, spoke of his short and unpleasant stint at the club.

He had worked previously as a singer at the Thai pubs in Chinatown and Golden Mile.

Jeed confided that he 'didn't know what I was getting into' when he signed on for a stint at this club.

But when he realised it was so different from his previous gigs, where he got to sing with a live band and even had dancers backing him up, he said he 'felt bored'.

He later returned to his hometown, Chiangmai.

- Additional reporting from Gan Ling Kai