Prostitutes on the right trying to entice potential clients outside a bar in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district. Photo by "Amaury dR". The petite year-old is articulate and intelligent, with a girlfriend who also works as a prostitute. Born in Hong Kong, Mandy began sex work four years ago while studying at a university in northwest England, leaving "tart cards" in telephone booths across town. She claims her relationship with Jutting began about a month before he β as she puts it β "went off the rails", after he saw her profile on Craigslist and texted her directly.
Their first meeting was in a room on the 15th floor of a hotel less than five minutes away from his flat. They met 12 times, never at his place. Mandy corroborates this. During their very first text conversation β before they'd even met in person β Jutting mentioned drugs as an incentive for her to pay him a visit: "If you like to get high Have a lot of coke For expat bankers like Jutting β those with cash to burn and a pair of restless nostrils β getting hold of drugs is as easy as walking down any street in Central or Wan Chai.
These factors have united to create a culture where visiting prostitutes and taking lots and lots of cocaine quickly becomes normalised for young British expats arriving in Hong Kong. Xander is a blond former public schoolboy originally from Eastbourne, who now works in the financial industry.
He moved to Hong Kong last year and quickly gained a penchant for gak. After graduating from a prestigious Scottish university he was originally sent to work in Singapore β a country with a harsh anti-drugs policy β where he had his first experience of prostitution. However, on his 24th birthday, he and his colleagues finished work and decided to go to a bar at the notorious Orchard Towers, the so-called "shopping mall of sex", known locally as the "four floors of whores". The group of guys ordered a round of drinks, and it wasn't long before a girl approached them.
I was shocked the first time, and then the ease of how it happens makes it OK. From her time working as a prostitute in both the UK and Hong Kong, Mandy's come to believe that while all men pay for sex, the situation is considerably worse in the East. Like, if I gave you a credit card with no cut off point and let you loose in Harrods, wouldn't you shop like crazy? I asked whether there are any perceptible differences between her work in the UK and Hong Kong, and she used an average English customer as her example in both situations.
