New massage rules — here's the rubdown

THE stricter rules announced a week ago may have reined in some shady massage parlours, but they have also claimed some unintended victims.

Tinted doors and windows are not allowed and curtains and cubicles have to be removed, forcing honest customers and legit masseurs to conduct their services in full view of the public.

This definitely hurts business. Which customer would want to be gawked at while being massaged?

In the short run, as usual, massage parlours would have to reduce prices, hoping to earn their keep by volume which in the long run would make them less motivated to continue. They will one by one die a slow death.

All this is because of a few bad apples in the industry. The Singapore government has once again responded with a one-size-fits-all solution which once agains highlights its "guilty until proven innocent" approach.