"Hung pai ah ku" in Shek Tong Tsui west : prostitution history in colonial Hong Kong, 1903-1940

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the contrasting discrepancies between the British moral narrative on Chinese prostituted women and the superior lives of top-tier prostitutes, known as Hung pai ah ku in 19th-century colonial Hong Kong. The study examines how the British colonial government and prominent British feminists championed the abolition of the brothel system, perceiving it as an apparatus to rescue Chinese prostitutes from sexual exploitation and venereal hazard. In point of fact, notwithstanding the privileged status and fundamental distinction of the top-tier ah ku from lower-class prostitutes, the British authorities and feminists overlooked to take them into account during the robust advocacy of brothel abolishment, leaving them devoid of adequate consideration. Consequently, the one-size-fits-all approach neglected the sophisticated circumstances of top-class ah ku, who enjoyed an autonomous, guaranteed, and superior life within the brothel hierarchy. Throughout the discussion, I seek to emphasize the "policy paradox" of the 1932 brothel abolishment, which aimed to protect prostitutes but instead had adverse effects on the top-tier ah ku, who held relatively autonomous power and privileges within the existing system. The study calls for further investigation into the paradoxical consequences of this policy and its implications on the lives of marginalized prostitutes.