Singapore has a ban on oral sex, but you can still swing

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By Wee Sui Lee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Every two months, dozens of couples meet in a pub in Singapore, have drinks, mingle, and then decide whether they want to sleep with one another.

In Sydney or Seattle nobody would bat an eyelid, but the couples are part of a thriving underground swinging scene that is an anomaly for a country where oral sex is illegal and Playboy magazine is banned.

There are at least 10 swingers clubs in Singapore, most of them private, some of them online. With more than 6,000 members, the Web-based United SG Swingers is one of the biggest.

"There are a lot more people that are open to the idea. It's so widespread now," said a 42-year-old Singaporean company executive who only wanted to be identified as Jack.

"Swinging is all about sex. It's satisfying the urge to have casual sex and doing it with somebody you're comfortable with," said Jack, who has been swinging for 10 years.

For all their enthusiasm, few swingers tell family and friends about their lifestyle, although the practice is not illegal in Singapore.

"In Singapore, most people will perceive us as perverts," said a 39-year-old publisher who has been swinging for five years. "Look at our government policies, they say: 'Let's open up.' But our policies have always remained very conservative."

Wealthy Singapore, which has consistently ranked near the bottom in a global survey of sexually active nations, has been struggling to shake off its reputation for prudishness.

Friday, it opened Sexpo 2006, the country's second sex exhibition, featuring an array of toys and seminars.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061124/od_nm/singapore_sex_dc_1