It's chilly outside, but inside you can take off the coat and sweater: with the heating set to 24 degrees, the Hong Kong presenter is warm on the red chair in her sexy nothing.
Operator Snel's tendon room is crammed with three cameras aimed at the presentation trio. One of them is the Chinese Chang Ju Cheung. He was born in the Netherlands and lives in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. For AT5, Chang went in search of the transience and immortality of Chinese culture in the Netherlands and China . For the Hong Kong television broadcaster TVB, he now works in various professions in the Netherlands. Together with two other presenters, he dives into the world of legal sex work.
"It's time to break the big taboo on sex work"
"In Hong Kong everyone wants to get rich, so professions such as pilot, lawyer or doctor are often chosen there. The Netherlands ranks high in the list of the happiest countries in the world. With this program we want to see that happiness cannot always be measured in terms of height. of your salary," Chang told NH News.
"We follow different professions in the Netherlands, including a sex worker, a cheese farmer and a cleaner. What makes them happy? What is their passion in life?"
Listen to the radio report here (text continues):
There are still many prejudices attached to sex work. Not only in China, but also in the Netherlands, where the profession is legal. According to Chang, those stigmas mainly stem from ignorance. "People always have prejudices. They don't know any better and only know stories of oppression from movies or television, but it's so much more layered than that."
To demonstrate this, he uses the Alkmaar Achterdam as a textbook example. Only women who are registered as self-employed with the Chamber of Commerce are allowed to rent a room there. The safest possible working environment has been created with a 'panic button' in the room, security guards walking around and cameras in the street and corridors. "Sex work also exists in Hong Kong, but that is a dark area. Nobody really knows what exactly goes on there."
"We want to show that women also consciously and voluntarily choose this"
The sex workers on the Achterdam are all legally behind the window. Yet none of the women is eager to speak on camera about the oldest profession in the world. For the recordings, the presenter then took on the role of a window prostitute.
"There is still a lot of shame surrounding this work and talking about it openly is actually taboo. With this program we want to show what this work entails on a daily basis and that women also consciously and voluntarily choose this. There is a story behind every sex worker. It's time to break the big taboo on this work."
He hopes to do this by showing that sex workers are also 'ordinary people' in the end. "It's actually hypocritical. We're all into sex, everyone has needs, so why are we still making such a fuss about this? You don't necessarily have to be a pilot or a doctor if you're good with your hands; bread or cars if that makes you happy."
