HEALTH WATCH
Hoochie Koochie HIV
"An HIV-infected stripper who knowingly passed on the virus to her unsuspecting husband faces possible deportation because she has been criminally convicted for her reckless behaviour. In a ruling made public Tuesday, the Federal Court dismissed a deportation challenge from Suwalee Iamkhong [aka 'Ricky'], a landed immigrant who came to Canada from Hong Kong on a work visa in 1995 to perform as an exotic dancer at Toronto's famous Zanzibar Tavern. Originally from Thailand, Iamkhong met Canadian Percy Whiteman at the strip club soon after her arrival and she married him in 1997. Iamkhong, 39, tested positive for HIV in Hong Kong, but she not divulge her condition to her husband until she fell ill and was hospitalized [with a related meningococcal condition] in 2004. Iamkhong was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in prison after being convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. [With a sentence of more than two years, she is subject to removal at completion of sentence.] Whiteman, who has been publicly vocal about his wife's deceit ... said that his ultimate goal is to see her kicked out of the country, particularly since he is still her legal sponsor and remains responsible for her until 2011. ... Whiteman said he received a letter last week from Correctional Service of Canada informing him that Iamkhong has been released from prison and is being detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency pending her deportation. He has filed a civil lawsuit against Iamkhong and the Immigration Department, alleging it did not take appropriate steps to screen her health when she entered the country on a work permit for exotic dancing." (Star Phoenix, December 16, 2008) 
Oriental Sex Trade
More unsavoury details emerge in Whiteman's August 18, 2007 interview on the Craig Bromell Show: "I found out while we were in court and that that she was a prostitute back in Hong Kong. ... Immigration Canada asked her for a full medical but they forgot to do a follow up ... Immigration now is telling me that they don't know where her medical records are. ... Immigration Canada welcomed her [to] Zanzibar with some kind of agent they were using at the time; her manager at the time was Wally Waterman. He knew of her test and they said: 'Oh don't worry about it.' ... There was a media ban on this for over three years ... protecting her. ... In 2001, when she got her landed immigrant papers, her and her sister went down to Thailand and they both had [enhancement] surgeries and I was very concerned when I found out that they had both had a blood transfusion and her sister up here is married. Her sister is even a stripper [also at the Zanzibar], her sister has even been out 'doing other acts' and everything like that so this whole situation has just been bottled too much.
And the reason I want society to know and everyone in Toronto, is what if this happens to someone else? You know when we were split I know she was seeing someone else ... I don't know their names ... but hopefully they know who Ricky and Pangey [the sister] are and they step forward -- they go get tested." Throughout the marriage, Whiteman's work weeks averaged out at an incredible 120 hours. He elaborated on the delightful terms of life with the rapacious "Ricky" -- seven years his senior -- in a June 6, 2007 interview on the John Oakley Show: "I always worked two or three jobs, I still do. I was paying for all the rent and everything and all bills for food and her and her sister were sending all their money back to Thailand for the family to build a house." Ugh. Dare one ask, what kind of "house"?
[The only press picture of “Ricky” – Fetching shoes, what?]
Seems "Ricky" was determined to kill Mr. Whiteman one way or another. Not surprisingly, "this was not a first marriage for Ms. Iamkhong. After leaving the rice fields of her village, she landed in Bangkok, where at 15, she found herself pregnant and then deserted by her common-law husband. There was also another marriage during the subsequent 10 years, although details are fuzzy. She left her son behind, moving to Hong Kong in 1996 to work as a go-go dancer and, briefly, a prostitute." (Globe and Mail, August 18, 2007) Mr. Whiteman may be gullible beyond belief, but if the Immigration department's only function is to fill Canada's quota for HIV positive strippers, we ought to shut department doors.
[This article appears in the January, 2009 issue of the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE. Published monthly, the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE is available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]
