The Lolita complex — Tay Tian Yan
APRIL 25 — Anyone who roams cyberspace is bound to leave traces behind, and anyone that involves himself or herself in indecent romances will tend to leave behind some undesirable consequences.
This is what I have concluded from the recent online teen prostitution case in Singapore.
The number of accused in this case can easily fill a large bus to its capacity, and it is said another busload of defendants is well on its way to the court.
Among the passengers on board are school principals, teachers, senior government officials, army officers, police officers, bankers, businessmen, lawyers and environmental activists.
If we were to organise them into a social network, it should be some sort of a socialites’ club. If their talents are well harnessed, they could easily make a national think-tank group.
Unfortunately, the capabilities of these 80 socialites have been squandered on, allegedly, the same teenage girl. They have to pay not just the costs of patronising a teen prostitute, but also fines and jail sentences, along with their futures and hard-earned reputations.
A highly pragmatic state, Singapore is one of a handful of countries that have legalised prostitution. So long as you behave yourself and keep good hygiene, you can do anything you want in Geylang.
But having sex with an underage prostitute is another matter.
Sure enough, these elite members of the society know the country’s laws well enough to go against them.
Sexual lust is human nature, but that does not mean you can cross the line. While seeking solace from hookers is understandable, to get one who is underage is both legally and morally felonious, even with consent.
Psychologists will tell you that visiting child prostitutes or having sex with underage girls (and boys of course) is a perversion, which could have stemmed from defeats in past romances or sexual behaviours, or could have been manifestation of male chauvinistic supremacy that has to be executed on vulnerable and manipulable teenage girls.
The patronage of child prostitutes by socialites points to the fact that the depravation of human desires has not been rectified with enhancements in social status and acquired knowledge.
This reminds me of Lolita, a fiction by American Vladimir Nabokov that revolves around the attraction of a middle-age lecturer to a teenage girl.
The masterpiece — the outrageous boldness of it in depicting carnal lusts and indecent romances rendered the book once a banned publication even in the United States — has nevertheless highlighted the moral struggles of humanity as well as erotic depravation, the literary values of which have later gained public recognition.
That said, the “Lolita complex” morbidity will never get recognised or sympathised anywhere in this world, anytime. — mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
