Just imagine that a girl of 25 was talking with relish on the Web about her sexual relationships with various partners of different ages. She does so without showing any trace of feminine shyness, all under the divine banner of individuality.

I'm not speaking of a street-walker or a strip-tease dancer, but maybe a trendy, educated and intelligent young woman. To her, having sex is perhaps as commonplace as having a drink of water and prostitution is much the same as any vendor earning a living.

The fact that quite a few young people are in line with her individualistic stance, voicing unreserved support for her dauntless, independent character, her being upfront about the sensitive subject of sex and her courage to challenge the stereotypical notion of morality and ethics, indicates that the gap existing between us fuddy-duddies and the younger generation has widened to a horrendous degree and keeps widening every minute.

In truth, I admire people with a marked personality, inasmuch as they take the lead in propelling the society to a still higher moral and intellectual level.

For any individual, privacy should be respected, with no one allowed to pry into and comment on someone else's personal affairs. But once someone has revealed their secrets, the public are entitled to comment on the social impact.

Take the example of an octogenarian Korean woman. While touring in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, she began pointing to a two-storey building and crying her eyes out, saying haltingly to those around her that it was precisely the building in which she had been sexually abused by Japanese troops during World War II. The nightmare, she said, had been haunting her for decades, and she would not feel calmed except by focusing world attention on the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders on the Chinese mainland.

Both the young woman and the Korean old lady revealed their innermost secrets. One dwelt on it with pleasure and the other recalled an agonizing nightmare; one presented herself as a rebel of the times while the other bemoaned her bitter fate, having been a victim of brutality; one caused controversy over the righteousness of her revelation and the other won wide sympathy while spreading apprehension among ultra-rightists.

So, the repercussions resulting from one's privacy being slashed open are sometimes inevitable, especially when almost everyone, including adolescents, can gain easy access to the Web.

If we take it for granted that, whatever stir it might create, one is free to divulge one's secrets to the world, I wonder if we would relish the prospect of Japanese tourists bragging on the Web about their sexual experiences in China, reliving the scenario of their grandfathers sexually assaulting Chinese "comfort women"?

starcomment@yahoo.com