AS school-age girls work in karaoke clubs - and sell sex to customers - Legislator James To Kun-sun's call for these bars to be subject to strict licensing rules and banned from employing ''underage'' hostesses is to be supported. Any venue found in breach of the licensing rules should be closed immediately and the proprietors fined heavily.
Mr To is on shaky ground in asking for the minimum age of employment in the clubs to be 18, when 16 is the age of consent. But it is a scandal that Hong Kong's employment laws allow girls as young as 13 to work all night in surroundings where they are subjected to temptations and pressures they are too immature to handle.
It is unfortunate the karaoke craze has revived the notion that selling sex is glamorous. However, the focus must not be on karaoke parlours alone. Teenage prostitution has long been a problem and neither more prosperity nor better education has clearedit up. This is a social problem as much as a police matter. Many of these girls are from broken homes and/or lack parental care or guidance. Greater attention must be paid to their needs before they turn to prostitution.
