Just Saying | Underage sex and the city: why Hong Kong needs to get a grip
Yonden Lhatoo looks at the reality of youngsters having sex early in life and the need for proper education unhampered by cultural taboos
A rather conservative friend complained to me recently about the number of children she sees around Hong Kong openly engaging in public displays of intimate affection.
Being a concerned young mother herself, she sent me photos she had taken of an underage couple attempting to fuse together in a trembling oneness through their school uniforms in a supermarket aisle while she was shopping for groceries.
I don’t share her puritanical streak, and we all remember what puppy love can be like, but I understand where she’s coming from, especially when their school uniforms remind us how disturbingly young they can be.
Hong Kong is quite tolerant towards young love, and this city has its share of sexual promiscuity, even with a majority Chinese population that is traditionally conservative. But when they start out so young, it can be a hydra-headed cause for concern.
The last time the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong looked into the matter, it found 7 per cent of girls and 10 per cent of boys in their teens had engaged in sexual intercourse, the average age being around 16.