Recently, I have reading a lot of news on high-powered members of the society engaging in corrupt acts and today I just read that a Law Professor was named in a sex-for-grades probe identified and he was previously a district judge.
Apparently, his young 22-year-old student approached him for better grades in an elective law program and in exchange, she provided him with sexual gratification and favours. He accepted it on not only one occasion but met the student on several occasions for sex over period of time.
The Law Professor has a strong educational and professional background and his students actually like his lectures and even said that he was funny, eccentric and had a quirky sense of humor. The Law Professor has a lot at stake and to lose by accepting such favours because he has got a reputation to keep and maintain in society and what about his family? It was not mentioned in the news.
The weird thing about it here is that the Professor seemed to be the perpetrator and should be convicted, but I feel that the female student is equally responsible because they were both consenting adults at the time they had sex. The girl threw herself at him and had the audacity to suggest a deal of sexual favours in exchange for better grades. Her actions make me really wonder what kind of morals are prevalent in society these days. And to tell and relate the whole incidents to your peers after such a shameful act, meant that the female student did not feel any remorse. She thought it was safe to tell after the matter had blown over. The female student should be barred and sacked from her job and no law firm should offer her any pupillage. We do not need lawyers with no sense of shame or the slightest of moral etiquette.
As for the Law Professor, he was a victim of lust and gross stupidity. If I was a handsome 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old fresh-faced young lamb throws herself at me, I would be tempted too. But you would always want to compartmentalize and draw a professional line. I have not seen the photo of the student to judge how pretty or awesome she is. In a moment of folly, he had fallen in disgrace because he was lustful as a toad.
There are many Chinese sayings and teachings which have linked the fall of many great men in history to the charms of beautiful women. But what I am really more concerned here is about the kind of moral values that young adults have these days. As the revered Confucius said and I quote,” The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of home.” I am not very sure what morals have been instilled at home or in school for the female student to think of such a sex-for-grades deal! She may not be the only one and we are seeing this phenomenon more rampant than ever.
I believe that as parents, it is our duty to inculcate the right values and morals to our children, but there is only so much that we can do. The first day that they step into Primary School, they will be influenced by their circle of friends and of course the teachers that they will be spending most of their time with in the day. Therefore, the only thing that we can do as parents is to provide and instill the correct values when our children comes home.
However, given the cost of living these days and the heightened rate of inflation, usually both parents have to work long hours to bring food to the table. Babies from as young as 2 months are now being sent to full-day infant-care and the person feeding and teaching the child is not the parent but the caregiver at the infant care or childcare centres. Parents would leave their children in childcare from as early as 7am and will not pick them up until it is 7pm. For a good 12 hours, the kids are in the care of their teachers and assistants at child-care centres.
A sad state of fact is that the quality of preschool education in Singapore varies and it has not been standardized by the Government. MOE has not taken an interest to streamline the curriculum and the quality of preschool education actually comes with a premium.
Even though the Government has strive to raise our pathetic birth rates by introducing many radical improvements, the fact is that as Singaporeans, we still have to pay for all the medical bills for our pregnancy and birth. Premier pre-school education comes with huge price. Having a child is a lifetime commitment and many adults today are not ready for that kind of commitment. When today’s parents have children, they will leave the child-raising job to increasing number of child-care centres. Parents also rely heavily on foreign maids and grandparents to care for their children. The kids might not even see their parents until Friday evening, which is the start of the weekend.
Some parents find their children a burden and pass on most of the parenting jobs to others whom they can engage with monies and grant. If you are not going to interact with your child, then surely and positively don’t have a child. If you are not willing to put in time to read a book or play with your children or be there for your children’s first steps, then why have children? I have seen some parents smoking and even bringing their children to pubs where they talk and laugh freely and happily with their friends and engage in drinking. Please get a part-time help if you want to club and not bring your kid along. Strangely, they can find excuses like the pubs have french fries and finger foods which their children like and it is smoke-free.
The moral values which we have as a society today are at an all-time low. We have become reckless, indulgent in ourselves and disregard the basic moral values in pursuit of fame, power, materialism, status and money. And at the end of the day, we forget that we have a responsibility to inculcate values to the next generation. How will the 22-year-old law student feel when she becomes a mother to a daughter in 10 years’ time? Can she tell her husband and her daughter that she had prostituted herself for grades?
I am not sure but she will definitely have to live with it and deal with the consequences that follow. The Law Profeessor will surely have to be dismissed by NUS and I think when his Porsche or 6th Avenue house gets repossessed by the Private Bank that he banks with, he might then realize his foolishness.
