Adultery in an Asian context
... and these statistics have prompted a discussion on the implications of increased infidelity on local society. Honestly, I view these numbers with more of a neutral acceptance than disapproval or disgust. Is adultery in a modern context still the deviant and wicked crime it used to be? To me, this rising trend is simply a reflection of how society, family and the mindsets of people have evolved. Do not be mistaken – I do not approve of or promote adultery. I am simply able to view it as a truth in the context of modern living. With globalization and modernization, we have all grown more liberal and tolerant of certain lifestyles. More options are opening up to us, especially to women who are rapidly catching up to men in the equality race. Modern women no longer need to rely on their husband to bring in the dough or sit passively at home with the sole purpose of running the household. Whatever it is they want, they go ahead aggressively to achieve it. All this so-called “self-empowerment” has led modern women to possess the attitude that they are entitled to having all they want. When stuck in a dull, stifling marriage that does not satisfy emotionally or physically, what is there to stop a woman from running into the arms of a more gentle and virile man? Guilt? The unbearable sense of wrongdoing? As mentioned earlier, being more liberal means that women tempted to stray will tend to view their affair more as a diversion from their suffocating work and family commitments, a rush of exhilaration that reconfirms their status as still being sexually and intellectually desirable to the opposite sex, more so than as a sacrilegious act of moral weakness. After all, men have been having affairs since the beginning of history, so why can’t women turn the tables for once? I am a firm believer that fidelity is not a guarantee that love persists. In modern Singapore, the never-ending pursuit of material wealth and the 5 ‘Cs’ means that our careers are often our priority. The breakdown of the family unit is inevitable. There are so many marriages around us t...