V-Day

Well it's that day again, where couples go out and court. I never did find it a special day though, reason it's because I never had relationship with anyone. Well not that I have problems with getting one. It's just that I don't really see the point of getting one now.

I know lots of friends who are either supporting me or telling me the other around. They have a good reasons some of them. But for me, getting into a relationship is really a serious thing. For me, I don't like to play around in a relationship. I rather have a serious one and continue that one until the day of marriage comes. But not everyone like me look at V-day as positive one.

Here's an interesting article I found some days ago. It's about Taiwan's Home Boys:

AIPEI, Taiwan - In colorful masks and black T-shirts with anti-women slogans, dozens of young men paraded through an upscale Taipei shopping center one night in December, yelling at startled couples, "Lovers, go to hell."

It was a rare moment of public exposure for Taiwan's "home boys," single young men who spend evenings cloistered at home, playing online computer games, reading fantasy comic books and complaining in Internet chat rooms about women.

"You don't have to be sad if you don't have a date," said college student Lu Yung-ping, 24. "We can huddle together and have fun."

Japan, Hong Kong and the fast-growing areas of coastal China all have their own versions of home boys. They use the Internet to construct an alternate reality, where fantasy characters and digital games trump domestic responsibilities and the formation of relationships.

Parents find the trend worrisome, and it has become a hot topic in Taiwan's news media. Talk shows and magazines attribute it to a desire to remain in the comfort of the parental home rather than go out into the uncertain world of raising families and paying mortgages.

There are no reliable estimates of their numbers, though home boys far outnumber home girls, because males tend to spend far more time with online games.

Sociologists say the home boys' obsession with computers inhibits their ability to conduct normal personal relations, including dating - a concern at a time when young Taiwanese are delaying marriage and the fertility rate has fallen to 1.2 children per woman, down from 3.2 in 1971.

The home boys tend to be self-centered, less caring for others and incapable of problem-solving, said sociology professor Hsueh Cheng-tai of Taipei's National Taiwan University.

"Many 30-year-olds still have the mentality of children who want to rely on their parents' care and financial support," he said. "They're not ready to get married and fulfill family duties."

It's not so much that they hate women, the young men say; it's that women ignore, reject or betray them. And rather than pining away, they prefer to gather electronically with fellow sufferers and ease their hurts by talking about anything except love.

"The more a nice guy tries to act positively, the more he gets turned away," wrote one man, who identified himself as Hsuan, in a popular anti-couple chat room.

Many of the chat room denizens reject the idea that they are socially awkward, blaming their lack of domestic compatibility on women.

Said one who identified himself only as Klowa: "More so than politicians, women are swindlers among swindlers. They will cheat you of your money and time, or worse, steal from several men at the same time."

Not all computer addicts are so pessimistic.

Lin Wei-ting, a chemistry major at Hsinchu's National Tsing Hua University, describes himself as a "positive home boy."

"Comic books can stimulate our thinking," he said. "They can better prepare us for dating, marriage and career building."

Now I find that rather stupid. Just because you got pushed away from a girl doesn't mean that is the end of your social life with them. I mean, look at me. I don't go telling how a pain girls publicly in chat rooms. If I had a rift with a girl, I will confine to myself. And yes, I have been hurt before by a girl but I got over it and I still enjoy chatting with a girl.

But really, if all girls like mention above, then you are stereotyping them. Just because one girl ticks you off doesn't mean that all of them are like it. You want to know a tip? Be like Jacob from the Bible. Hang around the well. Now don't literally hang around the well. I'm talking about your spiritual well.

Where is the spiritual well? Well it's your church of course. At church, there are many to look at. Also, if you both are Christians, then you are both equally yoke. Imagine if your a Christian and she's a non-believer. What will happen there? Of course there are sometimes she ends up as a Christian but no, it doesn't always happen. It's like you are a higher chair and she's below you. Eventually, gravity will pull you down.

So it's rather important that you are both equally yoke. All in all, I have nothing about relationships. But please, don't be like those home boys. And yeah, sorry if I overused girls. I'm a guy after all.

On a personal note congratulations to Colin and Adrian who won the Amazing Race Asia: Season 2. And congratulations to Vanessa and Pamela for coming in second. Also great jobs to Marc and Ravilsor who got 3rd place and gave lots of funny moments.