KTV cover saga 1.

OYK is disappointed by the KTV cluster. 42 reported cases yesterday was linked the KTV cluster. 

He said: “While this is disappointing, we are also not entirely surprised that clusters like these will pop up.” 

(Well, I am two minds about him using the verb “pop”. I would rather he say, “have come to light” or “have emerged”). 

Anyway, memes online are abuzz with the news about commingling married/dating/single men and hostesses being infected by Covid-19. I am sure you have come across a few of them in your newsfeed “pop up”, right? 

But OYK is no less very troubled and disappointed by the latest cluster infection, as the govt has ““prohibited nightfalls activities involving “hostess services, dice games and all these” for more than a year because of the risk involved when people come into close contact.””

And in a deliberately dimmed environment like a KTV lounge situated along an equally dimmed KTV belt, you can expect Covid-19 to work its way with fluid efficiency on every horny guest and inviting hostess. 

Sure, where there is honey, you can expect busy bees. For our appetites once released, has to find satisfaction, and there are honey pots all around, if one bothers to look for them in hard-for-light-to-shine places. 

Indeed, when there is a will, there is a way, that is, a way for infection to pop up. 

Thus far, no places are spared the covid raid. You name it, restaurants, country clubs, workers’ dormitories, shopping centres, airport terminals, and even hospitals, where frontline fighters are pushing back the breach.

 

And yes, we can’t leave our churches out, a place where covid has also defiantly stepped onto holy ground with impunity. Covid is like the Midas’ touch, but in this case, wherever they rear their ugly head, the place is shut down (instead of turning to gold, it turns hollow). 

Yet, these places do not pose the same challenges as KTV lounges. Here’s why according to expert observers.

First, these places may be banned due to the pandemic, but you can’t legislate lust. We are all guilty of it. Men are often subdued by much lesser things, though their achievement reaches to the sky. 

And that’s where impulse control comes to his timely aid. Most men therefore take cold showers, huddle up with a private scripture reading session, or find solace in the familiar bosom of their marital partner or C&B dates. But, not everyone is able to wish away that carnal uprising. And that becomes the challenge of preventing/controlling the KTV clusters. 

Second, the issue is also with the supply side. Professor Teo Yik Ying said: “Even though these lounges were mainly serving food. I suspect a lot of the activities would be similar to those of nightclubs.” 

And those activities involve what is colloquially known as “butterfly”. The hostess, as unwitting carrier agent, flits from one cubicle to another, splitting her time between multiple guests, “who each pay her a sum of about $50 to $100 at the end of the night.” 

At times, in order to earn more, butterflies move between multiple nightclubs/KTV in one night, thereby “going to lounges that have more guests if their usual haunt sees lower patronage on certain night.” You can thus say that every successful pollination brings about a handsome remuneration. 

And thirdly, it centres around this quote by Seneca/Lucretius: -

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light”.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam observes: “...the KTV cluster could be a weak link in Singapore’s fight against Covid-19, especially since the hostesses and patrons may be trying to lie low, making it difficult for the authorities to ringfence those who are infected. Some hostesses could be working illegally.”

So, contact tracing is much harder in such places. Patrons (and hostesses alike) prefer to remain anonymous because of the shame associated with the activities they are engaging in. Hostesses would also not want to name names for fear that such leak would betray/expose her regular clientele, some of whom might be openly happily married.

Mind you, this is unlike going into a church to seek repentance, or for some, to bathe in the light of ostentatious redemption. This is however a place that is intentionally set dark to keep more than just the kids away; yet, it is heartily embraced by grown ups. 

That is where the above quote comes in, with stark metaphorical irony - “...the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light”.

So, I wish OYK all the best reining in the untethered appetites of men. And throwing the legal books at them is the most pragmatic solution; a technocratic go-to handbook for citizenry compliance. 

At times like this, maybe the hand of the law is more urgently needed over the heart of gracious reform. And if you can’t address the real tragedy of men who are afraid of the light, you just have to contend with the second best option of occasionally raiding the darkness with the shocking beam of the law.