Commentary 3

I refer to this article, “Orientation – just fun or plain lewd?” found in the Home section of The Sunday Times on the 31st of August 2008 by Shull Sudderuddin.
Oh man. A new year starts, and the first thing on the calendar is the orientation camp. The girls have just completed their 2-year junior college/polytechnic education, and they are looking forward to further education and opportunities in the universities. The guys have just completed their 2-year national service, and they are itching to get back into academics, taking a break from the strenuous physical training. The orientation camp is meant to “orientate” (hence the name) the new university students to adult life. It is to act as some form of transition, as well as a chance for students to bond closer together. Now, let's take a look at how some of these activities achieve these objectives.
First, how it orientates the students towards adult life. In one of the orientation games, the students sat “in a circle, alternating between the sexes” and were required to “pass M&M chocolates to one another using their mouths”. Now, everyone knows that an M&M chocolate is very small. So, in order to pass it from mouth to mouth, it means that the students would have to literally kiss each other to pass on the chocolate. What more the seating arrangment – the participants will kiss 2 people of the opposite sex for each round of the game (after which, they change the seating). I really wonder what they are trying to get at by holding this kind of activities to orientate them to adult life. Maybe they are implying that kissing many people openly is acceptable.
Coming up next are more sleazy activities. Pole dancing is up first. Students of the opposite sex perform this dance, where one acts as the pole and the other dances around him/her suggestively. Although this is done mainly for comic relief (or so they say,), the suggestiveness reflects badly on the attitude of the universities. In secondary schools and JC/polytechnics, such suggestive actions and even remarks are already condemned by teachers and fellow students. Again, are the varsities trying to show that such a mindset and such actions are acceptable in the school? What does it say about adult life then?
Bringing up the sleaziness a notch, we arrive at another activity, known as the “whipped cream forfeit”. In this activity, a guy takes off his shirt and has whipped cream sprayed on his chest. Other participants are then required to lick it off, usually females. Now, since when did proper adult life get anywhere near licking your partner's chest?! This is very disgusting and even I would not permit my wife to do it if I get married in the future.
Oh, not to forget the bonding. In secondary schools and JC/polytechnics, the idea of bonding is centered around doing activities together as a class, or maybe in small groups. Those activities range from scavenger hunts to games like tug-of-war. The team spirit present then would bond the students together. Now, compare these activities to one of those held in the varsities: A special “push-up” forfeit. A female lies down on the floor and a guy is made to do push-ups over her. This is really getting too close to each other, regardless of how the girl is lying down on the floor (face down, face up). I seriously think this kind of 'bonding' would not achieve its objectives.
Many parents share the same sentiments as me – that some of these orientation games are just too lewd, or to put it in a more common term “sick”. However there are a group of people who think that these games are acceptable and are not as 'sick'. To them, the slight sexual slant we see in the activities are nothing but natural. Being adults already, such activities are there to break any previously set up social barriers between students of opposite sexes. I agree that some of the activities are not so serious, but there are some of them (for example, the push-ups) that cross the line by a large margin.
“Funny is in the eyes of the beholder”. Similiarly, the term 'sick' is also subjective – each person has a different take on where the line should be drawn. I have my line drawn very close to my feet, so don't be surprised if I skip the orientation activities in 5 years' time if they push me too far.