All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?

Our local newspapers has gone into overdrive recently to report the alleged affair of local movie director Jack Neo. This old timer (well, he's 50 this year, so I'd consider him an 'old bird' in the field) had supposedly had an affair with a (currently) 22 year old part-time model, and when things didnt go too well, the latter decided to go public with the affair.

That was the first salvo fired at Jack, though certainly not the last. Because following the revelations of his infidelity, several more women came forth with their own stories of how the movie director attempted to sweet talk them into giving in to what he wants. And it's pretty obvious what a 40+ (then) man would want with girls as young as (supposedly) 16.

Let's face it - men are by nature frivolous and tend to be distracted by what he sees and imagines. I am not a scientist or biologist, so I wouldn't know if the same is true for women (at least from a biological or physiological point of view), but from mere observation it does appear that men are more likely swayed by temptations of the flesh. I guess the correct (and dirty) word for it is "lust". Hmm.. perhaps that's why lust is one of the 7 sins (the others are: Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth, Envy and Greed. Oh, by the way, I loved the movie "Seven", starring Morgan Freeman, Gweneth Palthrow and Brad Pitt... ).

A male colleague of mine recently stated that there are 2 factors which would "lead a man to stray":
1) Wealth
2) Opportunity (ie. being away from his wife & family, and likely away from the constraints imposed onto him by the society at large)

I kind of agree with him. Look, a man who is struggling to feed himself and his family isn't likely to have the time and energy - not to mention the nerves! - to look for such extra-marital activities. This kind of men are also safe from the radar of predatory women who are out to fleece the horny and gullible man-folk.
On the other hand, if a man is loaded or has spare cash to spend, he is more likely to start thinking of HOW to spend the money to satisfy his primal needs. After all, what good is money is you ain't gonna spend it right? =P Think those uncles in their 50s/60s who have collected their pension or CPF monies - perfect targets for money-sucking predator-esses. It's a simple case of matching demand and supply.

As for opportunity, I guess much depends on the kind of job a man does. Some jobs are regarded as "higher risk" due to the fact that they require the guy to travel often, and to spend significant amount of time away from his wife and family. Without the normal levels of societal constraints (away from people whom you know, your friends, family members, as well as others who might judge you for your actions), chances are definitely higher for man to sway in his resolve to remain free of extra-marital sexual liaisons.

Coming back to the case of Jack Neo's affair (or affairs), I can clearly see the same factors at play. He's probably made quite a fair bit of wealth on the success of his directorial experience since his very first hit movie - Money No Enough. And since his work takes him overseas frequently - to shoot for the movie, scout for talents (of all kinds, I guess...), etc. - he certainly has ample opportunity to hit on these sweet young things whom he fancies.

It's becoming a trend these days for male celebrities who appear to have squeeky clean images to suddenly find themselves thick in the mud with revelations of post marital romps with women other than their spouses. Tiger Woods led the pack, followed swiftly by John Terry, Ashley Cole and now our very own Jack Neo in Singapore. To be honest, I'm not sure what the big fuss is about, really. Likely I'd mentioned earlier, men (like them) with so much money and ample opportunity to satisfy their lust would almost certainly do so. Whether they get found out or not is, of course a different matter. They just need to work a little harder to patch back their soiled public image, so as to win back sponsors who are paying them the big bucks.

As for the common man-on-the-street, such news make good entertainment for reading and leisure. We can only ponder (and wonder) if we'd have done what they did had we their wealth and means to do so.

Mostly probably NOT....

(We wont be so silly as to be caught! haha!)