Singaporeans seek chaste Valentine's Day

As Valentine's Day stoked the embers of romance worldwide, a group of Singaporeans began a campaign urging couples to curb their ardour and abstain from sex.

A Christian group launched on Monday a week-long Abstinence Awareness Campaign on the island, which has one of Asia's lowest birth rates and has ranked for three straight years near the bottom of condom-maker Durex's survey of sexually active nations.

Nearly 200 volunteers from the Christian "Focus on The Family" group fanned out across the city-state, selling wristbands bearing the message "Worth Waiting For" and collecting pledges from teenagers to stay chaste until marriage.

"We hope that the street sales will raise awareness about abstaining from sexual acts and tell young people that they have what it takes to save themselves until they are married," said one organiser Joanna Koh-Hoe.

"We want to let them know that it is cool to save themselves for marriage," she said.

The campaign follows a rise in teenage abortions and an increase in HIV -AIDS infections among youths.

But some youth doubted the tactic will work even in a society as strait-laced as Singapore, whose government maintains strict censorship controls, including bans on magazines such as "Playboy" and where oral sex between men is a crime.

"I really doubt the effectiveness of this campaign," said 25-year-old Phillip Ng. "To have premarital sex or not is a lifestyle decision and wearing a band on your wrist for a day is not going to lead to a change in your mindset."

About 6,000 chastity bands have been sold at S$2 each and the proceeds will help fund the group's activities, such as a "No Apologies" workshop -- a four-hour course which urges youths between the ages of 13-20 to remain virgins.

Organisers said over 15,000 teenagers have attended the workshop and nearly 80 percent have signed a pledge not to have premarital sex.

--Reuters