SINGAPORE : More than 200 youths have pledged to be 'Worth
Waiting For' - abstain from pre-marital sex.
They are helping to spread the message to other young people.
The red band stands for true love, while the white band signifies
purity.
The message? That true love is worth waiting for, so save yourself
for marriage.
And who better to sell those "Worth Waiting For" purity bands and
message to the youths than the youths themselves!
"To spread that message of abstinence from pre marital sex."
"I will pledge.....because I am worth waiting for!"
"To tell teenagers that sex can only be done in marriage and to
save it for future husbands and wives."
"It is important for them to wait for the special moment to
actually give themselves to the person they love. So it is
important to know true love and abstinence. Abstain themselves
against sex."
"Basically, this is also a religion issue, so if he cannot keep to
the religion then he is not worth being my huband!"
The WWF community project is organise by local charity body Focus
on the Family.
And it comes on the back of reports of rising teenage abortions,
sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS infections among
youths.
Most of the 200 youth volunteers have been through the 'No
Apologies' workshop, and have taken the pledge to abstain from
pre-marital sex.
Joanna Koh-Hoe, Focus on the Family Singapore, said: "We know that
not every single teenager will buy into the message of abstinence,
but it is a good way to just promote that it's a good thing, it's a
cool thing, it's the in thing.
"So it's a message that young people love to have and love to
embrace but it's just giving them the opportunity to embrace that
hey, they can be empowered to save sex until after marriage and
there are individuals worth waiting for.
"Even if they put on this band, it's not something that people
should laugh at and look down at, but purity is cool and something
that they can be proud of and they can be proud of the fact that
they stand up for what they believe in."
Organisers hope to get 10,000 youths to wear these bands and spread
the message of saving sex until after marriage is worth waiting
for.
And with Valentine's Day just around the corner, organisers say
these bands make great Valentine's Day gifts too.
But not everyone buys the idea of wearing his chastity on his
wrist.
"I don't think it's going to work, because people like to have sex!
Young people like to have sex!"
"I think people should concentrate on promoting safe sex versus no
sex!!"
Others, like last year's Singapore Idol finalist Jerry Ong, remain
hopeful this is a good start to reverse the trend.
Jerry Ong, Volunteer with 'Worth Waiting For', said: "I have in
substance taken the pledge because I have pledged to
abstinence.
"I believe that it's a difficult task, it's challenging but it's
achievable. It is not prudish. The reason being that it's against
the flow. And it's daring to be different. I think that's cool and
that's pretty hip!" - CNA