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China

Chinese Billionaire Seeks Wife: Only Virgins Need Apply

YANGCHENG EVENING NEWS(China)

GUANGZHOU - Eleven anonymous multi-millionaire Chinese entrepreneurs, all multi-millionaires, have posted ads in ten cities in a new public search for wives.

The chance to marry one of the men, each with a net worth of at least 100 million RMB ($15 million), found no shortage of eager applicants, reports the Yangcheng Evening News. Some 320 contestants, out of the initial 2800 candidates, were to be given a first-round interview this week at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou City.

The interview includes five steps. First, for each lady, her physical appearance is closely studied. A plastic surgeon is present to make sure the candidate has not undertaken any cosmetic surgery. Her personality and psychology are then evaluated. Her face is studied, with the physiognomy given due note. Her talents and upbringing are marked. And she is asked for her views of emotional and marital life.

The organizer of the contest was succinct: "We are committed to solving the entrepreneurs' marriage issues. Any woman chosen will be the mother of the next generation of a rich family, as well as having a spouse with huge assets to manage," the organizer said. "It is much more important for the entrepreneurs to find a suitable wife than for ordinary folk."

The basic benchmarks for the short-listed contestants are to be single, aged between 19 and 28, 160 to 175 cm tall, with a college degree and outstanding appearance.

However, what has aroused the most attention is the special requirement from one particular billionaire. He is divorced, over 40, well-known and with strong athletic build -- and his candidate wife has to have no prior sexual experience.

When interviewed by the Yangcheng reporter, most girls denied being gold-diggers. They say they are just ensuring a better future for their children. But one girl admitted that she has decided to take the shortcut because "It's too risky to invest in potential stock".

Most girls also say they accept and understand the virginity requirement. When asked if they'd accept to undergo a physical examination to prove it, one of them said frankly "It's not difficult to have the hymen repaired in a medical institute. Such a provision doesn't make much sense."

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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