The whole issue concerning criminalisation of pornography and upholding public morality has been a long-drawn, tiresome debate stretching back to the days when porn first came to prominence in the public eye.

Should freedom of expression be sacrificed for the sanctity of moral values? Should observance of strict religious beliefs override the basic tenets of human rights? The same old, same old arguments are being bandied about back and forth, without answers being found.

We are in the new millennium, about 17 years closer to reaching the much-anticipated Vision 2020, and yet an issue such as pornography has seen our moral guardians make a total blunder out of it.

Why do I say so? Well, let us first gauge the true level of success over our so-called 'orally-upright' obscenity laws on pornography. We may proudly boast that there are no adults-only stores in our country, no sex shops, no strip clubs, no X-rated films or series on our television, that prostitution and escort services are illegal and that baring even a nipple is banned in this country.

A utopian sanctuary for religious-seekers? Wrong. Scratch beneath the surface and what you'll see is the same scenario in any country. The harsh reality is that porn not only exists, it thrives. My eight-year-old neighbour can freely obtain hardcore pornographic VCDs for less than RM10 from the friendly neighbourhood VCD vendor.

Get a grip on reality, people. Let's stop kidding ourselves. The advent of this little thing called the Internet has also made things easier for the porn-lover. A click of the mouse here and there and hey presto, porn can be downloaded, exchanged and bartered about the world wide web in seconds. Since there is still absolutely no way the government can control what goes in or out of our servers, access to porn is inevitable.

As we all know, TV censorship is a joke. If it is so effective, today we would have a generation of morally-upright, goody-two-shoes youngsters who won't know what the F-word means or what happens when a man and a woman put their faces together.

Do our 'moral guardians' take us for real? Why censor kissing when everyone, including the fellas who snip films here and there, does it? Kissing is the most natural physical expression of love which even the church permits during wedding ceremonies. Trying to publicly deny the existence of something as innocent as that will only see the manifestation of negative backlash.

When people are forced to accept ridiculous rules, we rebel. It is a natural human trait to strike back when we are oppressed. Take a leaf out of history. Even the greatest empires and civilisations fell when the oppressed could take it no more. .

While this porn issue is a small social menace and would hardly warrant a revolt, a revolution can happen in many forms. More often than not, societal revolution involves changes in attitude, culture and thinking that no statute nor judge can control.

The revolution against censorship was the catalyst for our famed pirated VCD industry, no doubt about it. The radio stations keep butchering your favourite songs because of a few 'F-words' here and there? No worries, millions of members on Kazaa will have them, which I'll just download.

Soon, one disgruntled citizen becomes two, then four, then eight and before long, everybody is jumping on the bandwagon of illicit products. By clamping down on porn, you are actually promoting it. It is human nature to desire the forbidden fruit. Controversy, scandal and anything sleazy excites the general public. We are a curious species. We want to tempt the unknown.

Have the authorities not learnt anything from history? Has the government not realised that it can create as many rules and regulations as it wants but that, if not enforced, these are of no use?

So how can society be preserved from the onslaught of this seemingly unstoppable decadent culture? Simple. Legalise and control it. Totally banning it would create an opposite reaction. Giving some leeway while keeping a loosened rein on the porn industry would be a better solution. Ancient Chinese war strategists would call this tactic 'sacrificing the plum for the peach'.

Look at countries like Sweden, Denmark and Netherlands. Porn is legal. So is prostitution. They even issue certificates to commercial sex workers and treat them with respect and control, often requiring them to undergo medical check-up. Take a look at their societies - these have the lowest sex-related crime rates in the world, low levels of sexually-transmitted disease among citizens and their people are all well-adjusted individuals.

Now take a look at countries around the world. Rape, bestiality, and paedophilia, rank high in underdeveloped countries and those which take strict, outdated approaches to matters of sexuality. Ironically, the more open-minded a country is to evolution of sex industry, the less demand is there for this kind of stuff.

Is it not clear to anyone then, that the proper way would be to defuse the insatiable craving for sleaze by legalising pornography and then controlling the methods of production according to the situation?

Oppress us with your pornography laws and the nonsense about policemen being given the power to search and seize without warrant and we'll give the VCD industry another great boom.

Remember, wise and learned leaders of our country, that any action brings equal and opposite reaction.