By APD writer Alice

Seeking “sugar daddy” or “sugar mommy” has become a popular trend of young people in Asia, especially Vietnam and China, in recent years.

Sugar daddy is not a strange term for Western youth. This term is used to refer to older men who are able to support young girls financially for a certain period of time.

Accordingly, a “sugar daddy” meets requests of his sex partner (called “sugar baby”) related to money and care. And in exchange, a “sugar baby” has to satisfy the emotional or sexual needs of “sugar daddy”.

The trend of “sugar daddy - sugar baby” has appeared for a long time in the West but now it is flourishing in some Asian nations such as Vietnam. With the explosion of the internet as well as social networks, many forums for those who want to find mates were born.

It is noteworthy that many young Vietnamese girls quickly adapt to the “sugar daddy - sugar baby” model. By 2020, sugar daddy - sugar baby has become a hot trend of society, not only on famous dating platforms like Tinder or OkCupid but also on social network that most Vietnamese use: Facebook.

On many forums, many girls openly express their wish to become a “sugar baby” with very detailed requirements for remuneration (salary, shopping budget).

The main objects of this trend are young girls, students or people who do not have economic autonomy. Therefore, they need to find a source of high income without spending too much time or working efforts.

On the forum Tin ***, a girl posted a chat with someone who wanted to be a “sugar daddy”. This man introduced himself in Ho Chi Minh City and was willing to provide her with 6 million VND (258 USD) per month. However, the girl named T.T quickly refused because the price is too low.

T.T frankly declared its current income of 15 million VND (645 USD) per month. If the man could pay more than this, she would be willing to be his baby sugar-style partner.

Another account named M.A boasted that she had been offered as a sugar baby for 5,000 USD, a huge sum.

According to Western media, “sugar daddy - sugar baby” is no different from a form of disguised prostitution. The purpose of the sugar daddy is sex while the sugar baby needs nothing but money.

On the sex partner searching forums in Vietnam, not only girls hunt a sugar daddy but there are many young men looking for sugar mommy”. In a similar fashion, boys are willing to serve their older female partners in exchange for a monthly stipend.

Also on the forum Tin ***, a man whose account is T.N just wants to find a sugar mommy for 2 million VND (86 USD) per month.

Sugar mommy are the ladies who have a lot of money but feel lonely, lacking love or want to find strange feelings. They look for young men in need for material support. This relationship was condemned because it created a negative effect, causing many young people to just want to enjoy the material life without working.

Looking at many groups on social networks, it is not difficult to come across shocking pilot recruitment statuses from sugar mommy. On a Facebook group called SGDD ***, the trend of recruiting pilots made many people feel startled.

The sugar mommy only need their children to be obedient, discreet and clean, and have good skills, especially in the sex. The remuneration is enough to make many young people depraved with the amount of about 15 - 20 million VND (645-865 USD) per month.

In contrast, on these groups, there are many pilots looking for sugar mommy. Just with a glance, we can also see a lot of posts like I'm in trouble, want to find a sugar mommy” or looking for a sugar mommy to experience...

Not only Vietnam, its neighbouring country of China has also witnessed this trend. Recently, the story between a young man living in Taichung, Taiwan and his sugar mommy was posted on social media by his account, along with genuine photos that have spread at lightning speed, earning hundreds of thousands of likes and about 10,000 shares.

The young man said that he got to know a woman surnamed Wang through a dating app. At first, the introduction said she was 36 years old, but when he met her in real life, it turned out that she was 63 years old. He was about to stop this relationship, but the old woman offered him expensive gifts. The guy's proposals regarding money for renting a house and buying an iPhone 12 were also easily accepted. Finally, he opened his heart and accepted the relationship.

Dating like this is no longer strange, especially in the era of booming online dating apps. Not only in the West, in Asian countries such as China, South Korea, and Vietnam, this form of dating is also increasingly popular.

The SugarBook is one of the dating sites like sugar daddy-sugar baby. This website has an ambition to expand its network to Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia.

In March alone, 120,000 people used The SugarBook site, almost double the year earlier. These users are mainly from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.

About 70% of the members on Chan's website are sugar babies, between the ages of 21 and 32. “Sugar daddy” or sugar mommy are usually aged 35 and above.

Critics of this type of dating view this as a relationship in which an older man or woman spends huge money on a younger girlfriend or boyfriend in exchange for a sex relationship. That kind of relationship is no different from prostitution. And certainly the society will be affected more or less by such relationship.

It rings an alarming bell about a deviation in the thinking of many young people today. They are lazy working, just want to enjoy material life and live completely dependent on others. This lifestyle is very shameful.

Not to mention, do they feel proud when dating someone who is worthy of their mother or father's age? Now, when they are still young with good health, they do not strive to work, and in the future, when they get old without health, how will they live? And at a certain point in their life, they will be ashamed of their current ideology and lifestyle.

It is a shame for those people who are lazy working, live dependently and self-claim that they deserve it. When they are young, their appearance is still beautiful, they do not realize how wrong they has been by living like that. No one can rely on another for whole life, especially with unhealthy relationships like “sugar daddy – sugar baby” or “sugar mommy-sugar baby”.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)