Repentant Lolitas

Teenage girls who strayed into the path of immorality have made a successful transition from vice  to virtue through their own will power and the support of  a caring rehab shelter

TWO former Lolitas have turned around a past life of shame.Amy and Susan   (not their real names) have broken free from debauchery, and while on the straight and narrow, gone on to achieve academic success with the promise of a bright future.

Both girls were young school dropouts who, like many in their position, had succumbed to the lure of the bright city lights and soon found themselves indulging in social vices such as smoking, drinking, drugs

… and promiscuity.

They were arrested for positive drug tests, and sent to Taman Seri Puteri,     a girls’ rehabilitation home, in the state.

Recalled Amy, now pursuing tertiary education: “Till    now, I still can’t understand why I behaved the way I did. I came from a loving caring family and was not deprived of love. I can only say I did it for the thrill but it went a bit too far and too long.”

For her, life on the seedy side started after her father’s death. She was very close      to her dad and she remembered his passing caused her ‘to go berserk’.

She began partying till late at night, then into the early morning and could not attend school the next day. She often suffered a big hangover from drinking the previous night. Most times, she could not concentrate in class and her grades tumbled. Soon, she started playing truant.

Her mother intervened, grounding her and        refusing to let her see her friends but the rebellious Amy managed to stay one step ahead and would sneak out when her mother was asleep.

Heated arguments between mother and daughter were frequent and Amy stayed out as much as she could. But she knew she was living a lie, using the tension at home only as an excuse to stay out and get back at her mother.

One day, after arguing with her mother, Amy ran away from home. She was only 14.

Pub-hopping and wild parties nightly, it was only a matter of time before she got sucked into vice. Life on the edge was a constant cat-and-mouse game with the law.

Amy was eventually picked up by police during an anti-vice raid, and after testing positive for drugs, sent to Taman Seri Puteri.

It was during rehabilitation that she began to realise her mistakes. Determined to make a fresh start, she devoted all her energy to her studies and found she was actually excelling in class.

As her self-esteem improved, her grades soared and she was even selected to speak at a morning school assembly.

Those who knew her past were surprised, including her mother, but she was happy and proud of her daughter’s progress and achievements, especially her determination to turn over a new leaf.

Excellent results in SPM won Amy a scholarship to study at a local university. And she looks well on her way.

Different route

Village girl Susan took a different route to a life of vice. She was sent to live with her sister in town for her secondary education. Her parents thought she would get a better      education in a town school but they couldn’t be more wrong.

Exposed to the urban night life, Susan morphed from an innocent upcountry girl into a lady of the night who smoked, drank and did drugs.

With her working sister too busy and her parents not around to monitor her movements,    she found the sort of freedom that would lead her to a dead-end.

Susan soon dropped out of school — she was not interested anyway.

“I had this illusion of romance and love, marriage and living happily ever after. I         never thought of the long-term consequences. I only saw the small picture,” she recalled.

The wild parties and boozing led her to promiscuity. She thought it would help her find the man of her dream. And it wasn’t long before she went from free sex to selling herself at a saloon. She was constantly courting trouble with her devil-may-care lifestyle and the law soon got to her. Susan was sent for rehabilitation after testing positive for drugs.

She had a hard time adjusting to life at the shelter. She loathed school  and in a show of subtle defiance, kept her dyed hair and polished nails to test the patience of the principal.

Outwardly, she appeared to be adhering to the rules but the inner Susan refused to be rehabilitated.

Her grades were dismal and there was nothing the principal, teachers or staff of the shelter could do to motivate her. She seemed doomed.

However, after months of counselling, the defiance snapped. Susan began to change … for the better. She became more accepting of her situation and started paying attention in class. Her grades improved and she even excelled in her STPM.

Susan is now doing a nursing course.

“I have matured and now know it’s more important putting one’s life into prospective than having a partner for the sake of having someone,” she said.

Both Amy and Susan are not proud of their past but have managed to put it all behind them and are grateful for being given a second chance.

Two other cases

Kamariah (not her real name), 17, who, like Amy and Susan, was a wild child and had wallowed in moral decadence.

She admitted to indulging in casual sex, drinking, smoking and drugs as young as 13 in her village. Her parents were too busy to keep an eye on her. Since they were living in a village where everybody knew everybody, they didn’t see the need to do so.

Kamariah confessed it was the attention she craved that led her astray.

“It wasn’t that my parents were too busy or that I was unloved but more because of ego. It’s nice to feel desired even for a while.”

Staying at the rehab shelter for three years now, Kamariah is happy she is given another chance. And she shows her gratitude by concentrating on studies.

She knows where she has gone wrong and is not blaming anyone except herself.

There are many still lost despite rehabilitation. They are indecisive, clinging doggedly to their old ways, yet looking for change but the uncertainty of the future frightens them.

Take the case of Stella (not her real name) who is 17 is and six months pregnant. A village girl, she does not show the traits of a wild child and can be considered a good girl who has had a bad break. Impregnated by her student boyfriend, she was sent to the rehab shelter by her parents.

It wasn’t love that got her into such a situation but the promise of romance, she admitted on hindsight.

“I don’t love him now — at least not the kind of love that binds a marriage. What I had for him was puppy love.”

Stella will stay at the shelter till she delivers but does not know what to do  after that. She said she would settle down with her boyfriend if her parents insisted.

She has thought about continuing her studies but is bound to her parents’ wishes.

“I had been forewarned about the consequences by my parents but I was too stubborn to listen. Now my pregnancy is my punishment. I wished I had listened to them,” she rued.

* All names withheld to protect the identity of the girls.