Ma Yaohai (Chinese internet handle: “Roaring Virile Fire”), a 53-year old professor from Nanjing, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for organizing and participating in some 18 orgies (or, as Chinese authorities refer to them, “crowd licentiousness”).
The unrepentant Mr. Ma is appealing his conviction, claiming that what he does behind closed doors with consenting adults is none of the state’s business. In this aspect, Mr. Ma is finding some support among the Chinese online community, and his plight has sparked something of a national debate on the issues of civil rights and a government’s authority to intrude on its citizen’s private lives. As this debate occurs while the authorities are engaged in a crackdown on online gambling operators (“overseas hostile forces”), there is bound to be some spillover discussion on why the Chinese can’t be trusted to make a wager — or organize an orgy — if they feel like it.
At any rate, when it comes to having one’s secret life exposed to the world, contrast Tiger Woods’ hypocritical shame with Mr. Ma’s unabashed indifference: Quoth the man they call Roaring Virile Fire: “Why should I feel regretful for this?” Tiger may have a nicer set of clubs, but Mr. Ma’s got a bigger set of balls. Read more.
