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Lonely fourth-year university student searches for a “part-time lover” on the Web 寂寞大四男 網徵鐘點情人

Lian Hou-chun, a fourth-year student in the Department of Communications Management at Shih-Hsin University, enjoys a cup of coffee and a chat with a girl at an unspecified location earlier last month.世新大學傳管系四年級的練厚均同學上個月稍早在某地與一名女孩喝咖啡聊天。照片：自由時報記者陳宣瑜 PHOTO: CHEN HSUAN-YI, LIBERTY TIMES

An unknown couple embraces in a park in this undated picture. 這張未註明日期的照片中，一對情侶在公園裡擁抱。照片：自由時報記者鹿俊為 PHOTO: LU JUN-WEI, LIBERTY TIMES

There are all sorts of jobs available on the Internet, and these days it is very popular for lonely hearts to search for a “part-time lover” online as well. Men are now going online to find girls to go out on a date with and chat to. Girls make $NT500 per hour for hugging, while others make NT$100 to NT$300 for just chatting. A 28-year-old office worker went on the Web in search of a friend to celebrate his birthday with, while a fourth-year university student who has never been in a relationship went online to find out “what if feels like to be in love.”

Friends of a 28-year-old office worker wanted to find a girl to eat and chat with him at Tamsui’s old street on his 28th birthday. They went on the Internet and asked Sherlock, a member of the Web site called “Part Time” to find a companion for their friend. They wanted a girl under the age of 26, no taller than 165cm, and offered NT$300 per hour, which would work out to approximately NT$1200 to NT$1500 for one date.

In an interview, Sherlock said that to ensure the girls’ safety, he insists that they meet in public areas. He said that the girls are only allowed to chat and eat with their male clients. The guys can take along one friend and can decide what topics to chat about. However, because on this occasion the client was unable to clearly explain the details of the trip, Sherlock refused the client’s request in order to protect the safety of girls applying for the job.

Lian Hou-chun, a clean-cut fourth-year student in the Department of Communications Management at Shih-Hsin University, is 179cm tall and looks a bit like the entertainer Mike He, has also been online in search of the “chance to get a girlfriend.”

Lian said that he has never had a girlfriend in all his 24 years and that he has tried various friendship Web sites and the friend finder board on the PTT bulletin board system, but always gets knocked back. “Ever since senior high, each time I show interest in a girl, she will eventually block me on MSN, delete me from her contact list and direct my phone calls to voice mail.”

After seeing an advertisement on the “Part Time” Web site, Lian was persuaded to pay the high fee of NT$500 per hour in the hope of finding “true love.” He requested that the girl not bring anyone else along and stated that he would pay an hourly rate of NT$500 for “physical contact” such as “holding hands” and “hugging” and that he would only pay NT$200 to NT$300 for chatting. In the end, he received only one response from a girl in living in Chungli, but gave up on the idea because he felt that it was too far away.

Lian said he does not care if he is ridiculed by other Internet users and that he believes you will never find true love if you care too much about what others think.

Academics are worried that emotions are being commercialized as students spend big sums of money to hire “girlfriends.” They doubt whether students can get any emotional interaction in this way and think they may end up even worse off.

Luo Tsun-yin, director of the Graduate Institute for Gender Studies at Shi Hsin University, says that if students want more chances to meet people they should increase their communication skills, expand their social lives and take part in groups, clubs and volunteer activities. She said it would be very hard to find a suitable partner by spending money.

Pan Hui-ling, a professor in gender and education from the Education Department at National Taiwan Normal University, said she does not support the idea of students turning emotions into commodities. Pan said students should think long and hard about whether they can really get emotional interaction if their attitude is one of making a purchase.(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON)



網路上什麼工作都有，曠男怨女徵求「鐘點情人」似乎最近超夯！有人上網徵女生約會聊天，可摟抱的時薪五百，純聊天的時薪一百到三百，有二十八歲上班族過生日徵友，還有從未交過女友的大四學生上網徵求「戀愛的感覺」。

有一名廿八歲上班族過生日，他的朋友想找女生陪他去淡水老街吃飯聊天，上網找到跑腿幫成員夏洛克代為徵友，找二十六歲以下，身高不超過一百六十五公分的女生，時薪三百元，收入約一千二百到一千五百元。

夏洛克受訪時表示，為保護女方安全，他要求約在公眾場所，只能純吃飯聊天，也可以帶一位朋友，話題依男方而定。不過，因為委託人無法清楚交代出遊細節，為保護應徵的女生，他拒絕委託人的委託。

另外，長相清秀，和藝人賀軍翔有些許類似，且身高一七九公分，外在條件還不錯的世新大學傳管系大四的練厚均，也上網徵求「交女友的機會」。

他說，二十四年來從沒交過女朋友，也試過各式交友網站和批踢踢交友版，但每次都失敗。「從高中開始，只要一對女生表現出追求之意，最後ＭＳＮ必遭封鎖加刪除，打電話直接轉語音，屢試不爽。」

練厚均看到網路上跑腿幫的徵文，靈機一動，用時薪五百元的高薪，希望重賞之下有「真愛」。他要求對方不可攜伴參加，且有「肢體接觸」像「牽手」、「擁抱」，才有五百元時薪，如果純聊天，時薪只有兩百至三百元，結果只收到一個住在中壢的女生回覆，但是他又覺得距離太遠而放棄。

練厚均說，就算被網友噓到爆，他也不在意，他認為太在意別人的想法，很難找到真愛。

對大學生用高薪在網路徵「女友」，學者憂心，將情感商品化，就能真正獲得情感交流嗎？或是更大的失落？

世新大學性別研究所所長羅燦煐表示，同學應該增加溝通技巧，擴展社交生活面，多參加各項社團、志工活動，才有機會認識更多人，用錢去買陪遊，要找到合適的對象難度相當高。

研究性別與教育的台師大教育系教授潘慧玲指出，不支持同學把情感變成商品化的概念，買方交易的心態可以真正獲得情感交流嗎？值得同學深思。（自由時報記者林曉雲、陳宣瑜）

IDIOM POINT 片語要點 lonely heart 曠男怨女 A person with a lonely heart is single and looking for a relationship. Example: “Don’t go to a bar on Valentine’s Day unless you want to be surrounded by lonely hearts.” 說某人帶著「lonely heart」，就表示這個人目前單身且正在尋求一段戀情。 例如：「除非你想被曠男怨女包圍，否則情人節那天別上酒吧」。

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 1. relationship n. 戀情 (lian4 qing2)，關係 (guan1 xi4) 例: Paul has a great relationship with his father. (保羅和他父親的關係很親密。) 2. companion n. 伴侶 (ban4 lü3)，同伴 (tong2 ban4) 例: I’m trying to find a traveling companion for my trip home. (我正在找人一起結伴回鄉。) 3. various adj. 各式的 (ge4 shi4 de5) 例: There were various reports which emerged about the meeting. (與會者對那場會議的評論各不相同。)

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