BEIJING, June 2 -- Who cares what the new baby of a pop singer looks like? Does it matter whether she looks like the mother or the father or both or neither?

    It is said that the pictures of the new-born baby of Faye Wong could be worth 500,000 yuan (US$62,300) to paparazzi.

    If a newspaper publishes her real photo, would its circulation be boosted accordingly?

    Hard to say. Readers' interest in small talk is always fleeting. At least I wouldn't buy it, even if the newspaper offered a free supplement on Wong's birth. I wouldn't buy it because I hate the cult of celebrities, especially when many of them are riddled with indecent stories.

    This is not to say that no celebrities are good. There are many world-class actors, singers and dancers who deserve our profound respect for their shining character.

    They are not just good performers on the stage, they are good persons in life.

    The same can hardly be said about many of today's celebrities. I do not have a particular bias against Faye Wong or her present husband Li Yapeng, although I never thought Li was a talented actor.

    What I want to say is: Many so-called celebrities of today no longer possess the kind of character that we should be worshiping.

    I would rather save my respect for toiling janitors who clean the toilets so carefully; vendors who sweat all day long just to help their kids go to school; soldiers who endure the scathing sun to defend our national borders; and scientists who lead a frugal life but send space shuttles into orbit.

    Not a bit will I spare for so-called "stars."

    Isn't the world of celebrities today already scarred with tons of scandals?

    Faye Wong and Li Yapeng may be clean. But I have no interest in knowing whether they are. What I do know is that they are not my role models.

    Having said this, I must acknowledge that Faye Wong and Li Yapeng do have many fans who want to know everything about them.

    Those fans and I are forever of different opinions as to what to learn and whom to worship. What means a lyric to me may ring hollow to them, and vice versa.

    But even if I bring myself to like Faye Wong and her husband, I would still not bother to know what their baby looks like if they refuse to let me know. I'm not that nosy.

    A considerate and upright fan should never poke his or her nose around the courtyard of someone else. It's impolite, immoral and inhumane.

    Flimsy arguments

    Since when has the soil become fertile for paparazzi to grow? It's unknown.

    There are two cases for this behavior: That it's in man's nature to peep into others' privacy and in the West, paparazzi have one more layer of justification: The so-called freedom of speech theory.

    Let me pierce these two arguments one by one.

    Before we say anything about human nature, we must admit one single fact: It's human nature to learn and change. To say people are born and are always nosy is to deny man's ability to change. Given proper education and good neighbors, one can learn to behave well.

    A hallmark of good behavior is to leave others alone. The readers and paparazzi should all know that.

    One might argue that the part of human nature that makes us curious about others' privacy is hard to change.

    Well, read this line from Michel de Montaigne: "Things are not that painful or difficult of themselves; it is our weakness and cowardice that make them so. To judge of great and lofty things we need a soul of the same caliber; otherwise we attribute to them the vice that is our own."

    Now let's look at the free speech justification. There are basically three theories about free speech in the West.

    One is that free speech helps in the search for truth, as John Milton and John Stuart Mill claimed.

    The second is that free speech enables self-government, that free speech prevents government from "entrenching" itself indefinitely.

    The third rationale is that free speech ensures individual liberty.

    Each of these theories is more or less flawed. Even if they are perfect, one can hardly see how the appearance of Wong's baby could lead to the finding of any truth, or how it would enhance self-government or individual liberty.

    Even in the United States there are certain categories of speech that fall outwith the umbrella of constitutional protection, such as "fighting words" and prurient speech.

    The justification is that they have no social value. Paparazzi have no value, either. If they are ok in the West or some other places, make sure they are not replicated in China.

    If you still can't resist the temptation to peep, think of Montaigne again.

    He observed that study is a torment to a lazy man, like abstinence from wine to a drunkard.

    But no one is born a drunkard or a lazy bones. One can change, and must change, for the better.