So Jack Neo is a cheat. That much Singapore knows after the revelations about the director's clandestine hotel trysts, car sex and text message flirting.

But equally eyebrow-raising is the temerity of his 22-year-old scorned girlfriend Wendy Chong, and to some extent, Foyce Le Xuan, 25, the second woman linked to him but who claims to have rebuffed his sexual advances.

Without them, the scandal of the year (so far) would probably still be buried in the darkest recesses of Neo's conscience.

While the actions of both women might be cheered in some quarters, others are asking: Why would young women, who have their whole lives and reputations ahead of them, choose to air their dirty linen in public? Surely, no parent would want his daughter to make headlines for activities of such a private nature?

Housewife and mother-of-two Rose Lee, 54, says: 'If they were my daughters, I would not know where to hide my face.'

While Chong has gone missing in action (repeated calls to her mobile phone went unanswered), she said last week that her intentions were to shame the director after she felt he had grown cold towards her. Similarly, Foyce told LifeStyle (while offering to send copies of her new CD): 'If Wendy hadn't come out, I wouldn't have said anything, since it happened so long ago.'

She says she never expected the matter to be blown up to such epic proportions. 'My mother asked me about it because she got a shock when she saw it in the papers. My family and friends didn't know about it till they read about it.'

Their tell-all smack of a certain desperation to seek fame by way of infamy. Both are aspiring starlets on the periphery of stardom whose names would otherwise never occupy column inches.

But such behaviour also points to a worrying culture of exhibitionism among young women.

Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services for the Singapore Children's Society, says: 'The new generation has no qualms about putting their lives in the hands of the press. Privacy is not a big deal anymore. Just like having YouTube, blogging, Facebook, where everything is out for the world to see, their expose is like putting their diary out for everyone to see.

'The girls feel they have a right to have a voice, an equal platform as the men. They are fighting to make their presence felt and that if men can do it, so can they.'

Women like Chong and Foyce have perhaps also taken notes from their show- and-sell Western counterparts.

Consultant psychiatrist Adrian Wang says: 'Recent reports about Tiger Woods, John Terry and Ashley Cole might have emboldened them a bit. They might have taken courage from the actions of other women.

'I'd like to think it's not so much about fame and fortune, but more about finding justice for what they perceived as a wrong they suffered because of this person.'

Whichever the case, in the fickle world of semi-celebrity, any publicity might still be good publicity.

Disgraced beauty queen Ris Low, 20, who was in the public eye last year for speaking bad English and credit card fraud, knows this all too well. She says she has won more modelling jobs since becoming 'famous' and is now the spokesman for condom brand Espire.

She adds: 'People want something controversial, something to bitch about and throw eggs at. If you want to be famous, you have to make people remember you, whether for the correct or wrong reasons.'

Model agency owner Jeffrey Chung says relying on the gossip pages gains only short-term fame. 'It's not worth it, unless the girl wants to enter a different market,' he says, referring to the porn industry.

But in the me-me-me world of today, one wonders if the next Wendys and Foyces of the world will take heed.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.