Is following celebrity gossip a waste of time?

Each week our two teenagers debate a hot topic. This week ...

Dennis Wu, 17, St Joseph's College

As long as we don't indulge in it too much, I can't see any reason why we shouldn't spend time taking in celebrity gossip.

Catching a glimpse of the lives of celebrities gives us a chance to taste a lifestyle most of us will never experience. We have to put up with a mundane daily life and celebrity gossip can brighten up our day. There's essentially nothing wrong with spending time reading about the lives of others as long as it is done out of curiosity and not malice.

Most Hongkongers love spending time discussing celebrities' lives, and if you want to converse with someone on the street, your best bet is to start the conversation with an affair a certain movie star is having or the wealth a scion has inherited.

It's sad that a lot of Hongkongers don't have a comprehensive knowledge of the world and can't engage in an intelligent conversation, but we have to live with it. If you want to maintain a social network in Hong Kong you have to be up to date with the lives of celebrities. Try discussing Kosovo's independence and you get blank stares.

Lastly, gossipping about celebrities allows us to avoid their mistakes. I know the 'learn from others' errors' argument is pretty cliched but it is definitely the most important reason to spend time learning about their lives. Everybody saw what happened to Pete Doherty and Kate Moss. There is no better deterrent to prevent people from going down the same path.