APRIL 27 — A whole bunch of people got all hot and bothered over the weekend after a couple of videos made their rounds showing a woman baring her lady lumps in a rather Game of Thrones kind of way.

Now if you haven’t seen the videos, I’m not inclined to explain the details of what happened.

Suffice to say there was an altercation in Petaling Street, ostensibly over some unpaid chicken rice (or beer according to some “pundits”), the allegedly offending party got all hot and bothered (which definition do I mean? English quiz!) and decided to go topless.

Since then, the police have arrested the poor lass and she will likely be charged for misdemeanour later today.

Back in the day when print was king, this story would have been written as a filler or at the most an inside page lead, where the readers would have to imagine the whole scenario in their heads.

The proliferation of social media and cheap smartphones today, however, means that people who weren’t even there gain a front-row seat to the proceedings without having to stand under the hot sun to witness the bizarre incident unfold.

Of course, the videos did not show the whole story. The vast majority of people who weighed in on the case on Facebook were not even there so they were left assuming that the woman was drunk, high, or possibly a combination of both.

But the truth is, the only reason anyone even bothered to click on the video was the simple fact that she put her fun bags on display for everyone to see.

And if anyone of the so-called commentators — who unconsciously made it clear to the world that they watched the videos — claim otherwise, they’re either liars or don’t realise they have a fetish.

Don’t get me wrong. The boundless freedom afforded to all and sundry by the Internet to communicate in so many different ways is a boon that essentially led to me expanding on a career in ways that would not have been possible just a decade earlier.

But the sheer volume of content available in the virtual space means that practically anyone who is a nobody remains a nobody, granting them free rein to act out in the worst behaviour possible when they would subconsciously hold back in the physical realm.

Voyeurism is an age-old fetish that has existed as long as the term Peeping Tom.

In those days, what did society do to Peeping Toms? If caught, they’d be called out and shamed because it was an invasion of privacy.

On Facebook or any other social media platform, you “discuss” what transpired in the act of peeping.

Sure, I watched the video. And I’d be lying if there wasn’t a part of me that went; “Local boobies!”

I could claim that it was all part of my job, to be aware of what the “public” are talking about and report on it to get as many readers to click on my story so the news portal I work for gets as many unique hits as possible.

But If I took that out of the equation, would I have clicked on the link?

Probably not, though it’s largely due to the fear that my computer would be infected with some sort of virus and finding a solution would mean I’d be caught out as a pervert.

And that’s basically what it is all about — restraint.

It’s easy to blame the woman and say that it’s her fault the video has gone viral. But that’s besides the point.

In school, you knew very well the girls were changing during Pendidikan Jasmani (physical education for the uninitiated), but you didn’t dare go peek lest you get a whipping, or God-forbid, a suspension.

Do you honestly think that you are exempt from maintaining your moral compass’ true north online?

I hate being preachy, but the only way civility is upheld is when the people in any given community are invested in maintaining said civility, regardless of the medium of interaction.

And if you’re so hard up to see a pair of tits, I’m very sure you have a good idea where to look.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.