Drinking till you pass out is not cool

It's been a big weekend for some of us.

Because of Halloween, some of you would have been out dressed as some ghastly horror. Some of you may have gone out dressed to the nines, but still arrived back home looking like one of Dr Frankenstein's rejects.

You could even be attempting to read this through the haze of a hangover.

Drinking is part of celebrating, it's a rite of passage for many, and who doesn't have a few tales of booze-fuelled adventures?

While these are usually fondly recalled stories, they are something you are meant to grow out of.

There's a point at which it isn't cute or cool to be the life and soul of the party - especially if that's just in your head.

Those times when you think you're being hilarious and all friends are in your thrall. The reality is that you are shouting gibberish and have the coordination of a newborn - and freshly tasered - foal.

Yes, we can look back on them and laugh. But then there's a more disturbing side to drinking, and we highlight that in our lead package.

Just take a walk through some areas of Singapore at night, usually along the river, and you'll see kids sprawled out - semi-comatose, underwear-showing and spewing at least two or three meals across the pavement and themselves.

Maybe it's an age gap thing, but I don't get why anyone would want to do that. This is no message of temperance. By all means, go out, have a drink and enjoy yourself. Come back with amazing stories. Just be able to remember the night.

After all, there's not much worse than having to be told what you actually did or even worse, who you should apologise to.

Drinking until you pass out is ridiculous. To sit in one place, in full view of the public, and do that is utterly bizarre.

One of our stories shows how drinking too much can lead to dependence.

That happened to an old friend of mine. He was a magnet for extraordinary events and strange folk joining us.

Then it became apparent he had a problem. Something that became obvious in the way he held his beer glass with both hands and drank like a man fresh out of the desert.

He's better now, which is great. He's okay to be around drinkers while not having one himself.

Once you're an alcoholic, that's it. There is no cure, only prevention.

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