IT WAS news that any parent would welcome: Not only is their daughter pretty, but she is a child genius.

So brilliant was Sufiah Yusuf at school in England that she was selected by one of the world's top universities to study mathematics at the tender age of 13.

But now, only 10 years later, she is earning a fat living - as a prostitute.

Behind the brave smiles as she posed a decade ago in her academic gown for TV and newspaper cameras was a deeply troubled little girl.

My own two children are grown up now and although they are highly intelligent, neither is a certified prodigy.

And aren't I glad...

Because, like several other youngsters with huge brain-power, Sufiah's IQ did not apparently lead to success. Or happiness.

I do not claim to be a model father - far from it - but my wife and I must have managed to do something right. Our kids grew up to be successful in their own fields and are now balanced and mature parents themselves.

But poor Sufiah's home life was deeply troubled. Instead of the support she needed, relentless pressure was forced upon her by a domineering father.

She dropped out of St Hilda's College, Oxford University, and ran away to hide, blaming her teacher-father Farooq for subjecting her to 'years of emotional and physical abuse'.

And that was in her early years, up to the very vulnerable age of 12, when other girls are laughing with their pals and dreaming of a happy future.

She was found and returned home. She returned to university and even married a law student, whom she persuaded to convert to Islam. But the marriage did not last. And she dropped out again.

And now, media reports have revealed in detail the story of the little girl who started so well and finished in what most people would consider a sordid lifestyle.

Maybe it was a case of too much too soon.

My concern is that girls who are at an impressionable age might be tempted by the story, which glamorised the lifestyle of a gifted young woman who threw away her glittering prospects to earn her living by selling her body.

Even in tolerant, open-minded Britain the groundswell of public opinion is that this story is not of a girl who made good by going bad, but of a tragic waste of a fine brain.

I only hope that young girls who read this story will be revolted rather than tempted.

But the lascivious style in which the story first appeared is a disgrace to the profession to which I am proud to belong.

There are many ways of telling any story and the decision on the angle should be taken very seriously.

Before hitting the keyboard, every decent editor and journalist of every level should consider the consequences. Singapore newspapers do this and so should every other publication.

But I hope that parents everywhere - and this story was reprinted in different styles throughout the world - shall digest the details, however shocking, however painful.

Muslim families, like Sufiah's, have a particular problem in striving to preserve their own culture while their children are growing up in a secular environment which has so many temptations.

I count among my closest friends devout Muslim clans who are a credit to their faith and customs.

If they can do it, others can.

So the moral of this column is that Sufiah's story is a wake-up call.

While looking lovingly at their own children, parents should examine their consciences and ask searching questions of themselves.

'Are we encouraging or pushing? Are we supporting or complaining? Are we disciplining or bullying?

'Do we lavish the love and concern upon our children that they all need so badly?'

And especially: 'Are we running even the slightest risk of losing our own children to a lifestyle which would debase themselves and dishonour our family?'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 13, 2008.