THE first time I ever tasted alcohol was when I was four (or thereabout).

No, I did not sneak a sip when my elders weren't looking. I was offered a glass of Babycham by my grandmother.

You see, she is of the mind that women need to know how to hold their drink. In her day, my low-tolerance grandfather would slip his drinks to her when they were out so that he wouldn't get inebriated. And she made my mother and her sisters learn to drink at home - so they would not get drunk and get taken advantage of when they were of age to go out at night.

I can't claim that I've never been slightly-more-than-tipsy in public, but I'd like to think my grandmother's enlightened ways worked. Like all of us who go through the coming-of-age phase (and continue beyond), we've all imbibed at some point, but thankfully, I've never been so "gone" as to fall prey to dodgy characters.

Sadly, the same can't be said for this 19-year-old who got drunk at a house party - despite her boyfriend being in a room next door. She'd played drinking games with a bunch of people, drunk more whisky than she could handle, fallen asleep in a bedroom and got raped by two men.

What is so upsetting is that she obviously thought her boyfriend would watch out for her. Further, she even woke up mid-way through the trauma and could not protect herself coz she was too drunk.

What a nightmare.

Many of us think we're strong enough in judgement to know who to trust, and strong enough physically to fight off threats when it comes down to that. Or at least that things like this would never happen to us. So hopefully this case will serve as a wake-up call for those of us who suffer from these delusions.

Here's what I've been fortunate enough to be taught by my betters over the years (apart from the obvious piece of advice - that is, don't drink):

(1) If you're going to drink more than your limit, always ensure that you're with friends you can trust - friends who are not about to drink beyond their limit too;

(2) Make sure you have transport home - designated-drivers or friends who will send you home and/or walk you to your flat. Those who just shove you in a cab are not counted;

(3) Order bottled drinks, like beer, when strangers are around so no one can slip stuff into your drink when you're not looking;

(4) Don't let just anyone order or mix your drinks.

Perhaps I'm paranoid, but these things are worth being paranoid about.

Girls, be careful! And for that matter, boys too.

What other bits of advice do you have? Leave them here!