A one-woman wrecking ball who shattered the credibility of a well-known charity symbolizes everything that's wrong with modern Chinese society, writes Raymond Zhou.

Guo Meimei is China's new pinup girl for profligacy, debauchery and greed.

The 23-year-old, who was arrested in mid-July on suspicion of illegal gambling activities, is now facing far more serious charges, including prostitution and organizing illegal gambling. However, Guo's biggest sin, which she has touted relentlessly, is the pursuit of wealth through dubious means allied to excessive ways of squandering it.

For the sake of discussion, let's leave aside the legal technicalities of the case and, instead, focus on the social aspect of the phenomenon, of which Guo is perhaps the most visible embodiment. Hers is not an isolated case. It is not an exaggeration to say she personifies the shady side of the zeitgeist.

Take the flaunting of name brands, which she started long before her 2011 micro blog breakout. Like selfies, in which she also indulges, the practice is perfectly normal if done in moderation. We all have our own form of vanity and like to show off the things we are proud of.

The obsession with bling in Chinese society, or at least a large section of it, as evidenced in runaway movie hits such as Tiny Times, is a reflection of a society in the throes of change - specifically, the eradication of poverty and the ensuing awareness of a world of material goods.

The blind quest for luxury signals a lack of confidence in what we want. I have seen some of my countrymen wearing brands that totally contradict each other in style, but this doesn't bother them because all they care about is that the brands are equally expensive and therefore validate their social status, or so they believe.

When what a person has is not enough to boost their self-image, some go the extra mile and make things up. In 2011, Guo changed her online status from "entertainer" to "general manager of business functions at the Red Cross", which triggered the biggest public relations disaster in the organization's history in China. Even today, after she has explained the origins of her made-up connection with the charity, there are still people who sarcastically say that what they donate to disaster relief may end up paying for some bimbo's Maserati.

You cannot accuse Guo of a deficiency, though, in keeping an eye on the pulse of public curiosity. Some of the news stories she fabricated in the aftermath of her Red Cross scandal are essentially negative for her image, such as owing 260 million yuan ($42 million) to a casino in Macao. It was an indirect way of saying she had that much money to fritter away in the first place. She knows how to grab people's attention, and the tidbits she threw to the media usually made their way into the headlines.

Bad reputation

Her motto: "Bad reputation is still reputation", is shared by quite a lot of people in this country. Traditional Chinese society, closely knit as it was, used to be heavy on honor, so shame functioned as a deterrent for acts not accepted by the majority. Things went to such extremes that traces of individual needs were suppressed.

However, the pendulum seems to have swung to the other extreme. The kind of things some people now say in public are simply astounding, such as the infamous remark by a contestant on a dating show: "I'd rather weep in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle." It encapsulates the priority some in contemporary China place on their goals. Should we applaud her for her honesty, or should we be shocked at her warped sense of happiness?

In a sense, Guo is a practitioner of that philosophy. We see her smiling next to her big house, her expensive cars and her big pile of luxury items, but are the men who made these things possible her real love targets? Judging by the news reports, she appears to prefer young, handsome guys who she would not charge for dating, so she clearly used the rich and older men as a way of making money. She is the quintessential gold digger.

A gold digger compares unfavorably with a socialite, who is famous for being famous and milks that fame for personal gains. Paris Hilton and the Kardashians built their fortunes by selling their images via modeling, acting, perfumes and suchlike. They may not have much tangible talent per se, but they seem to have earned their money fair and square. Guo was eager to launch a career in entertainment too, but she seemed to use "performing" as a springboard to attract rich men who will reward her more handsomely than any acting gig would.

Infatuated with herself

Had Guo parlayed her notoriety into something resembling a career as an entertainer, she would have received slightly more respect. The kind of money she regarded as small change would be enough to launch a budding career. But the feature film she was reported to be making last year was called I Am Guo Meimei, which shows the depths of her infatuation with herself. She uses the real world as a stage and insists on playing herself all the time, complete with hedonistic details.

Despite my deep suspicions about her acting talent, I'll give her credit for drive. She has many of the characteristics of an artist: She chases what she wants regardless of whatever obstacles may lie ahead; she likes to conduct her life in high profile; she has a way with men in decision-making positions who somehow always yield to her material demands; and she is a pathological gambler, never afraid to take risks. If only she could act on screen or stage.

Usually if a person has talent, the public is willing to forgive their eccentricities. A genius with a big ego is still a genius, even though getting close to, or getting along with, them may be an uncomfortable experience for other people. The saddest thing is that people such as Guo have no intention of using their ill-gotten gains to achieve a meaningful goal, such as preparing themselves for financial independence. Perhaps they regard their ability to attract a legion of sugar daddies as a unique talent that will never dry up?

I'm sure Guo sees other young women who work hard for their money as fools who've failed to locate the easy route. From her perspective, she has many reasons to revel in her cleverness. While most women of her age have to squeeze onto crowded buses and subway trains to get to work, she drives around in her Maserati and spends most of her day shopping or gambling. She might even see regular workers as tragic.

Even if she is proven innocent of the accusations leveled against her, Guo's kind of life is a true tragedy of our society. Yes, it is wonderful to leave behind the era of poverty and be able to relish a life of plenty, but every person has to contribute to society's well being. I don't want to judge her by sticking a label on her, and I figure she may have strengths we are unaware of, but the way she's throwing her life away is at once bewildering and tragic. At least if she'd made her money by honest means, spending it would have been so much more enjoyable.