Internet junkie children have parents

worried
By JOSHUA FOONG
joshuafoong@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: Parents and teachers have been left in a quandary as the onslaught of Internet
games and social networking sites are bringing out a rebellious streak in many children.
Why are you controlling my life? is the question often thrown back by children to their
parents or teachers when they are confronted with their obsession with the Internet.
Norton, an Internet security company, produced a family report in 2010 which stated that
Malaysian children spent an average of 64 hours online every month.
National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary general Lok Yim Pheng described the
students obsession with the Internet as a silent killer which was killing off the interest of
students in class.
There had been reported cases of students falling asleep in class after a whole night of playing
Internet games and on-line chatting.
Lok had been ringing the alarm bells over this issue for the last five years.
She said there were also students who starved themselves during recess time because they
wanted to save up for trips to cyber cafes.
There have also been cases where stealing is involved, she said.
Public complaints go-to man, Datuk Michael Chong said many parents had come crying to him
saying they were at a loss over what to do.
Their children spend countless hours on the Internet with some cases involving primary
school students surfing pornographic sites, said the head of the MCA Public Service and
Complaints Department.
Psychologist Dr Goh Chee Leong said the Internet was enticing because it was very engaging
and stimulating.

This problem is more prevalent in the middle and higher class families because they can afford
to buy computers, said the vice-president of HELP University College.
Mary (not her real name), an ex-addict, said that at the height of her obsession with online
games, she only slept once every two days.
I was 16 then. I was having teenage angst and like my peers, I needed a world where I could be
in control and I could win, said the undergraduate.
Luckily, she grew out from the phase when she was 19. Her bad grades were a nasty wake-up
call, said the 21-year-old.
Father of three and marketing manager Simon Lee worries that his children will neglect their
studies if they spend too much time on the computer.
But he could soon have a solution.
Software engineer Wayne Koong has invented a programme which slows down Internet
programmes tremendously, to make the viewers get impatient and lose interest.

Generic skills important, says DPM

PUTRAJAYA: Students have to equip themselves with both professional and generic skills, said
the Deputy Prime Minister.
Generic skills such as problem-solving or producing something beneficial through creativity and
innovation were necessary in a country heading towards a high-income economy.
Students should not just seek knowledge through lectures but also adopt a more creative
approach to gain knowledge from various sources, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in his speech
before chairing a closed-door meeting of the National Students Consultative Council (NSCC).

Still a work in progress

Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE

As Singapore prepares to celebrate its 45th National Day, public resentment continues to
rise against the newcomers, threatening to rupture the social fabric of this multi-racial,
overcrowded island.
IS SINGAPORE a country or just a global city? Non-legally speaking, of course!
As its five million residents prepare to mark the republics 45th National Day on Monday, the
question remains very much alive in the wake of the huge influx of foreigners.
During the past 10 years, one million foreigners have arrived, which has helped to create a
stronger economy, but also diluted the proportion of local-born Singaporeans.
This was on top of another one million arrivals in the previous decade, most of them temporarily.
Except for some 20,000 a year who became citizens, the two million arrivals since 1990 have
formed a big shifting, transient population that comes and goes not an ideal ingredient for
nation-building.
On Monday, many non-Singaporeans will join the locals to watch the parade and fireworks.
A few representatives from each major country will take part in the march-past.
The country or city question has been popping up more often with the increase in the foreign
presence.
The total foreign element of the population is 36% (and still counting) and locals are becoming
increasingly worried about its potential impact on national identity.
A recent think tank survey found that the majority of Singaporeans, while understanding why
foreigners are needed, believe the vast number of arrivals would weaken unity.
Almost two out of every three Singaporeans felt the policy would weaken Singaporeans
feelings as one nation, one people, said the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) after interviewing
about 2,000 people.
This was a huge jump from the 38% who felt the same way in an earlier survey done in 1998, a
strong indication of spreading public concern.
However, the study found that loyalty and pride remained stable.
The dilution of the Singaporean population content is causing long-term concerns about its
defence, which rests on the shoulders of young Singaporean males.
From age 18, they have to serve compulsory military training for two years before becoming part
of a reservist army that will serve as front-line troops in the event of hostilities.

Foreigners are exempted from national service as are permanent residents; but their sons have to
serve.
Even before the immigration wave hit its shores, the question of whether Singapore was a
country or just a global city was occasionally cropping up.
The earlier anxiety was caused by the countrys limited size and vulnerability.
It also depended heavily on the outside world.
Last year, the controversy was rekindled by Law Minister K. Shanmugam in a speech in the
United States when he was defending Singapores dominant one-party system.
Critics, he said, were unfairly judging Singapores political system as a country, rather than as a
city like New York.
This is where most people make a mistake.
I have tried to explain that we are different.
We are a city. We are not a country, the Singapore minister added.
It created a furore among young Singaporeans who were proud of their city state, especially a
number of servicemen, past and present.
They were livid.
At about the same time, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew also touched on the issue but in a
different context when he said that Singapore was still a work-in-progress when it came to
nationhood.
Are we a nation yet?
I will not say we are. Were in transition, Lee said.
But, more than any of his younger ministers, the 86-year-old Minister Mentor realises the danger
of having too many foreigners in the social fabric of this multi-racial, over-crowded island.
He said Singapore must cap the foreign content to no more than one-third of the population.
... (we must) have a core at least 65% of people born and bred here who understand this
place.
Lee is evidently aware of the potential rupture of society should public resentment continue to
rise against newcomers in Singapore, one of the worlds most over-crowded cities.

There have been increasing cases of friction or conflict between locals and foreigners in recent
months.
To put it in perspective, foreigners are not the only cause of the relatively weak national bonding
in Singapore.
Singapore is only 45 years old, hardly a generation since independence far too short a time for
nation-building.
Another is the lure of opportunities in foreign countries.
On a visit to Qatar several years ago, Lee talked of the dilemma facing a globalising nation state:
(People) become citizens of the world.
What does that mean? Lost!
Lee said: If more Singaporeans worked abroad and their children forget their roots, there will be
no Singapore node to send them out.
They dissolve and disappear and there is no Singapore.
Last week Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he intended to bring in another 100,000 foreign
workers, indicating the likelihood that he still wanted to see a 6.5 million population.
Some commentators believe the mass arrival of foreigners may dilute the citys sense of
patriotism, as well as its roots and traditions over time.
As the Chinese saying goes, a country without patriotism is like a country without soul.
Despite the rising public resentment against the immigration policy, analysts expect the ruling
Peoples Action Party to win another five-year mandate if elections were held now.
What is not known is whether it will be strong enough to push back an increase in the opposition
voice in Parliament (now with two elected MPs).
Elections are widely tipped to take place within the next 12 months.
Critics believe a strong indication of public sentiment is the relatively low number of national
flags displayed spontaneously by individuals outside their homes.