Game that glorifies triads sparks concerns for youth
A locally developed computer game criticised for glorifying triads and violence has sparked concerns among officials and legislators. With the number of students being arrested for triad-related offences increasing, people working with juveniles worry such games will worsen the problem.
There were 291 triad-linked juvenile arrests from January to June, compared with 515 in the whole of last year.
An officer involved in juvenile protection admitted there was little police could do about the game, Infernal Affairs Online, under existing laws. All they could do was educate people and raise awareness about the problem, said Timothy Lai Ka-cheong, head of Kowloon East's Juvenile Protection Section.
'One of the serious problems is that few of the people dealing with youngsters, like teachers, social workers, the police or parents, know such games exist and therefore lack awareness and knowhow to tackle the problem,' he said.
The game allows players of any age to create their own character in a virtual Hong Kong and fight each other to work their way up, having their own gangs and recruiting fellow players as members.
The more fights the players win, the more points they get to buy better weapons for their gang wars.
The police, Social Welfare Department and Education and Manpower Bureau are working on measures to combat the effects of the game, which was launched in August after the hugely successful film of the same name.
The first measure was a seminar on triads and juvenile crimes yesterday that attracted more than 200 people, including Correctional Services Department officers, social workers and teachers.
Mr Lai said it was worrying that children could easily get involved in a virtual gang world and regard violence and gang life as normal.
The problem was magnified when players could play for free, which got them hooked.
Legislator Cheung Man-kwong agreed it would be difficult to persuade youngsters not to play.
'It was designed with the wishes of the young people in mind and so a good way forward would be to help the children understand it is just a game and the real world does not operate like that,' the education sector lawmaker said.
Fellow legislator Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said the game's local setting and Cantonese medium could make it more compelling for children.
Dr Cheung, who represents the social welfare constituency, felt that even if there was a grading system for games, shops would often ignore them.
He believed a better way to combat the problem was to give young people alternatives.
