After reading Loceng Cat's letter denouncing cyber gaming in cybercafes and branding popular online role-playing game (RPG) Ragnarok as anti-establishment, anti-God and anti-social, I must say I was very amused at the fact that Ragnarok was branded by him/her as such, and also baffled by the author's myopic view on computer games.

Firstly, Loceng Cat said that the people you find in cybercafes are loiterers - students who are, according to his words, 'a bunch of failures (most of them are academically below-average teenagers with family problems) gathering there to live out their electronic world fantasies'.

So what about the other 90 percent of cybercaf patrons? That large majority of patrons usually are teenagers and young adults just looking for some good, clean fun and having a good time playing computer games with friends, engaging each other in a friendly game of Warcraft III , Counter-Strike or even Ragnarok .

Mind you, Loceng, some of these cybercafe patrons are also people who do exceptionally well in their studies. How do I know? I know many friends who are occasional patrons of cybercafes and are all very high achievers in their respective undergraduate courses.

Hence, please do not generalise that all cybercafe patrons are delinquents. It's true there may be some bad hats who visit cybercafes, but you cannot just point the finger and label us all as social misfits. I find your remark just downright offensive and crude.

For your information, cyber gaming is a sport in South Korea, Singapore, the United States and in some European countries. Do you regularly see news about cybercafe-related crimes happening in those said countries? None.

There is absolutely no proof that cybercafes and Ragnarok are responsible for the rise in crime rates in any country. Loceng's arguments are mere baseless allegations.

I believe that there are far more social ills out there that are directly responsible for most of the crimes committed in our country. But just because those other social ills are difficult to stamp out, Loceng just had to pick something as a scapegoat for bashing.

Just because it was in the news that Sarawak suspended all cybercafe licences, he/she simply just had to voice out biased views against these said establishments. Hence, cybercafes, or cyber gaming, rather, unfortunately got singled out for Loceng's verbal bashing.

According to Loceng, uncontrolled playing of Ragnarok will turn the nation's youth into anti-God, anti-social and anti-establishment misfits. How in the world would that happen?

Ragnarok, at worst, just takes up a person's time, just like all computer games. Playing any computer game in moderation is just as beneficial as watching a little bit of television or playing a game or two of chess. It is just a form of mental exercise.

Just because there is simulated killing or plundering in a computer game, Loceng labels a harmless pastime as evil. I find his/her 'look-at-the-world-through-a- small-hole' view very amusing.

If our leaders are as narrow-minded as Loceng, Vision 2020 will never be achieved. Our nation will just transformed into a backwater Third World nation with a Third World mentality.

With myopic views such as Loceng's, is it any surprise why the youth of our beloved country are getting more and more disgruntled?