Cyber addict dies of heart attack ‘after over 15 hrs of gaming’

GEORGE TOWN - A young man addicted to computer games died of a heart attack at his home after reportedly playing online games for 15 straight hours at a cybercafe.

Mr Ong Yee Haw, 23, had left his house on Sunday evening to go to the Internet cafe, and only got back home 15 hours later at about 1 pm the next day.

He reportedly continued to play on his personal computer in his room after returning home at Bandar Baru Air Hitam, The Star reported.

He was found slumped over his own keyboard by his uncle who went to check on him at 4 pm.

Mr Ong's mother Chew Qun Juan, 62, said her only son had been addicted to computer games since he lost his job five months ago after a motorcycle accident.

"He injured his right hand and stopped working then," she said.

"I reminded him over and over again not to spend too much time on games but he never listened," she said at the Penang Hospital mortuary on Tuesday.

Mr Ong's body was cremated at the Batu Gantung crematorium. The post mortem report stated that he had died of a heart attack.

This is the second death reported due to online gaming activity in Malaysia. A 35-year-old broker was found dead inside his home in December last year, supposedly after continuously playing video games. The body of Mr Liu Peng Han was discovered next to a video game console by his family, The Star reported.

Gaming addiction taken its toll in many cases globally.

In South Korea, considered one of the most wired countries in the world, official data estimates that there are nearly two million cyber addicts, representing almost 10 per cent of total online users.

In 2010, a 32-year-old man died in Seoul after playing an online game for five consecutive days. Some months later, a couple was arrested for starving their baby to death while they raised a "virtual baby" in an online game.

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