Nowadays many young people like to hang around Internet bars, which are hotbeds of drug abuse. Many drug traffickers recruit young people to sell drugs in Internet bars. In Hong Kong, Internet bars have been critiqued as "uncontrolled" areas.

There are currently a large number of these unseemly places, many of them close to schools. Students become the main customer base. Social workers have called on the government to introduce age restrictions. The fact that there is no age limit on Internet bars is a major loophole.

While Internet bars remain unregulated by any ordinance, we find increasing crime in these premises. There is a danger that they will become recruiting centers for gangsters seeking "new blood". Some of the games played by young people in these places are filled with violence. There are even sex-oriented online games. The community, in recent years, has called repeatedly on relevant departments to intensify supervision of places such as these to protect youngsters.

In Hong Kong, it's relatively easy to open an Internet bar. Operators need only to register with the government. Relative to other places in Asia such as the mainland, Taiwan, Singapore, and Macao, the Hong Kong government has adopted a lax attitude towards Internet cafes. We do need laws to govern the operation of Internet bars.

The government should carry out regular inspections and introduce legislation prohibiting youngsters under 16 from entering late at night.

At present, the mainland has a regulatory system governing the Internet bars. In 2002, the State Council announced regulations to govern the Internet bars. Within a 200-meter radius of the secondary schools and primary schools there should be no Internet bars established. There is also a name authentication system, to verify that anyone entering is at least 18 years of age.

We urge the government to protect our youngsters and keep the Internet bars away from them.

The author is chairman of the Hong Kong Public Governance Association and council member of the Central and Western District

(HK Edition 04/15/2010 page1)