Playing Pokemon Go could have psychological and social impacts

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya has advised the public to be careful when playing Pokemon Go as it may have psychological and social impacts on the participants.
He said the game isolates the player who becomes unaware of the surrounding environment.
That is not good as the person would be so engrossed in the game that it could limit his useful skills and not mix with friends, "so just be careful," he added.
"There was a death case reported in the United States by playing the game. We are worried as the repercussions can extent to social deprivation of a person," he told reporters after launching the 3rd annual healthcare management excellence ceremony here today.
The two-day event has its theme 'Consistently Delivering Quality' and provides an avenue for medical practitioners to exchange ideas on medical practices worldwide.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Hilmi stressed on the importance of healthcare management as it contributes to the country's economy, and the need to develop and practice evidence-based care.
"We must become more outcome-oriented while continually honing our skills in developing better processes of care to patients," he said.
Meanwhile, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem reminded workers not to allow Pokemon Go to distract them from work, lest it reduces productivity.
He said employees should focus on work during office hours and avoid other activities.
"It will definitely affect productivity. Even though we don't have any laws against it, I would urge employees to be more productive. Don't spend time (during working hours) playing the game," he told a press conference today after officiating the 2nd Malaysia Productivity-Linked Wage Conference (My-PLiC).
He said companies can formulate internal rules regarding similar issues and stressed that a proper job description regarding an employee's tasks and scope of work would be best.
In his speech at the event, he stressed on the importance of giving employees fair remuneration, especially if the company in question is making good profits.
On a related matter, he said the government has programmes to retrain and "up-skill" skilled workers who could not get higher pay due to the lack of qualification.
He explained that the Human Resources Development Fund will help these workers acquire the necessary certificates for better pay, which in turn will help Malaysia achieve its goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020.
He said 28% of the current workforce are considered skilled workers, which is far short of the 40% to qualify as a high-income nation.
He said the government is targeting to achieve 35% by the end of the 11th Malaysia Plan, which is year 2020, and eventually work towards the ideal percentage.