A family affair

With the ongoing pandemic and the various stages of lockdowns, many Malaysian families found themselves essentially stuck at home for long periods of time.

But amidst the hardship, many families found themselves with an opportunity to re-connect and to bond with each other through games and activities, including playing video games.

We found three different families who have indulged in their love of gaming in different ways. One young mum was able to stay fit alongside her young son, while another family took their longstanding love of gaming to new levels, and a father was able to share his love of history.

Keeping Fit

For human resource manager Fifi Lim, 34, gaming has been part of family activities at her home in Setiawan, Perak ever since the start of the lockdown.

She and her husband Eason Chan, 35, are avid gamers, and have been playing both PC and mobile games for years. “I learnt English through video games,” she said.

These days, Fifi has been playing games that require physical movements, such as Just Dance and Nintendo Switch’s Ring Fit Adventure. These games are also a way for her to keep fit, and for some time, her most frequent gaming partner has been her adorable four-year-old son Chan Yuan Jie.

“He enjoys Just Dance very much,” she said. “It has a children mode, where the music is shorter and the dance movements are easier to follow.” She added that when she took up Ring Fit, she initially played solo, but her son eventually joined her for that too.

The amount of playtime has increased since the start of the MCO, and Fifi said that she loves being able to interact and have more playtime with her son.

“He is always excited whenever I ask him if he wants to play. He will rush and grab the devices,” she said.

“It’s not just to have fun. Because we couldn’t go out [due to the MCO], these games help us keep fit from the comfort of our home. And children have lots of energy, so this is a way for him to keep himself busy as well.”

At the moment, she plans on continuing to play with her son “for as long as he wants to”, as he has many play activities to choose between, from studying to swimming. “If possible, I would like to move to games that are educational, where he can learn as well as be entertained.”

A family that plays together

Gombak residents Izham Khairuddin, 53, and his daughter Adreanna, 20, believe that video games were crucial in uniting their blended family.

Izham married his wife in 2004. They had two children each going into the marriage, and they share a fifth child together. Izham explained that the children – now aged between 23 and 15 – began playing video games together as a way to bond.

“The [four eldest] started by playing games on the PS2, while they were still in kindergarten,” he said. “Up to today, the kids still have fond memories of those early games. I myself started out playing PC games. So I began to join them as well.”

Adreanna agreed: “We really became a blended family thanks to gaming. I was very young, so it was hard to understand the situation at the time, but after playing together, I felt a lot closer to my siblings.”

Izham and his wife purchased family-friendly games that they could play as a group. “When I play together with the children, I notice we communicate better. I get to learn all their stories and inside jokes.”

Adreanna noted that since the pandemic started, family playtime has increased and become more organised.

“We schedule game nights when we are at home, and we’ve even started playing trivia games,” she said. “We still have work and school, but we’re committed to spending time to play together.”

Izham added: “If I could talk to other parents, I want to let them know that if your children are interested in games, try and join them. You will really get to know them, and be able to get closer to them, just by sharing their interests.

“Some people say that games are too expensive to play, but there are ways to get around that. There are so many options to get games at a lower price, as well as access to free games [on mobile].

“I hope that even when the children grow up and get married, that we will still play together as a family.”

Passing the torch

Meanwhile, David Alan Bates, 40, passed his own passion for gaming down to his two young sons. The Puchong resident runs a digital marketing business, but still finds the time to game with his children – Luke, eight, and Lincoln, five.

When Luke was around four years old, he bought an Xbox for them to play games together, and later introduced Lincoln to gaming once he was old enough. They started out playing action-adventure games like Skylands.

“I’m not one of those parents who is too worried about digital violence in games,” he said. “Maybe because I am also a gamer and I understand what it’s like.”

Besides the Xbox, the children also play games on the Nintendo Switch, but since the start of the MCO, have gradually shifted over to playing PC games.

“I’m a big history buff, especially centred around WWII, and my elder son has become a history buff as well, because he’s exposed to games with that element. We have conversations about it as part of our natural day-to-day talk.

“Honestly, I find myself wondering, if we didn’t have this family activity, what would we have to talk about?” he said, half-jokingly. “If we didn’t have video games, how would we be able to bridge that conversational gap?”

He added: “It’s noticeable that the children’s personalities and interests are vastly different. I don’t think that Lincoln is as interested in history as Luke, but he does enjoy spending time together with us and playing.

He also expressed a wish that other parents would be more open about allowing their children to play with devices. “You can only control them so much, and children will definitely know when they are being controlled.”

He believes that parents should instead play alongside their children and use the opportunity to communicate. “It’s not enough [for parents] to just know the names of their children’s favourite cartoons or characters, you need to be able to talk with them about it.

“Being able to get on the same level as your children is important for bonding with them.”

For these families, gaming has helped them to connect and learn about each other. If you are thinking of exploring gaming as part of your next family activity, visit SEAGM (www. seagm.com), which offers gamers competitively-priced digital prepaid reloads, gift cards and top-ups on popular games across most platforms. That way you can still have fun, without breaking the bank.

Be sure to check out Part 2 of our Gaming series where we explore why more and more parents are enrolling their children into gaming industry-related courses. Only in theSun’s Education feature on Aug 11.

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