A lucky group of young mainland immigrants have enjoyed a special introduction to the Internet - by racing cars and playing chess online.
The Online Game Contest has given new arrivals in Hong Kong a chance to experience the dazzling techno-marvels associated with the Net.
In this age of info-technology, local students take computers and Internet access for granted. But for our mainland counterparts, they are still a very rare privilege.
'There are computers at school, but there are long queues to use them,' said Lo Hin-yeung, 12, who enjoyed playing chess and racing cars online for the first time since arriving two years ago. 'Teachers usually show us how to use the computers to do our homework, but they will not allow us to go online.'
The Internet Professionals Association (iProA) and Microsoft organised the contest for new immigrants as part of the Web Care Campaign. More than 110 new immigrants aged nine to 12 took part in the programme. They learned to search for Web sites containing games before settling down to test their wits at chess and car racing.
To Elizabeth Quat, the co-founder and president of iProA, games offer the easiest and most interesting way to learn new skills.
