Grade School Suicide Leads To Mass Game Website Closings

@Byakko: Eh, We do the same to our own language (Seemore Butz is but a weak and easy example of this), I wouldn't get bent out of shape about it

@SG79: nw tht's wht I cll D HRD GMR!

@Byakko: He said it was both off topic and wonderful. It's just an amusing coincedence for some English speakers.

As for the English language, as a linguist I would say it's certainly one of the more interesting and versatile languages there are. Especially for insults, if not simply because of the massive vocubulary it has compared to other languages.

cheeseboybeans

@Interim:

Was gonna say that.

href="#c13068998">DragnFiyar:

Racist people eh? I just love how people using a bastard language (aka the one I'm typing with now), seek to just slip in as much toilet humor as they can into other languages simply because they can.

Granted I know I'm speaking it too. Damn the whole world using the ugliest language in human history. At least I have Chinese to fall back on. Then I start flinging veiled insults at people whose only insults lie in variations of 'fuck'.

@Moonshadow101:

My thoughts exactly. Someone kills themselves because they got banned from gaming.. so they ban everyone from gaming.. That makes so much sense. Now everyone will commit suicide. Great idea Thailand.

thailand sure is a "great" role model, run by a coup d'etat, sectioning off their royalty to house arrest for 25 years for a outrageous reasons.

Hey this is Thailand, why isn't anyone blaming Buddhism?
Maybe the kid didn't value his life because he thought he would get reincarnated anyway?

Government did the right thing, if you ask me. Not because games lead to suicide, but they keep us away from things that could definitely prevent depression...like friends...and sunlight.

@MadExponent:

In that regard this has happened in the US as well. 9/11 occurs, we let the Bush administration sign the patriot act, a.k.a one of the most unconstitutional bills every passed by our congress that takes away our freedom and privacy for the sake of protection from that so called terrorist threat.

screwsociety

"According to The Bangkok Post, several factors lead to his decision to take his own life: "Family problems topped the list. Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment.""

Um, you're implying that the original article said those were HIS reasons for suicide. It didn't say that AT ALL. it said, and I quote: "There were several factors that drove people to commit suicide. Family problems topped the list. Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment."

They're talking about people in general, not this kid. Way to misrepresent the original article, Kotaku.

Not to mention the fact that 12 year old kids don't give a shit about the economy or unemployment. THEY'RE KIDS.

belthegor

@Jennacide: Sorry, I'm not noticing rampant censorship. This may just be your interpretation. What's more common is rampant -attempts- at censorship. I personally don't count the lack of tits and ass on daytime television as sorely missed.

Interim

When MMORPGing is outlawed, only outlaws will MMORPG.

whatevername

A kid kills himself because he was told to stop gaming, so what do they do to stop others from following suit? Force them to stop gaming. Whether it works or not isn't as important as it being completely retarded and contradictory, like hiding you child's toothbrush because the dentist found the child's first cavity.

AlucardsQuest

@JAGJEET: Foreigners! They're funny.

(sigh)

@DragnFiyar: It's pronounced, 'Pu-ket'.

Interim

@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: Not paying a whole lot of attention then. Blanket removal in the US will never happen, but censorship is rampant. Worse off is how much defacto censorship goes on, companies have to be afraid of what they show people, or some idiot will levy a lawsuit against them or worse.

We may not have it THIS bad, but we don't have it a whole lot better either.

Jennacide

@knails: meant to point out has recently been banned

knails

@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: lucky you
here in the UK violent porn is illegal.

hear that kinky people no fun vids for you.

knails

Also my condolences to the family :(

Just when you think gaming is the new Buddha people have to lose control over their feelings and do things they regret... I should know I broke my 32" HD TV over playing street fighter IV. Its not the games fault, its the peoples reaction to them. Thats my opinion though.

And i'm proud to beeee an americaaaaaan.... you know the rest.

Kirohitaku

@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: Faux news is already starting on memes via 4chan.

@wox42: Well, maybe if he got a job making shoes like a good 12-year-old, he'd be too busy for suicide.

spannu

@Indrajit: In third grade I cried while I was doing my homework because I had too much and I wouldn't be able to play Bionic Commando before I had to go to bed.

@pantallicarox:

Compared to Europe and Canada... it actually is...

SaanZ

@Chozothebozo: +2 mana scarf with a -100,000,000 charisma and HP debuff

@Shykin:

I don't even want to know what goes through your head if you thought I'm being overly sensitive. A 12 year old jumps off a balcony to his death, and "that's what I call a DIE HARD GAMER!" is supposed to be funny or appropriate in any way?

Bullshit. This comment should've been disemvoweled.

Unemployment was a contributing factor to his suicide? My god.

BethAlcaeus

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: Why don't you give some examples instead of giving cryptic statements?

So if someone were to kill themselves because they weren't allowed to see a boy/girlfriend, they would outlaw dating?

So gaming gets blamed for what his parents seemed to miss to teach him?
If a kid "decides"(at his age I would hardly call it deciding and rather an stupid impulse)to jump at such an age over a freaking game its just dmit clear that his parents fucked up his education.
Simple as that.
Sure its tragic but making gaming the scapegoat again isnt going to help.

@terminaljeremy: I can see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure I quite agree with that... not that I'm implying it's more manly/acceptable, just saying one that involves life being snubbed out, which is completely preventable if given attention and typically occurs during an emotional high, tends to rank higher (or lower by your table) than tasteless insults/apathy.

Also, while on the subject of suicide, can't forget this little event: Jumper Shoved Off By Passer By.

Always sad to see things come down to life or death.

GDW1017

Well sometimes this is the only thing people have to escape from the harsh reality of life. If you take away something they always look forward to you usually get rebellious outcome but in this case it goes as deep as this is what they live life for.

As for this at least the courts (higher ups) are dealing with it even though they should look more into it rather than coming to conclusions but its about the same with that and parents against violent video games here in the states.

Jan Romero

@Indrajit: I'd say made it stronger. We're still talking about him, aren't we?

wox42

@asdf4321: I lol'd.

Most people posting in this thread probably don't realize how much censorship really goes on and how stupid they would look or sound to a third party source, or how you look exactly like the people you are saying are worse off.

@Vishus: Great minds think alike?

@Moonshadow101: Also, is it just me or did he also do it because of "physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment"? 'Cause those don't sound like things that would merit closing gaming websites. And are they just shutting down Thai websites? Or are the pushing to close more popular 12-year-old-gaming-sites like miniclip and addictinggames? Finally, "the boy's addiction to gaming reflects that kids who game have an aggressive mentality" - I lol'd.

wox42

@Interim: Off topic, but you bring to my attention how many wonderful names the places in Thailand have.

Bangkok, and Phucket, really now people? And blaming gaming while you are at it?

DragnFiyar

@Robotic-Richard-Simmons: inappropriate and hilarious.

@SG79: Oh... no, not funny. Its one thing to be over sensitive and another to know when something is making a mockery of a fairly serious event.

Wow, one kid dies because he couldn't play his video game so they decide to take down video games for 1000s of people...its like they want them to die

runandgun

@Kobun: I mean its so large it has a name in no offence, Ben Jasopha. Whats next Taichipongsanathichuan guantanomobaywattanbenninjaassphobia...

@Bouchart: I have a friend whose family is endangered by those militants, and it isn't fun to worry about her maybe waking up one day and finding her family died in some ill-needed coup d'état by people whose value of human lives is very low. That said, I understand what you are saying, and it's sad. Thailand is a beautiful country however and there are many areas where it is perfectly fine to visit (Phuket for example, absolutely gorgeous).

It's sad that governments react to these sorts of situations in such a way. If you ask me it does a complete disservice to the dead child, and as with eerily similar situations worldwide, the general populace always completely misses the point...

Interim

@Indrajit: I actually feel bad just thinking about some of the things this poor kid has been through. It has to be some pretty fucked up stuff for a 12 year old kid to do something like this. I mean I can remeber when I was that age and I can't think of single thing that would make me want end my own life.

Befitzero

@bobdisgea3: That's thai names for ya, I have a friend called 'Nathibed Wongkampoo' who perfers to be called Fam for short and got offended when I called him Nathibed, possible because he knows its funny to some people. I guess there's nothing that can beat Pongsathorn Wattanabenjasopha though.

@paulrenzo: because of the economics not because of the morality.

cynical hyperbole? sure. but i don't see the thai gaming industry affecting that country's GDP in the same proportion...

3faced

@Moonshadow101:
This is great.
Because this way they'll finally notice GAMES HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NEWS LIKE THIS ONE.

Or not. People are dumb. Politicians specially.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@SleepingLesson: Indeed. I'm happy to be an American.

@Mobusaki: Justified government control. Some people scream for blood, and the silly people agree, lose freedoms to fight fear.

MadExponent

There IS suicide in LittleBigPlanet.

Miguel Lescano

@Bouchart: Not if Caucasian Chun-Li can stop it! Or promote it. I don't know what the hell she was doing. Never mind.

@BubbleF**kingBuddy: Common sense, but then again... do you work for a government agency?

@DangerFlakes: Ya that's just what I was thinking. Gotta love politicians.

kagebutsu

@pantallicarox:

At least the government there didn't order the closure of many gaming sites on account of stuff like this

paulrenzo

@Chozothebozo: I know I shouldn't but I couldn't help but laugh my ass off reading that.

Chaoticevl

@icepick314:

I know its bad but LOL.

CustomFirmware

@Mobusaki:

Thus, A revolution is needed. It happened with radio, television, and now video games.

TO ARMS!

Mercsenary

@Moonshadow101:

When I see a logical and measured reaction to anything that deals with games, I will know that I have slipped into the Twilight Zone. IN which I will promptly kill myself because that can never happen with anything FUN. It would be all my little pony and shit.

Mercsenary

@Sonira - I am old news.: It's a good thing you corrected me, since my post was written on a serious note and wasn't completely tongue-in-cheek.

DangerFlakes

"According to the director of the Rajanagarindra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Institute, the boy's addiction to gaming reflects that kids who game have an aggressive mentality and are more likely to commit suicide."
On other news, saying gaming is related to news didnt gave the Institute much help in making them look smart and so any funds that were directed to them were cancelled. Now Frank with the weather.

So one guy kills himself and everyone else has to suffer? Where is the direct link to video games?

Kotaku made him jump.

adamisonfire

@SG79: I've been in that state of mind before. It's worse than any physical pain. You lose control of your thoughts and the will to die just drills at you, no matter what you might really desire. You stop following logic, you just want to get out. It's not pleasant. It takes a lot to restrain yourself from going over the edge.

Now that that depressing spiel has been said, here is something excessively cheerful:

+ Watch video

so a boy's banning from gaming leads to his suicide, so the government banning of game websites = ?

iRloading

i feel sad for the family. but will this be a regular as the gaming community becomes larger?
mental disability+games+family problems=suicide?

kilikafinal

I think this would only make the problem worse. So many people use gaming as a form of escapism and stress relief.

I think gaming is a great coping mechanism for everyday problems. When your pass time is taken away it needs to be replaced or the mind will wonder. If anything the father should have spent more time with his kid. Any parent can tell when their child is going through problems, and should be there for them.

@Brodie John Ferguson: But in the league table of pussy moves, it's still some way above belittling a recently dead child on an internet forum.

wouldn't banning gaming cause even more depression, resulting in even more suicides? I understand the gambling sites (maybe make them free to play, no realy money involved if anything), but to ban a form of entertainment outright is going to cause even worse reprecussions.

Did he drop any good loot?

"Family problems topped the list. Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment."

From this, it sounds like his parents were on the verge of divorce, he was unable to pursue many other activities due to his health, and he was dirt poor with little hope in the near future of that changing. And that's optimistic, you could read it as being severely disabled, being seriously abused by his family, etc. I don't blame the poor kid for wanting an escape, games have helped me through hard times in my life.

Well, to quote Frank O'Connor:

"There are occasions when we all feel guilt and remorse; we all want to turn back time. But even if we were able, things would go in precisely the same way, because the mistakes we make are not in our judgments but in our natures. It is only when we do violence to our natures that we are justified in our regrets. We are what we are, and within our limitations we have made our own efforts. They seem puny in the light of eternity, but they didn't at the time, and they weren't."

Indrajit

@DangerFlakes: "Family problems topped the list. Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment."

Not really because his games were taken away.

Looks like Thailand has the right idea banning the game sites.......we were talking about the best way to euthanize a bunch of folks right?

@kagekiri:
thats what i was thinking...

A couple years ago, a guy in my brother's RPG group posted a suicide note on the board. It took the group a couple hours, but they got a hold of the player's dad who called the cops. It was too late, he was dead.

Online gaming isn't the problem, it goes deeper. Some people/kids have problems that they don't know how to work out 'in real life'. The net can be a safe haven for some, and when it's gone - well, I guess the kid relied on it quite a bit.

LiC

@Indrajit: What happens when you take the last crutch away from a handicapped person? They tend to fall down. Some fall farther and harder than others.

Outright banning never solves the root issues.

Leanid

So... something that brings someone joy = them committing suicide?

Does not fecking compute.

@asdf4321:

Seriously, seek help quickly.

You'd think the government was quickly reacting to prevent casualties due to the discovery of the "kid kill-switch" God secretly planted in all children. And here we though they were merely "games".

...Nicely played God, nicely played.

I don't intend to make light of Pongsathorn Wattanabenjasopha's death, but damn is that a mouthful of name. That doesn't seem like a typical Thai name from my experience, either. A quick Google search of the surname would indicate that every single reference on the Internet regarding Wattanabenjasopha is related to this boy.

@Brodie John Ferguson: Oh you, with your lack of empathy for anyone who isn't you. That inability to understand why people do what they do is honestly quite impressive. Keep it up.

BubbleF**kingBuddy

@Mobusaki: That's ok, there will be a coup in Thailand soon enough, it seems to happen every year or so over there.

Bouchart

now that's what I call a DIE HARD GAMER!

asdf4321

@Vishus: Same. This is what happens when governments have too much power. :(

@Indrajit: "According to The Bangkok Post, several factors lead to his decision to take his own life: 'Family problems topped the list. Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment.'"

Methinks gaming was his only escape from the misery that was his reality, and losing that was the last straw. It certainly wasn't the -only- straw as the Thailand government's reaction would have you believe.

@Indrajit: I can relate, to some degree. Games have helped me as a crutch during depression. Obviously, using them as such is not ideal or really emotionally healthy in the long run, but being seriously depressed isn't exactly a great starting point. It's when your last crutch is taken away that you have problems, whether it's gaming or some other form of escape.

kagekiri

I don't know about most people but video games probably prevent me from committing suicide... (I am not suicidal)

@mintycrys: Exactly. America is no-where near as bad as other countries in this regard, but it is slowly heading in that direction.

@SG79:

.. not that I understand that state of mind but it's not a matter anyone should ridicule. Unless one's an idiot, then it's another matter.

@ph15h: now knows what it feels like to be Archaotic: Memes.

[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D

@DangerFlakes:
who knows...

maybe the government is trying to control their population under control by triggering mass suicide...

@Brodie John Ferguson:

You sound smart and it's as simple as being a coward It's always tragic and I don't think you'll ever understand the dark state of mind a person has to be in to actually take his/her own life.

Seems like they admit gaming isn't reaaally the source for his suicide, but just the final straw. Gaming is used more and more as a scapegoat. What new form of media will become government's next scapegoat after the masses know they aren't really to blame?

@Indrajit: I don't know enough Thai, romanized or otherwise, to say it one time, let alone five.

kagekiri

I read this as mass game site closings lead to suicide.

Fox Hound

@pantallicarox: depends on what your definition of "government-imposed restrictions of freedom" is.

@dumburntoast: Inevitably ruined it? :P

Indrajit

@Moonshadow101: That's the same conclusion that sarcastically came to my mind after reading the article.

@pantallicarox: Haven't seen a massive ban on a singular form of media in the past 250 years, so yeah.

[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D

@bobdisgea3: Try to say that five times fast.

Indrajit

I feel bad for the kid and his family, but that kid just trigged a giant dick-move from the government.

Just wait for the media to have a field day on this...
Always waiting for a chance to prove that gaming is bad. I mean, look at what games did to Jack Thompson's career.

@Indrajit: Most likely the boy was depressed or mentally ill but say so wouldn't help push their agenda

Mysticgamer

@Arturo Christhian: There could possibly be a cart of hay strategically placed out there also...

@SleepingLesson:
Oh yeah, cause America is totally different.

pantallicarox

@Tendou Souji: Human Instrumentality Project strikes again. Just wait until a suicide bombing happens in China after a server rollback.

[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D

@Brodie John Ferguson: ROFL

I agree with that...

*looks at the window* mmmh... seems like fun, though... I have an extra life anyway...

Arturo Christhian

THIS JUST IN: PEOPLE WITH HARD LIVES FEEL DEPRESSED WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY THE ONLY THING THAT BRINGS THEM ANY JOY.

You ever watch the news and see a spinster crying when 4 of her 5 cats die in a housefire? It's kind of like that. Life is fucking tedious sometimes, and most people dedicate themselves to something in order to keep sane.

BubbleF**kingBuddy

The government took a logical and a well researched measure.

492b2 3b5t5k4mk3 3ñx39

Does a sixth grader even understand what suicide even is??? This is just sad. I can't even muster up the coldness to give the general apathy I have for suicide victims; this kid had problems and I doubt games are the beginning and ending of it.

@DangerFlakes: Darwinism at its finest.

In a surprise move, the Mother's Against Obsessive Video Gaming (MAOV) blames Mirror's Edge, and not Grand Theft Auto.

Suicide isn't aggressive, it's one of the biggest pussy moves out there.

Brodie John Ferguson

i know its not the point of the story. and i feel bad that a child died. But Pongsathorn Wattanabenjasopha is a fucking epic name

So . . . one kid commits suicide because his games got taken away. Government's response: take games away from ALL kids. Sounds more like a mass suicide initiative, not an attempt to protect the populace.

DangerFlakes

Nicholas Cage disapproves.

DukeOfPwn

I've never been able to understand why someone would kill themselves over a game. Do they so desperately need an escape from reality?

Indrajit

More government-imposed restrictions of freedom that don't address the real problem. I'm glad I don't live there.

SleepingLesson

This is a logical and measured reaction.

Moonshadow101

@Moonshadow101: These sites must have insulted their king. Reading this story has made me glad I don't live in Thailand, but seriously hungry for some Larb and Satay Chicken.

Oh that makes a fuck-ton of sense. Boy kills himself because he's banned from playing X game. So government decides to ban EVERYONE too in the hopes that they won't kill themselves from the sudden cut-off.

Brilliant.

Xander Davis

Among that "list" of some of the problems this kid apparently had, I wonder what number video gaming came in as...

PsiWren

@spannu: lol

@SG79: I disagree, this was pretty funny.

You must look at the brighter side of death my friend.

@screwsociety: This happens every time there is a crisis of any sort, just about everywhere. The government uses the crisis as an excuse to expand and meddle into more issues it shouldn't meddle in. "Never waste a good crisis"

@SleepingLesson:
Thailand is actually a great place to live (results may vary), safe for these kind of incidents. But incidents happen everywhere.

JustAnotherFan

@Byakko: It's only an ugly language when you are the one that is speaking it.

You don't like it? Speak something else.

At least then most people won't be able to understand you.

THE IDIOTS!!! Now countless millions will commit suicide since they can't get their gaming on!!! The fools!!! *Drops to knees and rips shirt*

@konexile: Ditto the hilarious-ness. But totally appropriate.

Kovitlac

@BubbleF**kingBuddy: I love cats. I don't own one, but I feel great sadness when one is lost due to masterbation...or a housefire.

"Even as the suicide rate is rising in Thailand, the government has decided to crackdown on computer games and online gambling. On May 19, the Criminal Court to the Information and Communications Technology Ministry issued an order demanding that 72 gaming sites be shuttered. According to the director of the Rajanagarindra Child and Adolescent Mental Health Institute, the boy's addiction to gaming reflects that kids who game have an aggressive mentality and are more likely to commit suicide."

Okay.. so the kid being kept away from gaming is what caused him to commit suicide. So another words, the little happiness he had was taken away from him, and he took a 'FUCKITOL' pill..

Hmmm, For some reason the closing of all of these gaming sites seems like it is going to have the exact opposite effect, it was supposed to have. But this is just my opinion.

--Core--

Problem: Child kills himself after being banned from video games.

Solution: Ban entire country from video games.

This logic is win.

Im sorry, wait...
"Other factors included physical and mental problems, economic hardships, poor income and unemployment"
Soo a sixth grader was stressing over the economy and unemployment? I dunno about him, but around that time all I was concerned about was the latest episode of Dragon Ball Z and getting new Pokemon cards...

Peter Strauss

@Fadecy: Rival Schools for PSN/XBLA PLZ: Plus, let's take away something people use to wind down from a stressful day. Suicide rates were all ready on the rise, now they are gonna go through the roof. Some Governments are just plain morons.

Viva La Revolution!

StealthxZ30x

Maybe he was just trying to run away from home and forgot he was on the sixth floor.

monkey314159

@Mobusaki: Did anyone think the "poor income and unemployment" reasons were a little weird? He was 12 years old! Why would he have an income at all?

Granted, they were probably talking about his family, and not him himself, but it was still worded badly.

tiredluke129

Seems like a lot of people are jumping to conclusions here... Before you all say OMG THAILAND BANS ALL VIDEO GAMES PANIC PANIC SPIN IN CIRCLES AND FALL DOWN, THEY ARE FASCISTS IM GLAD I DONT LIVE THERE AND HAHA THEY HAVE FUNNY NAMES you could read the article and find out that the sites blocked were gambling sites. Gambling is illegal in Thailand, just as it is in many US states, so taking steps to block said websites isn't really such a radical step. I lived in Thailand for a year and a half and it's a great place to live. I guess if y'all absolutely need to have your online poker, stay away.

H_Chinaski

@bobdisgea3:
That is such a standard name by Thai standards. That's why everyone just goes by a one syllable nickname there.

H_Chinaski

The poor kid probably thought he was going to respawn in about 5 seconds.

RagingWolf

@Byakko:
Yes, please do speak something else. Then we won't have to listen to your bullshit.

@DangerFlakes: Still.

@Byakko:
Normally I don't go for ad hominem attack on a god damn blog but dude:
I've been in China (Shenyang actually) for almost 3 damn years now, and I have it on good ground to say that Putonghua is quite possibly the lamest most retarded language ever devised by hominid minds. Sure that's opinion but any language that is:
1) Chock full of homonyms, some true homonyms a lot are near homonyms that are only separated by fucking TONE.
That's right in putonghua you got mai3 (third tone) means "to buy" but mai4 (forth tone) means "to sell" WTF two commonly co-located but completely opposite ideas that are simply too close together in sound for no logical reason.
The reason for all the damn tonal bullshit and homonyms is that the Chinese have a hardon for things to "sound nice" (there words, not mine) so they far prefer one or two syllable "words". By far most are two syllable. Hell they'll even double up a single syllable word to make it two syllables just to make it 'sound nice'.
The Chinese have a hard time with any English word with more than say 4 syllables. My students would just drop a syllable here and there. Or add in that damn "er-hua" accent and color the vowels. Sorry I'm rambling.
Back on track, in summary: The nature of the Chinese (spoken) language makes it relatively difficult to create new words and concepts (neologisms) compared to say English (which can simply tack on new syllables at will), instead they co-opt old phonemes. The problem is that putonghua has a limited number of phonemes compared to say English so a lot of things start to sound alike. They try and help increase the number of possible permutations by using the four basic tones of putonghua, so they can "recycle" a phoneme (such as "mai")and get a bit more use out of it.

It would be a hell of a lot easier just to use more/different syllables though.

Still, one could say, "Impure, all that is just a different way of speaking, and that should be allowed." Okay sure fine. But there is absolutely no logical excuse for:

2) The written Chinese language.
That's right, I'm calling out the entire Chinese culture on this one. Hanzi is a completely stupid writing system. Oh, you want proof do you? Ask any Chinese over the age of say 25 (past school age a bit) to 'spell', that is write out the character, for a fucking "sneeze". Oh sure they can say it of course, but even a very educated Chinese person would probably not remember how to write it (unless of course they are a doctor). Why? Because Chinese is logosyllabic, that is it (roughly) uses one glyph per syllable. But the glyphs are not phonetic at all. So even though you might know how to say "sneeze" in putonghua, unless you remember how to draw the glyph you are truly and completely fucked on writing it. In any (mostly) phonetic language you can at least guess at the spelling and then look that up in a dictionary. In Chinese, dictionary work mostly in one of two ways: the old way is some complex ass system of stroke counting that most Chinese don't even know how to use. The newer way is to use the PHONETIC pinyin spelling of the Chinese word to look up how to draw the character. Doesn't that seem a bit redundant to you? Why not just make a phonetic system in the first place? Hell it doesn't even have to use Roman letters or anything. Sequoyah invented a complete written language for his people, the Cherokee. Why the hell can't the Chinese do that? Because they let "tradition" get in the way of common fucking sense -- all the time. I tell you right now, I fucking hate most all traditions. If a tradition isn't a benefit or if it isn't even FUN, toss it out.
This is a very un-Chinese concept.
So instead they force their children to learn hanzi. Which, by the way, takes them almost TWICE AS FUCKING LONG to learn up to the same level of literacy as any (not just English) phonetic language user. Yeah, that sounds real fucking logical to keep this writing system.

Bah, I'm out of this place in two months, good riddance.

Oh and Byakko... .
P.S. You know I have a lot of choice putonghua for you but I think my post is pushing the anger limit already.

Impurethinker

@DragnFiyar: Oh ho ho ho! Like we heven't heard that one ever since the dawn of romanification of Asian words.

It's actually pronounced Poo-kette. Which, I admit, isn't that much better.