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DOING WITHOUT A MOBILE PHONE in Singapore is not hard for Mark Ng. The 17-year-old JC student uses public phones and proper planning to arrange meetings with friends. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
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LOKE Wei Sheng, 19, is the only one among his peers who does not own a mobile phone.
His friends reach him through his landline at home and he uses public phones whenever he is outside his house and needs to contact someone.
Wei Sheng is among a small group of teenagers who shun the device.
The Victoria Junior College student fears that a mobile phone would distract him from his studies. He says he might be tempted to send SMSes to friends while doing his schoolwork.
His many friends, whom he contacts regularly from home and in person, are not bothered by his lack of a mobile phone.
Instead, they have a novel method of contacting him.
'They SMS my landline and the messages are read out by an automated voice. It's funny when it attempts abbreviations,' he says, laughing.
Mohd Faizal Md Malik, 13, thinks a mobile phone is a waste of money as his school is located next to his house and his parents do not have to worry about his whereabouts.
Contacting his friends is not a problem as he meets them in school every day, and they seldom meet up outside of school.
Cheng Kai Jun, 13, is the only one in her class of 40 students who does not own a mobile phone. She contacts her friends from home and relies on public phones to reach them when she is out.
'It is good that I am not dependent on a mobile phone, unlike many of my friends,' she says.
However, she adds: 'Looking for a public phone nowadays can be tricky as they are slowly becoming obsolete.'
Despite the inconvenience, Kai Jun's mother, Madam Ang Lay Choo, is happy that her daughter does not own a cellphone.
'My daughter is very focused on her schoolwork without a mobile phone to distract her. Also, I don't have to pay huge mobile phone bills at the end of every month,' the 42-year-old housewife says.
Toh Teng Chye, 17, does not like the idea of being contactable all the time, which is why he chooses not to own a mobile phone too.
His friends feel his choice is impractical.
Jolene Lee, 16, says: 'There is almost no way I can contact him because he is not home most of the time.'
Other friends also express annoyance with their cellphone-less peers.
Aizan Nuryanti, 14, shuns a mobile phone as it would distract her from her studies, but her long-time pal, Nurfarina Hidayah, 14, finds this an inconvenience.
She says: 'If we arrange to meet, I can't call her if I'm running late and I worry that she will be annoyed.'
Aizan gets around the problem by borrowing her friends' mobile phones.
'When I had a long chat with my mom on my friend's phone, I estimated the cost of the call and I paid my friend $1,' she explains.
Although she has had frustrating experiences such as waiting for 45 minutes when friends failed to turn up for an outing, she is not looking forward to getting a mobile phone.
'I still think it would be an expensive and unnecessary distraction,' she says.
Mr Kirby Chua, programme mentor from the Academy of Certified Counsellors, says: 'If a teenager does not want a phone, it is not a cause for concern.
'Rather, it is a good sign that such teens are not responding to conformity. This does not show poor social skills, but that they are secure enough in their social network that they don't feel left out even without a mobile.'
Mark Ng, 17, is only now considering getting a cellphone.
The student, who has just entered junior college, is thinking of getting a mobile phone to contact his parents when classes run late.
Previously, he managed easily without one because he used public phones and seldom stayed out late.
'I avoided problems with meeting friends by setting the time and place properly beforehand,' he says.
While others might think it strange, Mark's father, Mr Gerard Ng, 50, likes the fact that his son has avoided getting a mobile phone for so long.
'Other parents have told me horror stories of their teens' cellphone bills running into hundred of dollars,' the retiree says.
He adds: 'I've no objections to eventually buying him a phone, but I hope that he'll exercise some self-control!'
Additional reporting by Jocelyn Lee and Samantha Eng
shulis@sph.com.sg
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