COMMENT | I was sitting at my usual mamak the other day when my wife and children were all out having active social lives. I was watching a family sitting a few tables from me.

The parents were both deep into their phones. Their two kids, both look like under the age of twelve, were so deep into their iPads they looked like they were trying to be one with the matrix.

They were all in a full-blown digital trance. If Maya Karin had landed next to the tandoori basin in a mermaid costume and started ordering cheese naan, that entire family wouldn't have blinked at all.

Then I realised that these children are now technically “outlaws”. It’s 2026, and if you’re under 16, you’re legally not allowed to be on social media. No TikTok, no Instagram, no YouTube, etc. As of this year, we’ve essentially declared a digital curfew for anyone who hasn't hit puberty (in stages throughout the year).

Initially, I thought that it was a good move, even though it’s right out of a chapter from the “Abah knows best” book. But...