INTERNET addiction is a growing menace in high-tech Singapore, where experts and victims are beginning to address it as a problem similar to alcoholism, a trade journal reported Feb 21.

The weekly Computer Times said more Singaporeans were getting obsessed with being online all the time, whether for work purposes or for surfing, chatting, gaming and cyber sex.

Dr Munidasa Winslow, a consultant psychiatrist with the Institute of Mental Health specializing in addiction, believes Internet addiction is significantly under-reported, particularly among the young.

"Professionals or addicts with families can see the effects clearly because it affects their work or family life," she told the weekly.

"The young are more resilient and can stay up an entire night and still be able to work the next day, while older addicts see the effects of all-night gaming very visibly the next day in poorer work performance."

Self-confessed addict Colin Ong, a 33-year-old information technology consultant, spends 18 hours a day on the Internet, and even checks email when stopping at traffic lights using his mobile phone and personal digital assistant.

Once a week, he attends a 10-person support group resembling Alcoholics Anonymous. Their aim is to convince one another that "it is OK not to check email for one day."

"But, you can see all of us getting tense after an hour or so together, especially if the topic of conversation runs to important information like, say, Nasdaq," he said, referring to the technology-heavy US stock market.

"Wanting to know everything is impossible and this paranoia is stupid -- but I just can't help myself," Ong was quoted as saying.

Singapore has one of the highest computer and Internet penetration rates in Asia. Children are introduced to the Internet at home and in school, and even retirees are trained and encouraged to log on.

Another addict, 20-year-old student Jerry Lim, once played the popular fighting game Ultima Online (UO) three days non-stop without sleeping, bringing his food to the computer table during meal times.

He has lost girlfriends because of the UO habit but there's someone who approves of his obsession -- his mother.

"She'd rather I spend time at home than wander around with some punks," Lim said.

"Without UO I'm like Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway," he said.