Singapore Teen said to have died in a 12-storey fall while playing The Floor is Lava

A popular game for any kid (and even the kids at heart) has turned deadly, as reports reveal that a teenager has fallen to his death thanks to the mechanics of “The Floor is Lava.”

In a report from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, 16-year-old Ng Jun Hui was playing The Floor is Lava with his friends on the evening of January 23 when the game went awry. He mistakenly leapt off the building and plunged to his death 12 storeys below.

Police declared his time of death at 12:30 in the morning.

What is The Floor is Lava anyway?

This physical game is similar to hide-and-seek, but involves a condition where the players cannot get into contact with the floor. Perhaps Ng, in his bid to get away from the floor of the balcony, leapt too far and was unable to save himself when he went over the railing.

The game is very popular with teenagers, especially in the United States. There are tons of memes and jokes on the internet about the innocuous game that has now turned sinister in the eyes of some netizens:

Predictably, the game has generated lots of fun for others, and even jokes that show how the great lengths people go to just to be clever and skilled at avoiding the floor.

But it did not end well this time

According to reports, the incident happened in Block 79D in Toa Payoh Central, where Ng had told his parents that he was going out and to keep his food warm and intact for his return later. When the police arrived in the wee hours of the morning to notify the family of their son’s death did his parents know what happened to him that day.

Ng’s father is a 53-year-old Grab driver and is looking for answers. Reports raid that he could not believe that a simple game of hide-and-seek could turn so deadly.

He found his answer from Ng’s friend, who went to the same school as the victim. He said that he would return to the 12-storey apartment complex on To a Payoh to see if there has been enough security measures to prevent such things from happening.

The witness and the victim, according to the New Paper Singapore, “Had been classmates at Guangyang Secondary School. Jun Hui had taken his O-level examinations late last year and was planning to start new studies at the Institute of Technical Education.”

Warning for parents

While restricting children from playing could be a completely futile effort, instilling fear and carefulness should never be remiss. Here are some suggestions to parents who want to avoid a tragedy such as this:

1. Learn what children are into these days and what the current trends are. This way, you’ll be aware if something looks dangerous and would be able to warn your kids.
2. Ask them questions about the latest trends and games so that you know if they are diving recklessly into the matter. Do not stop them (unless the trend is dangerous) but instead give them warnings and reminders to take care of themselves.
3. When you do not understand something about your children’s behaviour, hobbies, or games, try to search online and learn more about these things.

What do you think of this tragedy? Will you let your children play “The Floor is Lava?”

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