I'm Chinese and I'd never live without a rice cooker. Seriously. I use it everyday to cook rice, to make soup, to hide keys in... :P
But in all honesty, I believe that the orignal poster is Asian, and I can understand his bewilderment at banning rice cookers... They're an essential part of cooking for Asians. We just don't cook rice in pots. It's easier, faster and a lot nicer to cook rice in a rice cooker! (Well, at least to us anyway)