MAHJONG ARTICLE ON ST LIFE

What with the preparations for the new house, work, dieting (I never did realize that dieting was such a full time job) and also sheer laziness and procrastination, there has been hardly any opportunity to blog lately. Finally a chance to play catch up today.

I had meant to write up the long overdue reviews of the arts performances that we had attended in the last month, but the Straits Times (ST) Life article featuring EP and myself came out today, with a big picture of our smiling faces and it was too exciting not to blog about first (even if my surname was spelled wrongly, ^_^….).

If some of the visitors to EP’s or my blog had noticed, there was request last week from Sandra Leong, a journalist of ST requesting for an interview with EP and myself regarding mahjong playing in Singapore and MCR specifically. Unfortunately, I am unable to scan the published article in at the moment as the scanner has been disconnected for the move.

We can thank Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister, Prime Minister Office, for the sudden interest in the mahjong playing community in Singapore. He mentioned to reporters at a recent community event that the People’s Association is in negotiations with the police to allow mahjong sessions to be organized regularly within its network. Currently, the Common Gaming Houses Act bars playing through one-off playing such games of chance for money in public places.

If this comes through, it will be a major move towards acceptance of mahjong as a healthy gaming choice and perhaps a sort of permission for other community bodies to start organizing similar sessions. We can perhaps look forward to more opportunities to play in future and maybe even national level tournaments if the acceptance becomes widespread enough.

ST took the opportunity to do some follow up research following Mr Lim’s comment and did a write up on the current mahjong situation in Singapore. EP and I were mentioned in the article more in direct relation to MCR, and our hopes that MCR will be more widely played in Singapore.

The ST article was rather generic on the whole, but still a heartening and welcome move in the right direction for serious mahjong enthusiasts. The focus was to highlight that mahjong is no longer just a game of chance played in sleazy gambling den or a game associated with the old retirees with too much time on their hands, but a game of skill played across an entire spectrum from students to expatriates. There was also a constant theme in the article that mahjong does not have to be played with money or to be associated with gambling in order to be exciting. Many people were already playing the game for pure interest’s sake. It also mentions various other points (medically and socially) which supports the mahjong as a healthy game choice.

EP and I are glad that we agreed to do the interview and are extremely enthusiastic about the spin off developments that may take place.

On a related issue, there was a post on Reach Mahjong Columns by professional Richii player Jenn Barr where she mentions her views on the dissociation of the gambling element from mahjong. Riichi mahjong, a popular Japanese variant, has a heavy emphasis on the gambling element, and has a loyal following in Japan. It seems to have reached cult status, and professional games are often televised and top players are given celebrity status. Jenn disagrees with the opinion that mahjong should not be associated with gambling, which many mahjong leagues are trying to push across and the Richii variant and the Japanese mahjong playing community is a good example of how gambling and mahjong can coexist happily.

I had some thoughts after reading Jenn’s post, and perhaps this would be a suitable time to air my two cents worth.

The association of mahjong and gambling has a long history in Singapore, and, I believe, many other South East Asian countries where mahjong is played. This association is further emphasized by popular media, such as movies and TV shows. Whether we like it or not, gambling IS frowned upon by many people, whether for religious, moral, legal or other personal reasons. It HAS led to social problems, whether major or minor. This is something we cannot dispute.

Even “social” gambling, such as playing among friends with small stakes, may not be necessarily accepted as a healthy activity. Just like how many alcoholics/smokers start as social drinkers/smokers, there is the worry that social gambling may lead to further addiction.

For many mahjong leagues, whose main aim is to promote mahjong playing and bring mahjong playing to higher levels, whether gambling, in itself, is really good or bad is moot. The importance is that the general public, the same general public whom we are hoping to reach out to, are viewing the gambling association as a bad one. This association is a barrier to achieving the aim of getting more people to play. It is not realistic to change an entire society’s outlook on gambling, but it is more achievable to present a different aspect of mahjong playing – the non-gambling aspect, to make it more acceptable and palatable to people.

In Singapore, there have been previous efforts made to set up official mahjong leagues and to bring in regional mahjong tournaments to the country by mahjong enthusiasts. However, these have all been shot down due to objections to promoting a game that has obvious gambling associations. On a personal basis, I have not allowed anyone at work to know that I play mahjong on a regular basis, to prevent my superiors and colleagues from labeling me as a gambling addict.

While I have nothing against Jenn’s refreshing support of the gambling element of mahjong, I cannot dispute that the gambling element associated with the game in certain regions has caused the general mahjong playing community some problems in propagating the game further and it is perfectly understandable why many mahjong enthusiasts who play for interest's sake would like the game to be dissociated from the gambling element.

Tina Christensen also commented in an earlier post that we might consider forming a Singapore mahjong league if we were interested to play mahjong on an international level. Thanks to the recent developments, it seems that an official Singapore mahjong league may not be totally out of reach now. I am happy that we are involved in this mahjong renaissance in Singapore, however small our contribution may be and I look forward to the day where mahjong enthusiasts in Singapore can share the limelight with other intellectual games players and say proudly, “I play mahjong.”