In an earlier post, I had written about the new mahjong courses being offered by the People's Association (PA). Actually, I had not fully explained why mahjong is now part of the many courses available in the community clubs and centres (CCs) under the PA. The PA has put together a programme of workshops, courses, and talks under the theme of 'Wellness for Everyone' (see the PA media advisory, designed around on three 'wellness pillars': Eating Well, Being Active, and Thinking Positive). So, under the area of mental wellness, mahjong is one of the intellectual games where courses are being offered (the other games include contract bridge, weiqi, Scrabble, Othello, and Sudoku).
For this collaboration with the PA in offering mahjong courses, I had to do a little research on how to sell the benefits of mahjong. After all, the mahjong courses are offered under a wellness-themed programme, so the connection has to be wellness-related, and I would have to rely on this to convince the CCs to engage me to conduct the courses. I had long been interested in the research on mahjong and its presumed benefits. After all, we have been hearing about how mahjong can help prevent dementia in the elderly (a somewhat poorly qualified claim due to simplification of language). So, are such claims true? Well, with this question in mind, I looked for research articles dealing with this issue.
What I found was interesting: mahjong does seem to have some benefits in the prevention of dementia in the elderly. However, the findings of such research are rather complex. The playing of mahjong belongs to a class of leisure activities known as cognitive activities (including reading, playing musical instruments, painting, etc.); there are other classes of activities studied, namely physical activities and social activities. In general, participation in cognitive leisure activities, and not physical activities, is shown to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia [1]. However, a causal relationship cannot be easily determined due to the nature of the studies. That is to say, it is not possible to say whether participation in such cognitive activities lead to a lower incidence of dementia or participants who do not get dementia prefer to participate in cognitive activities such as the playing of board games.
Studies of leisure activities and dementia in the elderly usually use the playing of board or card games as a particular activity, with no single game specified. A study done on a large group of elderly Chinese in Chongqing, China, did show that specific cognitive activities (playing board games and reading) were associated with a reduced risk of cognitive impairment (i.e. dementia) [2]. For the board game component, it was recognised that mahjong is responsible for the bulk of the experimental score, and the majority of participants played it. Again, the problem in establishing the causal relationship is encountered here, but this Chinese study showed clearly that mahjong does have a connection in a reduced risk of dementia.
A different kind of study was conducted in Hong Kong, to explore the effect of mahjong as therapy for people with dementia [3]. The researchers got senior citizens in nursing homes to play either two or four times a week for sixteen weeks. They found this activity to produce improvements in all cognitive tests used. Interestingly, the effects lasted even after the mahjong therapy has stopped for a month.
Now, research on dementia and the prevention of dementia is still ongoing, and there are no firm conclusions as yet on the whys and hows of dementia, much less on the curing or prevention of dementia. We do have some indications of what may seem to help prevent dementia. Mahjong and other board games (or intellectual games) are just a part of these possible methods of preventing dementia.
So, playing mahjong is a good activity for mental wellness. The benefits of mahjong are real, as can be seen from research. I know some people may think, 'But why promote mahjong in particular? Why not other intellectual games?', a response prompted by the unsavoury reputation mahjong has, due to a long-time association with gambling. To this line of thinking, I can only offer this: other games are indeed being offered too at CCs, and mahjong is not being promoted at the expense of the other games. Rather, it is the familiarity of mahjong that would probably appeal to people (in Singapore, at least). There is a particular relevant quote by Mr Lim Boon Heng, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and deputy chairman of the PA: 'if there are things they are naturally interested in, and if we can use them, why not? In our context, mahjong is one of those things' with reference to stimulating senior citizens' mental activity (see the context of the quote in this archived ST article in PDF format). [The concern about gambling is somewhat unjustified and deserves some discussion, but that is another subject matter for another post.]
Notes:
1. Joe Verghese et al., 2003, Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly, New England Journal of Medicine, 348: 2508–2516.
2. J.Y.J. Wang et al., 2006, Leisure activity and risk of cognitive impairment: the Chongqing aging study, Neurology, 66: 911–913.
3. Cheng Sheung-Tak et al., 2003, An exploratory study of the effect of mahjong on the cognitive functioning of persons with dementia, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 21: 611–617.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Mahjong Classes in Singapore
The landscape of mahjong in Singapore is changing with some recent developments. The People's Association (PA) is leading the charge in bringing mahjong to the masses (see CNA report on mahjong classes offered by the PA). For some time, community centres and clubs (CCs) under the PA have been reluctant to allow the playing of mahjong on their premises, because of a law against gambling in public, and because of objections by residents on the basis that allowing mahjong on CC premises is tacit approval of gambling (see a 2008 Straits Times report on the CCs' view on mahjong). Of course, this had changed somewhat, and the rule against playing of mahjong on CC premises has in fact been relaxed sometime earlier last year. Still, few CCs want to risk running into trouble with the law and would rather not have mahjong at all. This is despite some benefits of mahjong for the general community, particularly in the form of good exercise for the brain, with special respect to combating dementia in the aged.
All that said, there are some developments nonetheless. As the first report by CNA had reported, there are mahjong courses being offered in selected CCs now. All this had been initiated by staff from the PA. Community centres and clubs offer all sorts of classes and courses for the public, and there has been a recent effort to expand the courses for mind sports, and mahjong has been added to this list of mind sports (which also includes games like chess, xiangqi, weiqi/go, contract bridge, and scrabble etc.). This is not surprising. No one can deny that mahjong is an intellectual game where some element of skill is required. Without the motivation of gambling, mahjong can still be played and enjoyed. Mahjong is also a very familiar game to Singaporeans. Most, if not all, of the local Chinese have seen this game being played, and know people who play it. Members of the other ethnic groups here know about it to some extent. Mahjong is played at void decks during Chinese funeral wakes, in holiday chalets during school vacations, and at homes during the Chinese New Year. The familiarity of mahjong to Singaporeans is probably an important factor in promoting it as a mental game for active ageing (one of the PA's social campaigns).
So, mahjong can be played as a game for active ageing, to improve cognitive skills and combat dementia, and for socialising, all of which are very desirable ends as far as the PA is concerned. So, mahjong classes are now officially being offered by the CCs which are more willing to allow mahjong playing on their premises. The first two courses (with sixteen vacancies each) have certainly been popular enough that all places were taken, and more courses are being offered now.
Where am I leading you readers in all of this? Well, besides informing you of the developments that are taking place in Singapore, I am also taking the opportunity to announce that I am one of the two current trainers involved in these new mahjong courses! This very blog had attracted the attention of some PA staff, and I had been in discussions with the PA to design and offer some mahjong courses for the Singaporean public. But the current courses being run now are by the other trainer (they take the form of a series of four 1.5-hour lessons) while my proposed courses are one-session workshops of three hours in three areas: basic mahjong (for total beginners); Singapore Style; and Mahjong Competition Rules. You can search for the details of the various courses on the onePA website.
As this blog shows, I am a mahjong enthusiast interested in the recently developed Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR) and in competitions utilising these rules. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to introduce it to more Singaporeans through the proposed workshop on MCR and to build up a player base for MCR. There could be MCR tournaments here once there are enough players willing to play competitively. So, hopefully, there will be participants for this workshop.
So, there are now opportunities to learn how to play mahjong in a more structured way here in Singapore. And no, we are not teaching participants how to cheat or do fancy tricks in our courses! Participants will learn how to play mahjong as an enjoyable and rewarding intellectual game. Do check out and participate in the courses if you are interested!
All that said, there are some developments nonetheless. As the first report by CNA had reported, there are mahjong courses being offered in selected CCs now. All this had been initiated by staff from the PA. Community centres and clubs offer all sorts of classes and courses for the public, and there has been a recent effort to expand the courses for mind sports, and mahjong has been added to this list of mind sports (which also includes games like chess, xiangqi, weiqi/go, contract bridge, and scrabble etc.). This is not surprising. No one can deny that mahjong is an intellectual game where some element of skill is required. Without the motivation of gambling, mahjong can still be played and enjoyed. Mahjong is also a very familiar game to Singaporeans. Most, if not all, of the local Chinese have seen this game being played, and know people who play it. Members of the other ethnic groups here know about it to some extent. Mahjong is played at void decks during Chinese funeral wakes, in holiday chalets during school vacations, and at homes during the Chinese New Year. The familiarity of mahjong to Singaporeans is probably an important factor in promoting it as a mental game for active ageing (one of the PA's social campaigns).
So, mahjong can be played as a game for active ageing, to improve cognitive skills and combat dementia, and for socialising, all of which are very desirable ends as far as the PA is concerned. So, mahjong classes are now officially being offered by the CCs which are more willing to allow mahjong playing on their premises. The first two courses (with sixteen vacancies each) have certainly been popular enough that all places were taken, and more courses are being offered now.
Where am I leading you readers in all of this? Well, besides informing you of the developments that are taking place in Singapore, I am also taking the opportunity to announce that I am one of the two current trainers involved in these new mahjong courses! This very blog had attracted the attention of some PA staff, and I had been in discussions with the PA to design and offer some mahjong courses for the Singaporean public. But the current courses being run now are by the other trainer (they take the form of a series of four 1.5-hour lessons) while my proposed courses are one-session workshops of three hours in three areas: basic mahjong (for total beginners); Singapore Style; and Mahjong Competition Rules. You can search for the details of the various courses on the onePA website.
As this blog shows, I am a mahjong enthusiast interested in the recently developed Mahjong Competition Rules (MCR) and in competitions utilising these rules. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to introduce it to more Singaporeans through the proposed workshop on MCR and to build up a player base for MCR. There could be MCR tournaments here once there are enough players willing to play competitively. So, hopefully, there will be participants for this workshop.
So, there are now opportunities to learn how to play mahjong in a more structured way here in Singapore. And no, we are not teaching participants how to cheat or do fancy tricks in our courses! Participants will learn how to play mahjong as an enjoyable and rewarding intellectual game. Do check out and participate in the courses if you are interested!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Drama in the Mahjong Time–EMA Saga
The whole Mahjong Time saga is turning out to be quite dramatic. In a report that was deleted just hours after being published by Mahjong News, the two main actors in this little turbulent episode, President of Mahjong Time, Slava Novozhenya, and President of the European Mahjong Association (EMA) and the Dutch Mahjong Association, Robert Rijnders, claimed that the breakdown in communication between the two presidents because of unhappiness over inappropriate responses (to work proposals and correspondence) led to the unfortunate cancellation of partnerships between Mahjong Time and the EMA. It was earlier speculated that Mahjong Time may be in some form of trouble, perhaps financial (see Mahjong News' earlier report). But Mr. Novozhenya insists that Mahjong Time is not having financial problems in an official response (see Comment 8 under the Mahjong News' article MahjongTime does a lot more than just making money). The original report was deleted for reasons explained in a replacement article.
Well, it does seem that this saga may just be a small hiccup for the developing international mahjong scene. If what Mr. Novozhenya says is true, then perhaps international online tournaments for MCR will continue. With the bad blood between Mahjong Time and EMA now, however, there will be some uncertainty with regard to the status of tournaments being hosted by Mahjong Time, the only online mahjong platform suitable for tournament play.
For now, there is an unofficial European ranking for online tournaments, following the successful alternative German Mahjong Open that was organised in place of the official one cancelled by Mahjong Time "for technical reasons". An emerging view is that such do-it-yourself tournaments may be the way to go, but these are only possible on gaming platforms that have features that allow for DIY tournaments, which is apparently only Mahjong Time, ironically.
It does seem that we still have to adopt a wait-and-see approach for now, to see how all the various parties resolve these problems. It could be that there will be no more proper online tournaments; or if there will still be such tournaments, they may be hosted by other platforms (for example, the new Mahjong Logic), or they may be small-scale and organised with sanction and without technical assistance from a host gaming platform, such as the just-concluded alternative German Mahjong Open was.
[Editor: Updated at 03:30, 11th November 2009]
Well, it does seem that this saga may just be a small hiccup for the developing international mahjong scene. If what Mr. Novozhenya says is true, then perhaps international online tournaments for MCR will continue. With the bad blood between Mahjong Time and EMA now, however, there will be some uncertainty with regard to the status of tournaments being hosted by Mahjong Time, the only online mahjong platform suitable for tournament play.
For now, there is an unofficial European ranking for online tournaments, following the successful alternative German Mahjong Open that was organised in place of the official one cancelled by Mahjong Time "for technical reasons". An emerging view is that such do-it-yourself tournaments may be the way to go, but these are only possible on gaming platforms that have features that allow for DIY tournaments, which is apparently only Mahjong Time, ironically.
It does seem that we still have to adopt a wait-and-see approach for now, to see how all the various parties resolve these problems. It could be that there will be no more proper online tournaments; or if there will still be such tournaments, they may be hosted by other platforms (for example, the new Mahjong Logic), or they may be small-scale and organised with sanction and without technical assistance from a host gaming platform, such as the just-concluded alternative German Mahjong Open was.
[Editor: Updated at 03:30, 11th November 2009]
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Mahjong Time in Trouble?
The world's only online portal for MCR mahjong, Mahjong Time, seems to be in trouble (see Mahjong News' report). The Second German Mahjong Open (GMO), an online tournament that was to be hosted by Mahjong Time was cancelled just two days ago, before its scheduled occurrence this weekend. This was supposedly due to technical difficulties on Mahjong Time's side. This has led the European Mahjong Association (EMA), the Dutch Mahjong Association, and the German national mahjong association DJML to cancel their partnerships with Mahjong Time, although this cancellation is not the main cause, but the final straw that broke the camel's back. Apparently, EMA and the other mahjong organisations were disappointed by Mahjong Time's inability to keep promises.
Many regular players and registered participants for the GMO tournament were left disappointed, although an alternative tournament is being organised by Janco Onnink, a Dutch player who was supposed to play in the cancelled GMO. Since EMA cancelled its partnership with Mahjong Time, this probably means there will not be any sanctioned online tournaments for the time being, not with Mahjong Time. So, there will be fewer chances for players around the world to participate in MCR tournaments (albeit the online ones).
More troubling is the implication that Mahjong Time may be in some sort of trouble, perhaps financial. This raises a question of whether online mahjong play is profitable for companies like Mahjong Time. If not, does this mean that online MCR play may come to an end? There are many portals offering online mahjong play but none offer the MCR variant in English, a crucial element in allowing international participation. There will be alternatives and solutions eventually though; already, there is a new mahjong software (offering MCR as one of the variants) developed by Mahjong Logic that would be licensed out to a few portals once some legal requirements are cleared. The question is whether Mahjong Logic will be able to take over the role of Mahjong Time, at least in the minds of the faithful users of Mahjong Time.
I had introduced Mahjong Time to several friends in my semi-regular play group as an alternative to live MCR play (something that is quite difficult to achieve these days, with all our conflicting schedules). AJ and JT were particularly keen to play more on Mahjong Time. I wonder how this development would affect all of us. Hopefully, Mahjong Time will resolve its problems.
Many regular players and registered participants for the GMO tournament were left disappointed, although an alternative tournament is being organised by Janco Onnink, a Dutch player who was supposed to play in the cancelled GMO. Since EMA cancelled its partnership with Mahjong Time, this probably means there will not be any sanctioned online tournaments for the time being, not with Mahjong Time. So, there will be fewer chances for players around the world to participate in MCR tournaments (albeit the online ones).
More troubling is the implication that Mahjong Time may be in some sort of trouble, perhaps financial. This raises a question of whether online mahjong play is profitable for companies like Mahjong Time. If not, does this mean that online MCR play may come to an end? There are many portals offering online mahjong play but none offer the MCR variant in English, a crucial element in allowing international participation. There will be alternatives and solutions eventually though; already, there is a new mahjong software (offering MCR as one of the variants) developed by Mahjong Logic that would be licensed out to a few portals once some legal requirements are cleared. The question is whether Mahjong Logic will be able to take over the role of Mahjong Time, at least in the minds of the faithful users of Mahjong Time.
I had introduced Mahjong Time to several friends in my semi-regular play group as an alternative to live MCR play (something that is quite difficult to achieve these days, with all our conflicting schedules). AJ and JT were particularly keen to play more on Mahjong Time. I wonder how this development would affect all of us. Hopefully, Mahjong Time will resolve its problems.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Blog Update
It has been quite a while since my last post — some sixteen months in fact! I am guilty of being too busy with too many things in my life, thus leading to the neglect of this blog. Mahjong, however, does remain an important and essential part: I continue to play mahjong, if infrequently, and continue to keep track of mahjong news (for example, the Mahjong News website is a good source of news on developments in Europe!). However, I just have not kept up with the blogging.
Now, I am trying to make more time for this blog just so this blog does not die a long, slow death by neglect! I will not be able to blog much on my Mahjong Competition Rules play sessions, since I rarely get to play mahjong with my MCR group. However, to make up for lack of opportunities to play MCR with people in the flesh, I have been spending a little bit more time on MahjongTime. Yes, I got myself a subscription! So, more online mahjong, less "real-life" mahjong. I will have to be content with that, as long as there is mahjong for me to play!
So, what is in store for this blog then, for the future? I will continue to post my thoughts on mahjong in general, with little bits of history, culture, analysis and other things thrown in. If I get to play some proper MCR games with my MCR group, I might also post some interesting titbits gleaned from these sessions.
Now, I am trying to make more time for this blog just so this blog does not die a long, slow death by neglect! I will not be able to blog much on my Mahjong Competition Rules play sessions, since I rarely get to play mahjong with my MCR group. However, to make up for lack of opportunities to play MCR with people in the flesh, I have been spending a little bit more time on MahjongTime. Yes, I got myself a subscription! So, more online mahjong, less "real-life" mahjong. I will have to be content with that, as long as there is mahjong for me to play!
So, what is in store for this blog then, for the future? I will continue to post my thoughts on mahjong in general, with little bits of history, culture, analysis and other things thrown in. If I get to play some proper MCR games with my MCR group, I might also post some interesting titbits gleaned from these sessions.
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