HUIXIAN

CC organises mahjong challenge to help raise funds. Encouraging gambling?

A MAHJONG tournament in the name of charity.
This is what a Community Club is holding.

To ride on the mahjong fever during the Chinese New Year period, Nee Soon East Community Youth Group is organising its first ever Mahjong Challenge Charity 2007 on 11 March.

It's to raise funds for the Yellow Ribbon Project.


With a target of 128 participants, the organiser launched an advertising campaign last week with banners and posters put up at HDB blocks.

Some of the committee members have also gone door-to-door to inform residents of the mahjong challenge.

There will be two categories - the youth category for those aged between 18 and 35, and the open category for those above 35. The registration fees are $15 and $20 respectively.

Mr Teo Siew Meng, assistant constituency manager at the Nee Soon East Community Club, told The New Paper on Sunday that at least 12 people have signed up for the challenge since registration opened last week. The idea was conceived by the youth executive committee at the Community Club.

GROWING INTEREST

The committee, with members aged between 14 and 27, noticed the growing interest in mahjong among young people.

Mr Teo said: 'We don't see mahjong as a form of gambling as no money is involved in the competition.

'We just want to ride on the trend and get residents of all ages and from different ethnic groups to bond together.

'Moreover, our society has gradually opened up and mahjong is now socially accepted.'

The competition will be held at the multi-purpose hall in the Community Club, which can accommodate about 30 mahjong tables.

But not everyone accepts mahjong as a social game. One resident in Yishun, Mr Sherman Loh, wrote to The New Paper after he saw a banner advertising the mahjong challenge.

Mr Loh, who has three children aged between four and eight, questions the appropriateness of having a mahjong challenge in the name of charity.

He is also uncomfortable that social gambling is being indirectly encouraged in the heartlands.

Said Mr Loh, 38, an events organiser: 'Many social groups and organisations have spoken out against the social ills linked to the opening of the casinos.

'I feel that the organiser, being a community club, is pushing the envelope too far. There are other many activities that can achieve the objective of raising funds for charity other than a mahjong challenge.'

'Our government has assured Singaporeans that there will be 'safety nets' in place to minimise the ill effects of gambling. But here we have a community club bringing a gambling activity right to our doorsteps.'

Mr Kelvin Lim, who lives in Punggol, is worried that the more mahjong is seen as socially acceptable, the more damage it may bring to our society.

Said Mr Lim, 40, salesman: 'The community club may be seen as endorsing social gambling. Will Singapore become like Hong Kong one day? What if underground mahjong clubs start popping up in the heartlands?

'Although mahjong keeps the mind active and is said to help prevent dementia, I feel that in this case, the ill effects outweigh the benefits.'

Another Yishun resident, Madam Dulcie Lim, feels that the mahjong tournament is a good way to get more Singaporeans to participate in a charity event.

Said Madam Lim, 60: 'Many Singaporeans enjoy playing mahjong. It is more a recreational game than gambling.

'But having a youth category for 18-year-olds may not be appropriate. Mahjong is more for older people.'