gripped by mahjong fever















i think quite a number of people have gone through this phase - when they were bitten by the mahjong bug or gripped by mahjong fever. in my family, out of four, three of us experienced it to varying degree. the only person who did not have her share of it is lay bee who does not know how to play the game.

the other day as i watched two young men excitedly carting home a mahjong table, it made me reflect on this phase in my life. i was stricken by it when i was way past my teens. most people get hit by it when they are in their teenage years. i had been so preocuppied with other interests and activities that i did not have time to learn the game. nevertheless, i had often sat behind mahjong players, watching and being intrigued by the game.

i picked up playing the game from my colleagues in balestier hill secondary. in those days, very often, we would leave school immediately at 1.00 p.m. and after a hasty lunch, head straight for one of the colleagues' home to play. the game usually went on right into the night, but we would invariably end it before midnight.

however, there was one particular marathon session which started on a friday afternoon and went on until sunday. in between, we stole short breaks for meals and cleaning up. the following monday we still turned up for work in spite of the lack of sleep suffered during those three days of play.

my approach to playing mahjong is to treat it as a form of socialization. as the game goes on, there should be lots of friendly bantering, and i tend to see winning or losing in a light-hearted way. however, there are some friends who take the game very seriously and when the stakes are high, jokes or fun is no no at the mahjong table.

i attribute these differences in approach for dampening my interest in this erstwhile riveting pastime. i prefer playing mahjong, once in a while, with the same group of people rather than with different groups each time.

the last time i touched mahjong tiles was on the first day of the lunar new year this year when my nieces and nephews came to visit.

mahjong is an exciting and a challenging game which calls for skill, strategy and some mathematical calculation. however, there is also the element of luck which makes it possible for a beginner to beat an experienced player at the game, once in a while.