I looked up the "Laws of Malaysia - Act 289 - Common Gaming Houses Act 1953"
which defines gaming as:
=== QUOTE ===
"gaming" with its grammatical variations and ognate expressions means the playing of any game of chance or of mixed chance and skill for money or money's worth and includes the playing of any game specified in Column I of the First and Second Schedules and the playing or operation of any gaming machine;
=== END ===
Mahjong isn't specifically mentioned in "Column I of the First and Second Schedules" but "Jin Rummy" is which is pretty close. However, I imagine that the exact game played isn't the point, it's that it's any game of chance played in a public place that is bet upon for money (or similar).
There's an interesting thread about it here.
Search that page for "03-02-2006 01:01 PM" to find a really useful post.
Hope that's of help.
Gareth
Is mahjong illegal in malaysia?
- Details
- Created on Monday, 19 April 2010 05:53
- Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 18:00
- Written by C.K.LEE
- Hits: 9453
This is a comment on "Men charged with mahjong gambling"
Comments (1)

1Thursday, 06 May 2010 12:03
Gareth Saunders





Evaluate the game by all means. If you call yourselves 'International',please do not invite people from other countries and make fun of them.It is in bad taste.
I'm more worried about "NOT a simple" magically turning into "ALL simples".
Anyway, it seems this part was intended to refer to any fan.
The problem I have is that this is being used to "make news". It tarnishes whatever people like me perceive to be attempts to improve the individual and overall level of gameplay, especially since MN is the most prominent news outlet for EMA events. The verdict is that there is no improvement, and you don't need to participate in 3 tournaments to figure it out.
I'll keep my money from future events, unless the majority of players come from the #1 English riichi community website. My advice for the rest of you: claim haneman+ every hand. Eventually, people will count...
Though, anyone with an itchy-trigger-finger would have done so and not realize the consequence.