About us: Mahjong Malaysia explains mahjong the way people in Malaysia actually play it. That means the four-player game with animal and flower tiles, the fast three-player game, and the tai and fan that decide who wins how much. We also cover the practical side, such as buying a set or an automatic table and finding a competition.
Most rule guides online describe Hong Kong, Japanese or American mahjong. Those games share the same tiles but differ in the details. So a player who learnt at a Chinese New Year gathering in Ipoh or Kuching often finds that the rules online don't match the game at home. This site tries to close that gap.
About us and our readers
We write for three kinds of reader. First, complete beginners who want to join the family game without slowing everyone down. Second, casual players who know the basics but want to understand scoring, jokers and the differences between house rules. Third, buyers who want honest information about sets, tables and shops in Malaysia before they spend money.
Every guide is available in English, Bahasa Melayu and Simplified Chinese. Use the language links at the top of each page to switch.
How we research and check facts
Mahjong rules vary from table to table. So instead of presenting one house's rules as the only correct version, we compare several published sources and say plainly where they disagree. When a rule is common but not universal, we label it as a house rule.
- Rules and scoring come from published rule references such as the Sloperama Malaysian mahjong notes, encyclopaedia entries and competition rulebooks. We cross-check each figure, such as tile counts, against at least two sources.
- Competitions appear only when an organiser page, an official regulation document or a news report confirms them. If we cannot confirm an event, we leave it out.
- Shops and prices appear only when the business has an official website or marketplace store we could check. We show prices as dated ranges, because they change often.
- Legal information is general background drawn from the published text of Malaysian law and news reports. It is not legal advice.
If you spot an error or a rule we have described differently from your table, please contact us. We read every message, and readers who write to us about their house rules make these guides better.
What we don't do
This site is about mahjong as a game of skill, memory and good company. We do not promote gambling, link to betting sites or review real-money apps. Our scoring examples use points rather than ringgit. For the legal background, read is mahjong legal in Malaysia in our FAQ.
A last word about us: there are no adverts, no tracking scripts and no affiliate links. Our privacy policy explains the little data a visit involves.
How we draw the tile diagrams
We drew the tile pictures in our hand diagrams in SVG for this site. That keeps them sharp on every screen and readable by screen readers, because each tile has a text label. The characters follow the traditional forms printed on most physical sets sold in Malaysia, such as 萬 and 發.
Image credits
All photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under open licences. We resized and compressed them, and we cropped some. Images under CC BY-SA licences remain under the same licence.
| Image | Author | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Mahjong game on green baize | yui* | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| Full tile set in rows | バーレンムール (Barenmuru) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Tile wall set up for play | Cangjie6 | Public domain |
| Vintage set in a leather case | Kiri Karma & Miguel Discart | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| Game on an automatic table | Tairagi Makoto | CC0 1.0 |
| Automatic table mechanism | Yu Morita | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| Player arranging tiles, Dali | Alexander Savin | CC BY 2.0 |
| 19th-century bone-and-bamboo tiles | Brooklyn Museum | CC BY 4.0 |
| Chinese New Year lanterns, Kota Kinabalu | Dcubillas | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| The eight flower tiles | Cangjie6 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Mahjong dice | バーレンムール (Barenmuru) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Scattered tiles close-up | kawaiikiri | CC BY-SA 2.0 |
| North Mahjong Cup 2016 hall | Shogiru | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Our social sharing images come from the photographs above and carry the same licences. If you want to know more about us, or spot a credit we got wrong, please get in touch.
