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Plea to ban mahjong clubs not wrong

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-28 08:04

The Hunan provincial legislative affairs office recently received a proposal from a man to ban mahjong in clubs and other public places. The proposal should be seen as an individual's attempt to exercise his civil rights, says an article in Xiaoxiang Morning Herald. Excerpts:

A senior citizen surnamed Zhang called the Hunan provincial legislative affairs office recently and asked that the authorities ban mahjong clubs in residential areas because they were a bad influence on people. With an eye on maintaining social security, "it is necessary to ban mahjong and shut down mahjong clubs", Zhang said.

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The plea to ban mahjong is certainly controversial. But it should be known that Zhang does not want mahjong to be banned but the clubs that use it as a gambling tool.

One could say that a law banning gambling in all forms already exists, so there is no need for a specific one to ban mahjong gambling. But Zhang's proposal still deserves applause as an attempt to exercise his civil rights.

Clubs where people play mahjong as a form of gambling are a social evil, and many people have complained against them to legislators. If they are not banned, more people are likely to be attracted to gambling, which will pollute the social atmosphere further.

Individual opinions can be wrong. Yet once people raise their objections against certain acts and practices, a debate among different interest groups could help to resolve the issue.

(China Daily 10/28/2009 page9)