Singapore style

Encyclopedia Wikipedia. "Mahjong." cross-check checked 2026-09-18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong

AI summary The main article's regional-variations section, which describes most branches of this tree independently of the chart's own sources.

for this variant The encyclopedia's summary, independent of the chart: it names the four animals and records the mid-hand payments. Its claim that the game has 'much in common with Hong Kong mahjong' is unsourced, and other English Wikipedia articles disagree with it (Scoring in Mahjong says Chinese Classical)

Also cited on: Proto-mahjong, Chinese classical, Hong Kong old style, Taiwanese style, Nanyang variants, Malaysian 4-player and 10 more · bibliography #54

Guide Phua, Edwin. "Rules of Singapore Style Mahjong: Scoring." Singapore Sparrows (blog), 21 August 2011. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com/2011/08/rules-of-singapore-style-mahjong.html

AI summary Part of a series documenting Singapore Style rules, by a Singaporean MCR player who taught mahjong and refereed community-centre tournaments: payment, doubles (番/台), the minimum and limit, and base stakes with score tables.

for this variant The fullest rules text found in English outside a book, by someone who refereed the game. Its account of the scoring's descent (from Chinese Classical, not from Hong Kong) and of the word 台 bears directly on the node's parentage. A blogger's view, not a rule of any body.

Only cited here · bibliography #161

Journalism TheSmartLocal. "Singapore Mahjong Rules: Guide & Tips To Know." Last updated by Nathan Koh, 11 December 2025. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://thesmartlocal.com/read/mahjong-rules-singapore/

AI summary A Singapore lifestyle site's beginner's guide to the local game: equipment, the 148 tiles, dealing, ways to earn tai, and the two common payment customs.

for this variant A current Singapore press guide that agrees with Phua on the animals, the tai and the two payment customs, and with Sloperama on 148 tiles. Written for beginners, so thin on the scoring table.

Only cited here · bibliography #163

Scholarship Mahjong Treasures (Gregg Swain), posted as 'Kuan Yin'. "Singapore in the 1930s." 16 October 2016. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://www.mahjongtreasures.com/2016/10/16/singapore-in-the-1930s/

AI summary A collector's reading of a 1930s set probably made in Singapore, with sixteen flower tiles, twelve of them anti-Japanese propaganda; notes Singapore's 'capture' flower tiles as a local feature.

for this variant A collector's evidence that tiles were being made for Singapore in the 1930s, before the post-war exodus the Mahjong Wiki credits for the Southeast Asian variants. The capture pairs are described from sets, not rules.

Also cited on: Nanyang variants · bibliography #166

Commercial Weiss, Karl. "Rules for Singapore Mahjong." singaporemahjong.com, updated 28 April 2025. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://www.singaporemahjong.com/rules/

AI summary The rules page of a site that has run a free Singapore Mahjong game for the web and phones since 1997 and sells e-books on the game. It covers the 148 tiles, the fan list with a default minimum of one and limit of five, the immediate payments for kongs, animal pairs and flower sets, the pay-for-all cases and some house variations. Sloperama's FAQ 2b links to it.

for this variant A full rules text independent of the chart's author, though Sloperama links to it. It agrees with Phua and Wikipedia on the tiles, the 5-fan limit and the discarder paying double, and spells out the bite payments. It is a game publisher's rules, not a body's

Only cited here · bibliography #453

Tournament rules Phua, Edwin. "Singapore Style Mahjong Consensus Rules for Competition." Singapore Sparrows (blog), 20 March 2021, with the 14-page rules (compiled 2010-2014) as a PDF on Google Drive. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com/2021/03/singapore-style-mahjong-consensus-rules.html

AI summary The rules and regulations a Singapore referee wrote for the community-club tournaments he ran: the 148 tiles, doubles (tai) with a one-double minimum and a five-double limit, all-losers-pay with the discarder paying double, kong payments, a 32-element scoring table, and pay-for-all (bao) penalties. Bites are left out as house rules. The post explains why he published them. The PDF is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2SXi1mKOLtB_IW96gux2uJPKirQgFq5/view.

for this variant Explains where the only published competition rules came from and why there is no standard. By the same author as two observations already here, so not independent of them

Only cited here · bibliography #456

Guide Phua, Edwin. "Rules of Singapore Style Mahjong: Animals." Singapore Sparrows (blog), 21 August 2011. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com/2011/08/rules-of-singapore-style-mahjong_2551.html

AI summary One part of Phua's 2011 series on Singapore Style rules: what the animal tiles and the complete animal set score, with Chinese terms.

for this variant Fixes the scoring value of the animal tiles, which every other source agrees with. Same author as the other Singapore Sparrows observations

Only cited here · bibliography #457

Guide Phua, Edwin. "Animal Tiles and Their Use." Singapore Sparrows (blog), 17 February 2010. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com/2010/02/animal-tiles-and-their-use.html

AI summary A short post on how Singapore players use the animal tiles: a double each, and the instant payment for a predator-prey 'bite'. It sets these against the capture rule in Strauser and Evans (1964), which another Singapore player reported using, and draws on a rec.games.mahjong discussion.

for this variant The earliest local account read of the bite, and the only one that sets it against an older printed capture rule. It names the 1964 book as a lead for the animals' history

Only cited here · bibliography #458

Commercial PlayLeh LLP. "MahjongLeh Rules and Regulations." playleh.com, updated 5 January 2026. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://playleh.com/mahjongleh-rules.html

AI summary The rules of MahjongLeh, an online multiplayer game that its App Store listing calls Singapore's top mahjong app. It covers the 148 tiles, tai scoring with a configurable minimum and maximum, the payout table, instant payments for kongs and bites (咬到), an optional shooter rule, and the discard rules.

for this variant A widely used app's rules, independent of the chart. It agrees with singaporemahjong.com on the bites and their doubling and with the old Wikipedia article on shooter as an option. Its 1-30 tai cap shows the limit is a setting, not a fixed rule

Only cited here · bibliography #459

Encyclopedia Wikipedia. "Singaporean Mahjong scoring rules." Revision 1047350534, 30 September 2021. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Singaporean_Mahjong_scoring_rules&oldid=1047350534

AI summary A long, unsourced English article on the Singapore game, on Wikipedia from July 2005 until 2021. Its last versions ran to 60 KB on the tiles, instant payments (bites), point values, the minimum and limit, pay-for-all rules in shooter and non-shooter play, and penalties. It was tagged as original research, made a redirect to Scoring in Mahjong in November 2021, and protected in February 2022 after IP editors kept restoring it. It is still the Wikidata item's English sitelink.

for this variant The longest account of house practice read, but unsourced and tagged as original research, so it confirms what players wrote, not a rule. Phua cited it in 2010. Its bite values match singaporemahjong.com closely enough that one may draw on the other. The checker may resolve the URL to the current redirect, so the saved copy may be needed

Only cited here · bibliography #455

Encyclopedia Wikipedia. "Scoring in Mahjong." cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoring_in_Mahjong

AI summary Comparative scoring across Hong Kong, Chinese Classical and Taiwanese systems, including the range of minimum-point conventions and the Mandarin and Cantonese terms for a scoreless hand.

for this variant English Wikipedia's current text on the variant. It calls the scoring Chinese Classical, where the former article said Hong Kong Old Style, so Wikipedia cannot settle the variant's descent

Also cited on: Chinese classical, Modern HKOS, Taiwanese style, Nanyang variants, Zung Jung, Tui Dao Hu · bibliography #55

Encyclopedia Chinese Wikipedia: 麻将. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E9%BA%BB%E5%B0%86

AI summary The origin section weighs the Ningbo and Fujian-Guangdong theories and traces each origin legend (Powell 1923, the Taiping hypothesis, the Tianyi Pavilion Chen Yumen account, the 2008 CCTV Harvey diary) to where it first appears.

for this variant The only Chinese-language account read. It joins Singapore with Malaysia on equipment, and its count is wrong, since animals, jokers and clowns on top of 144 come to 156. Unsourced at that point

Also cited on: Proto-mahjong, Chinese classical, Shanghai / Hong Kong new style, Nanyang variants, Filipino style, Vietnamese classical and 1 more · bibliography #105

Encyclopedia Chinese Wikipedia: 馬來西亞四人麻雀 (Malaysian four-player mahjong). cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E9%A6%AC%E4%BE%86%E8%A5%BF%E4%BA%9E%E5%9B%9B%E4%BA%BA%E9%BA%BB%E9%9B%80

AI summary An article on a four-player Malaysian game: a 164-tile set, then a 144-tile rule set and a 15-fan scoring table that the article itself calls self-devised, for want of any published Malaysian four-player rules.

for this variant Used here only for the contrast with Singapore: the Malaysian four-player set has twice the animals, twice the flowers and jokers, which agrees with Sloperama's Malaysian entry. Its own rules are self-devised, as its existing reference note says

Also cited on: Malaysian 4-player · bibliography #173

Guide Phua, Edwin. "A Need for Standardisation of Rules for Mahjong Tournaments in Singapore." Singapore Sparrows (blog), October 2012. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://mahjongsingapore.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-need-for-standardisation-of-rules-for.html

AI summary A referee's account of community-centre mahjong tournaments in Singapore: their legal position, the rules sheets they issued, and how far those departed from common Singapore Style play.

for this variant The only account found of community-centre tournament play, and evidence that there is no common tournament rulebook from any body. Read it with Phua's 2021 Consensus Rules, in which the same author published the rules he wrote for those tournaments

Only cited here · bibliography #162

Law Tan, Desmond (Minister of State for Home Affairs). Second reading speech, Gambling Control Bill 2022 and Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill 2022, Parliament of Singapore, 11 March 2022. Published by the Gambling Regulatory Authority. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://www.gra.gov.sg/newsroom/latest-events-speeches/event-detail/the-gambling-control-bill-2022-and-the-gambling-regulatory-authority-of-singapore-bill-2022-(second-reading-speech)

AI summary The government's explanation of the Gambling Control Act 2022, which replaced the Common Gaming Houses Act and the Betting Act: the social-gambling exemption (clause 12) and the new licensing of gambling among members of clubs and clans.

for this variant The government's account of why the Gambling Control Act 2022 exempts home social gambling and licenses clubs. Section 12 of the Act itself has now been read, so this is the context for that section, not the only way to reach it

Only cited here · bibliography #164

Law Tan, Desmond (Minister of State for Home Affairs). Wrap-up speech, Gambling Control Bill and Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Bill, Parliament of Singapore, 11 March 2022. Ministry of Home Affairs. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://www.mha.gov.sg/media-room/newsroom/gambling-control-bill-and-gambling-regulatory-authority-of-singapore-bill-wrap-up-speech/

AI summary The minister's answers to members' questions on the social-gambling exemption: where it applies, minors, and why it is framed as a tightening.

for this variant Confirms the exemption's reach from the minister's own answers. Useful with the second-reading speech, not instead of it.

Only cited here · bibliography #165

Scholarship Ebashi Takashi (江橋崇). 「（七）中国国外に残る花牌麻雀」 ('Flower-tile mahjong surviving outside China'), in 麻雀牌が語る麻雀の歴史, 五 花牌の盛衰史. Japan Playing Card Museum (日本かるた文化館), 2018-2023. cross-check checked 2026-09-29

https://japanplayingcardmuseum.com/010-5-mahjong-flowertiles-asiancountries/

AI summary A one-page Japanese study of the extra flower tiles in Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean sets, drawn from the sets themselves: which flowers each region's sets carry, and a hypothesis for why the south kept so many.

for this variant Places Singapore with Malaysia on equipment, and records an older local set without animals. Evidence from sets, not rules.

Also cited on: Nanyang variants, Malaysian 4-player, Vietnamese classical · bibliography #159

Law Gambling Control Act 2022 (No. 15 of 2022), Singapore. Singapore Statutes Online, current version as at 10 October 2026. cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/GCA2022

AI summary Singapore's consolidated gambling statute. It replaced the Common Gaming Houses Act 1961 and the Betting Act, and came into force in 2022. Section 12 defines social gambling (in a home, among family or people who know each other, with no business or outside gain) and declares it not unlawful.

for this variant The statute behind the home exemption that the ministers' speeches describe. It governs where Singapore mahjong may be played for money and sets no rules of play

Only cited here · bibliography #454

Collection National Museum of Singapore. "Mahjong tile set." Singapore, mid-20th century. Accession no. 2019-00103, gift of Julia Ho and Bessie Lee. Roots.gov.sg (National Heritage Board). cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1450583

AI summary The catalogue record of a paper-and-bone set that belonged to the stockbroker Lee Swee Cheng and his wife Elsie Lee. It was one of a pair used at their house, one set for the men and one for the wives. The record does not describe the tiles.

for this variant A national museum's record of home play among an elite Singapore family in the mid-century. It says nothing about animals or rules, so it dates the setting, not the variant

Only cited here · bibliography #460

Collection Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. "Mahjong tiles set." China, early 20th century. Accession no. 2021-00032, gift in memory of Dr Sylvia Hoe née Lee Seok Keng. Roots.gov.sg (National Heritage Board). cross-check checked 2026-10-09

https://www.roots.gov.sg/collection-landing/listing/1499867

AI summary The National Heritage Board's catalogue record of an export-style mahjong set made in China in the early twentieth century, now in the Asian Civilisations Museum. The description adds a one-line history: mahjong came to Singapore with immigrants from southern China.

for this variant The National Heritage Board's own one-line history of the game's arrival, with no source given. It puts mahjong in Singapore well before the 1950-80s dating the Mahjong Wiki gives for the Southeast Asian variants, though not the local rules

Also cited on: Nanyang variants · bibliography #448