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In the 1950s the game of mahjong became so popular in Hong Kong that the British colonialists despite their anti-gambling policy issued the first license to a mahjong parlor. In the heydays Hong Kong saw more than 140 registered parlors spread across the region. Now the scene is changing. Business at traditional mahjong parlors has plummeted by 50% in recent years, the number of establishments compared from 140 to just 69.

65 year old Lai Kwok Wah has owned "The Golden Dragon" mahjong parlor in Wanchai for 40 years. He explains that with no new customers visiting the parlor, his business is walking a thin line. "Most customers of mahjong parlors are older people, I rarely see young people here," he said. "There are too many modes of mahjong entertainment outside, such as new open mahjong competitions, clubs and even online mahjong where they can play with their friends. All this change is making it more competitive for us to remain in business."

Although the new wave of modern mahjong clubs embraced by young people are taken as a better alternative to old parlors, these fully-equipped, newly furbished and well-serviced private rooms still have their limits. Gambling is outlawed in modern mahjong clubs, where players are given chips to substitute for money. However, given that the element of gambling is intrinsic in the game of mahjong, a niche market of serious players remain to sustain the last few traditional mahjong parlors that still runs in Hong Kong. Today, these old mahjong parlors are the only safety zones where anti-gambling rules are exempted from, and everyone are welcome to join the table and gamble for as long as they want.

The traditional mahjong parlors of Hong Kong make money by collecting a commission from the winner of each game. The betting limit for the game is indicated by an inscribed green tag hung above each table where Hong Kong licensing laws allow the parlor to take up to 7.5% of the winner's reward. As a tradition only practiced in old parlors, a worker would signal to the room that a commission has been deducted by hitting the tag.

Fearful that Hong Kong's traditional mahjong parlors would grow extinct in 20 years time, Lai nevertheless acknowledges that the young people are not to blame for the bad rumours that had encircled the old parlors for the last few decades. "40 or 50 years ago when we first began opening mahjong parlors, people's income was too low. Most customers were triad members so many people form the wrong impression that mahjong parlors are full of gangsters and violence." However, the poverty that once haunted Hong Kong are gone today, and Lai stress that traditional Mahjong parlors are operated as clean and orderly as other entertainment industries, and may even be better governed. "Now we are highly transparent. No other industry is checked by the police and government departments as frequently as we are", he said.

Christopher Cheung returned to Hong Kong from Canada 3 years ago with a mission. He was to win back customers to the "Pak-Choi Yip" mahjong parlor, at Jordon, that he inherited from his grandmother after she passed away. "This parlor, you know, for me is a memory from my grandparents. So if I have the ability to operate I will still operate it until this business cannot survive" he said. Cheung even uses the game of mahjong to engage better with his employees. And in Cheung's parlor, an afternoon session of routine mahjong becomes his way of administering an informal corporate meeting. "I will talk to them about the business for yesterday and usually we just carry normal conversation," he said, along with the added benefit to cheer his workers up before opening the parlor doors "You know, just sit down and relax before the business starts".

In response to the shrinking business, Cheung hopes that by making use of modern business strategies, he can instill a congenial atmosphere back at the old parlor. Corporate branding and good customer relations, he claims, are the turning points to rescue these slowly diminishing parlors. "I try to give this business a new image", he said, "I talk to customers to see how I can attract them to come more."

To revive the former glories of his family business, Cheung has gone from making short-term discount promotions to as far as distributing supermarket coupons as gifts for visiting his parlor. He also tried to tap new markets by luring mainland tourists and foreigners, but with no luck so far. "Chinese people think that mahjong parlor is only a gambling place and cannot be a tourist spot." He says. "It's also very hard to promote to foreigners because foreigners have to learn Chinese characters to play mahjong. Otherwise they can't play the game".

For the past decade elderly patients at Hong Kong's United Christian Nethersole Care Home in Kwun Tong have been playing mahjong as part of their occupational therapy in addition to the patient's routine conventional treatment. "They might be quite bored and sleepy during the conventional training", said nurse Candy Lau, who has been taking of the elderly here for 5 years. "If you put them at the mahjong table, it might arouse their attention and they will become more tuned in to the task itself." she said.

According to Lau, many of the elderly patients admitted to the elderly care home would have experienced a stroke that would often result in arm impairment. By asking patients to use their defected hand more when playing mahjong, Lau says the repeated exercise can help strengthen the patient's hand function. The right side of Ka-Fai's body was paralyzed in a stroke last year, and he admits that playing mahjong eases his muscles with the added benefit as a form of stress-free entertainment. "It helps exercise the tendons and joints of my limbs," he said, "It is more intense playing mahjong outside. Here, mahjong is used as a therapy and I feel very relaxed."

Ka-Fai jokes that playing mahjong actually takes more effort than doing conventional exercises. "By encircling my arms around the mahjong table when I play, I can exercise my wrist and shoulder," he explains, "But playing mahjong requires will-power and that is more difficult!" Edwin Chan is the head of the elderly therapy unit at the United Christian Nethersole Care Home. He explains that the long history of mahjong, deep-rooted in the Chinese culture has made the game widely acceptable among local elderly patients, who are usually reluctant to try new things. "Many Chinese people find mahjong as a good and enjoyable activity," he says, "Once they participate in the activity, they forget that they are actually undergoing training, but will instead enjoy doing it."

At the elderly care home, a nurse usually joins the mahjong table to ensure that each patient can have a chance to win. "Most elderly friends who come here are depressed we try to create a happy atmosphere. Let them know mahjong as a leisure game" she said. "If they don't win after playing for half an hour they might blame themselves or think its bad luck or that they are no good at anything.". Whereas by winning a game, Candy observes that the patients learn to be optimistic and the victory helps them regain their confidence.

75 year old Su-Ying has been coming to doctor Chan's mahjong sessions 6 months ago after she was diagnosed with depression as a result of an unhappy family experience. She is also in an early stage of dementia and suffers a heart disease. "The medicine I take makes my hands tremble, but when I am playing mahjong it is better" she told.

"She gained more confidence in her ability," Chan says, "Initially she didn't think she could play after having stopped for such a long time, but now she is playing the advanced level with other people and while playing talk to others" According to Chan, Su Ying used to suffer poor attention span and had the tendency to wonder. However, after playing mahjong her conditions improved tremendously.