MADAM Tong Mok Lam was on a mini-roll last Sunday.
The 83-year-old won her first few games at the 2nd National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) Mahjong Challenge, though she did not go on to make the final four.
The bi-monthly event, held at Kent Ridge Guild Hall and open to NUSS members and guests, drew 48 participants.
Madam Tong, who has been playing mahjong for decades, takes to the tiles with her friends about twice a week. No money changes hands, but fans of this evergreen game stand a chance of netting a high health payoff.
Dr Philip Yap, consultant at Alexandra Hospital's department of geriatric medicine, points to a recent research paper from Hong Kong which shows that mahjong has cognitive - referring to mental processes of perception, memory, judgment and reasoning - benefits in people with mild to moderate dementia.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a group of conditions that all gradually destroy brain cells and lead to progressive decline in mental function.
Madam Tong points out that mahjong is a game that challenges one to think so that 'one won't become an idiot sitting at home'.
In trying to win, she has to keep track of all the tiles discarded by other players, and figure out which tiles they have.
Her friend, Madam Lai Foon May, 83, notes that 'you can exercise the hands as well'.
Ms Clara Lee, chief executive officer of NUSS, says her mother, Madam Lai, is 'very alert and her mind's really active. She's better informed of what's happening than me'.
One of the reasons is mahjong, she feels. 'It's a thinking game and not just pung, pung, pung. She's always explaining to me that it's strategic - you need to think about the player to the left and right of you and prevent them from winning,' she says.
Pung is the exclaimation players make when they pick up a tile to complete a set of three identical ones.
Professor Kua Ee Heok, senior consultant at the National University Hospital's department of psychological medicine, says 'anything that stimulates the brain is good', including bridge and Chinese chess.
It used to be believed that the brain stops growing after the age of 45. This has since been disproved and researchers say it is possible for new connections to be formed between brain cells which play a crucial role in managing information like memories and thoughts.
Apart from cognitive stimulation, Dr Yap points out two more factors that are important in keeping dementia at bay.
One is exercise, such as jogging, swimming and playing racket games, which reduces the chances of suffering from hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, which predispose one to dementia.
The second is maintaining good social networks and healthy relationships. Dr Yap says: 'In fact, it is often difficult to know for sure if a cognitive game such as mahjong is helpful because of its cognitive benefits or because of the socialisation it promotes.'
Socialisation is precisely why Madam Chan Keng Toh, 79, who has mild dementia, plays mahjong every day.
'I'll be very bored if I don't play. I play with the same friends, we chat and joke, and it makes me happy.'
But Prof Kua cautions that if the genetic predisposition is very strong, or there are other existing conditions such as hypertension or high cholesterol, the odds of getting dementia can still be high.
Even in such cases, however, it is 'possible to prolong the quality of life' through stimulation of the brain.
Dr Ng Li-ling, vice-president of the Alzheimer's Disease Association (ADA) of Singapore and senior consultant at Changi General Hospital's division of psychological medicine, says the group was formed in 1990 because of concern over dementia and the fact that Singapore was ageing.
The voluntary welfare organisation is made up of caregivers, professionals and those interested in dementia.
According to a study commissioned by the Asia-Pacific members of Alzheimer's Disease International, the number of people with dementia in Singapore is projected to rise from 22,000 in 2005 to 187,000 by the year 2050.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the number of people with dementia is projected to increase from 13.7 million currently to nearly 65 million by 2050, due to ageing.
The ADA provides support through its three day-care centres and training for care-givers, many of whom are maids.
Dr Ng says mahjong, one of the activities at the centres, makes the patients much more interactive.
'Dementia to many people is a hopeless disease but there are things you can do to help the patient and care-giver. We've to change the mindset to one in which we can do things.'"
