Every single time we return to our parents’ home for Chinese New Year, the entire family would engage in a common recreational activity – mocking and laughing at me for failing to understand how to play Mahjong. In their eyes, my inability to play Mahjong is highly embarrassing and shameful.
Every Chinese New Year, the Mahjong table would be set up the moment the family has finished eating their meals, and four people would flock to the table and seat themselves down. Conversely, I’d be left to sit at the sofa by myself, and would have to shoulder the responsibility of entertaining the children. That was how my friendship with Little Nephew was built – when all the adults were busy playing Mahjong, I was the only one who remained by his side.
Little Nephew asked me, “Why don’t you play M
