By Michelle Lee (26S07A) and Tara Teo (26A01D)

If you asked any of the members in a formal setting why their project’s called Hongzhong, they would’ve told you it means red centre–the beating heart of a community, symbolising the importance of having people come together. But if you asked them anywhere else, they would’ve told you it’s because the “Hongzhong” tile is the only Mahjong tile that has an emoji for it. And that’s exactly how a project centred around Mahjong got approved by the CE committee. 

The start of Hongzhong 

It is only through witnessing the depth of struggle that underpins every single step of a CE01’s journey that we can understand the heart of service they carry. No team knows that better than Hongzhong’s Exco, who fought tirelessly for official approval.

Their journey to become a CE01 started in March 2025, when then Year 5 Committee members Looi Ee Xin (26S03M), Kaylee Nga Xin Teng (26S03E), Sarah Ashley Tan (26S03L), Jade Lim (26S03P), and Kaelyn Yeo (26S03J) submitted their application form. The idea raised concerns at the first project approval meeting due to perceived association to gambling, but they didn’t falter. After all, they’ve been rejected once before as a SVIA project in RGS.

Back in RGS, they had successfully managed to receive approval as a project after citing research and newspaper articles about SG Mahjong Together, another Mahjong-only project, to back up their cause. The rejection was thus no surprise, and they had the very same articles ready to present to the CE Committee.

Focusing on the many strengths that Hongzhong had (like the accessibility of their chosen venue of active ageing centres), they finally received approval a whopping 8 months after the initial application. Even so, the road was far from smooth.

Now that they had passed the RGS chapter of Hongzhong down to their juniors, the EXCO switched partner organisations from Xinyuan Community Care to Care Corner. Sandwiched between the struggle of having insufficient elderly participants and volunteers, the five of them were often dealt difficult hands that they had to respond to on the spot.

Recounting one of the weeks when the elderly were away on a learning journey, the EXCO members sighed in frustration as they described the bleak scene when just 4 elderly beneficiaries were left in the whole centre. Still, the volunteers did not let the inconsistent participant turnout limit the depth of interaction they had with the elderly, doing their best no matter the circumstances to connect and have fun.

For the EXCO, they were also dealing with their own issues having transitioned from RGS to RI. Previously, they were all in the same class, making scheduling and meeting incredibly easy. Now, the RI campus was not only further away from Care Corner, but they also had to carve out pockets of time when their schedules aligned with each other.

Four years, hopefully five

Although the journey to make Hongzhong an official CE01 was hard enough, like every other project, they’re facing their fair share of problems in their 4th year together. For instance, having sufficient volunteers. As dramatic as it sounds, the biggest issue the project is currently facing is survival. 

Hongzhong focuses on teaching seniors how to play Mahjong. But, there’s only so many seniors in Care Corner and Hongzhong is still in the process of figuring out what they’re going to do once all of them know how to play. As Jade puts it, they need to “change their methods to cope with the changing needs of the elderly”. Otherwise, it may be the case of Hongzhong on the RGS side, where beneficiaries could conduct activities amongst themselves, without the project’s members. Although the team has made a temporary shift to teaching seniors how to play rummikub, the root issue still remains unaddressed. 

Even with lists of unconventional ideas (think teaching seniors dialects and stretching sessions in the midst of Mahjong games), all the members shared the same question: is the project still Hongzhong if there’s no Mahjong? 

A new name? 

Initially putting the question aside because it sounded too chim, we decided to ask the members why they feel so strongly about Project Hongzhong nearing the end of the interview. 

This statement sums up the drive behind all those emails, research papers and Tuesday afternoons. There wasn’t a clear, structured response like “Because I really believe in the vision and impact of the project. Seeing how it can positively affect people makes me want to give my best to it” (thanks ChatGPT).

Instead, it was an unrestrained flinging of words into the air which shared the same excited agreement. Through the chaos, I picked up a few terms that evoked the most excitement, measured by the number of “Ya”s exclaimed in response: “favourite aunty at Care Corner”, “..were so excited about bringing it to RI”, “..raised it for so long, cannot abandon” and “aunty invited me to their table!”. 

At this point, we couldn’t help but ask the members, “Imagine you handover to a new team that does something completely unrelated to Mahjong. Would you stop them?” 

Instead of an exaggerated response or opposition, the team was pragmatic. They simply said the succeeding team could do what they wanted since it would be their project. It just wouldn’t be Hongzhong anymore, but they could always just change the name.   

红中：Red Centre

If you ask us, Project Hongzhong really captured the idea of “red centre”, even if it was just a name to help them get their CE01 application approved. From the seniors willingly splitting up from their friends to play Mahjong with the Hongzhong members, to them bringing their own Mahjong sets to train their volunteers in RGS classrooms, they’ve somehow always managed to gather people around a table, the centre, even during that one session where the centre literally meant the only one table available. 

We discussed issues of handing over and the survival of the project, but the reality is, Hongzhong will inevitably end (just hopefully when they’re thirty). But, at least in the time Hongzhong has been around, the Mahjong table has been and will continue to be a space for warmth and connection. 

If you’re interested in being part of Project Hongzhong or just a “Mahjong kaki” for their sessions at TP5 Carecorner on Tuesdays, from 1400h to 1600h, feel free to drop Looi Ee Xin a message on Teams.