The fourth edition of the CEM Rummikub* Competition was held on Saturday at the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf Convention and Exhibition Centre, with its Open Group seeing a wide range of competitors aged between six and 97 years.
According to a statement on Saturday, the contest, held by the power utility in conjunction with the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (Gung Luen) and General Volunteers Association of Macao, aimed to “promote social inclusion, enhance public awareness and understanding of the hearing-impaired community, and raise funds for the Macau Deaf Association [MDA]”.
Close to a thousand participants enrolled. The statement said that the “School Group” received enrolments from 37 schools, with 40 teams chosen through a lucky draw. Participation in the Open Group surpassed 700 enrolments, exceeding expectations, the statement said, with 160 participants randomly selected via computer draw. In all, there were 320 intergenerational competitors.
This year’s competition also saw participants stand a chance to vie for two new awards: the “Fourth Place” and “Most Games Won Award”.
The School Group was won by Pooi To Middle School’s Choi Ka Lai, garnering the champion’s prize of 2,000 patacas, as well as another 1,000 patacas for winning the “Most Games Won Award”.
Students Kwok Weng In from Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary School, Mar King Hang from Saint John de Brito School (English section), and Kao Yip Middle School’s Li U Hin respectively won 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up and Fourth Place, garnering cash prizes between 1,500 patacas and 800 patacas.
The Open Group, meanwhile, was won by Lao Wai In, receiving 3,000 patacas. Cheong Weng I, Yuen UT I and Cheong Kuong Tat respectively took home 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up and Fourth Place, each receiving cash prizes between 2,000 patacas and 1,000 patacas.
Yuen UT I also won the “Most Games Won Award” in the Open Group, garnering 1,500 patacas.
The statement added that Merit Awards were also given out in both categories. All award categories featured trophies along with cash prizes.
During the award ceremony, CEM Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Communications Office Senior Manager Jaclyn Iun (阮少寶) said that the Open Group saw the widest age range of participants ever in terms of age span, between 6 and 97 years, and that the participation of the eight hearing-impaired participants from MDA “exemplified the promotion of inclusion”.
MDA Chairman Wong Kam Sun said that the event brought people together regardless of background and differences, fostering closer interactions and establishing an inclusive bridge for connectivity.
Moreover, aside from the competition, an on-site charity sale area was set up, with all proceeds going to MDA.
* Rumicub is a popular tile-based game for 2-4 players that combines elements of Rummy (card game) and Mahjong. The objective is to be the first player to get rid of all your tiles by forming them into sets of “groups” and “runs” on the table. – DeepSeek
These photos provided by power utility CEM show winners in both the School Group and Open Group.
