5 Hongkongers fined HK$1,000 each for playing mahjong in MTR train in 2021
- Defendants convicted by Kowloon City Court on Monday for committing an act of nuisance in public place
- One of the defendants says group was only pretending to play mahjong to film funny video
The defendants, aged between 20 and 27, were convicted by the Kowloon City Court on Monday for committing an act of nuisance in a public place. Four of them were also found guilty of using Octopus cards for the elderly to pay fares, while the remaining person was convicted of bringing oversized luggage, namely the mahjong table, into the station’s paid area.
The men were fined HK$500 for every charge, resulting in penalties of HK$1,000 each.
“The selfish acts by the defendants had blocked the passage of the carriage,” Chief Inspector Tuan Ngar-lun of the force’s railway district said after the conviction.
“They did not only inconvenience other commuters and create noise, but also possibly created danger and harmed others.”
The case came to light after a video went viral last October which showed several commuters playing mahjong inside an MTR carriage.