Interview – Ooi Leng Hang
Today’s interview went off pretty well as I met up with Mr. Ooi Leng Hang who is the Election Bureau Executive Director of the Democratic Action Party. As for why I am meeting a member of the opposition party, it is because of the board-game adaptation of Monopoly that they made to highlight their objectives and create awareness of some of the current ruling government’s shortfalls. It was named Monopoli which wasn’t too creative but they are very willing to draw similarities to that other board-game which it drew inspiration from.
As I did not have my recording device with me, I’ll be paraphrasing;
What is your background?
A student of Fine Arts from the Kuala Lumpur Art Center, Mr. Ooi is the illustrator behind the DAP’s hornbill mascot ‘Ubah’. He currently handles a lot of their promotional material and media projects.
Are you a board-gamer?Not really, he plays or have played the usual (common) board-games such as Monopoly but has not gotten into the whole Euro-Boardgame trend.
Do you play Digital Games?
Not really as well, he plays games on his mobile device but not really on a PC. He quotes Candycrush as a game he has been playing for the past 6 months.
What is Monopoli’s objective?
To teach others about politics especially what is happening locally. The game highlights plenty of scandals and each player is given C4 to use in the game. The game was also used a a means of fund collecting but that was not its primary objective. Using games also makes it more accessible to today’s youth who might previously have not shown any interest in politics or the governance of their country.
How long did it take to make Monopoli?
About a year, from conceptualization. The actual production was faster but the idea remained an idea for quite some time until the general elections neared.
How did you do your testing?
They tested it out amongst their colleagues and friends. The final version of the game underwent rebalancing and does not resemble the earliest prototype.
What was the response?Very positive with them selling quite a number of units. Currently the game is no longer in production. (Number of units sold is withheld from this journal)
Price?
Ooi was unsure but other news articles priced the game at RM5. The game was not meant to generate income but as a more effective and fun brochure.
Future plans or possible commercialization?
There are no current plans for Monopoli but they’ve been approached by developers interested in converting the game to an application for the iOS. Interest in that project has died down somewhat but they are open to explore the possibility.
End of interview.