realised the extraordinary power of secret society leaders.
Gangsters And Secret Societies
There have always been gangsters and secret societies in Singapore: they came with the immigrants from China, where the first secret societies were said to have been formed at 3,000 bce. In 1644, the Manchus overthrew the Ming Dynasty, and behind the fortified walls of the Shaolin Monastery, 108 monks plotted to restore China to the Ming emperors. They failed, having been betrayed by a traitor. Five survivors formed the Triad Society to carry on their work. Over the years, the high principles were blurred and the society degenerated into a protection racket. Eventually, the Triad Society broke up into different gangs, each with its own area of control and sphere of protection. In China, these secret societies had a considerable influence on the ordinary people, almost equalling the importance of the family unit. Secret societies were abolished in China in 1949 when the communists took over, but they continued to exist in Malaya and Singapore where gangsters still claim that their societies are directly descended from the original triad. One big gang in Singapore is called the 108 gang, in remembrance of the 108 monks of Shaolin.
In Raffles’ days, and for a long time after, secret societies in Singapore helped new arrivals from China. In effect, they were benevolent societies which provided for needy members and ensured that they had a decent burial (of singular importance to persons of Chinese origin). In consequence, one historian felt that secret societies might with fair accuracy, be described as ‘Pirates and Robbers Co-operative Associations’.
Secret societies have always been bitterly hostile to one another, and their rivalries, usually over territory, periodically culminated in bloody street fights. Rival mobs would often suspend operations to allow Europeans to pass through their midst unscathed. Members were forbidden to give any assistance to the police. The penalty was merciless flogging, mutilation and painful death. In 1854, 40 °Chinese were killed in 10 days of street fighting among secret society gangsters in Singapore.
In 1881, 11 secret societies were registered in Singapore with a collective membership of 62,376 people. Six years later, in 1887, the British decided they had enough. They decided to suppress them.
The simple argument of the British was that the Government must be the paramount power in the island. So long as secret societies existed, this was not so in the eyes of many Chinese. The effect of the suppression order was to drive secret societies still further underground. Brothels were deregistered in 1895, but secret society gangsters kept up the protection racket, and rival groups-the 108 gang, the Low Kwan gang, the Tai Hok gang, the Hung Khwan Society, and all the others-struggled for monopoly of extortion, as they still do today, from prostitutes, hawkers and small shopkeepers.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II, all secret society activities were suspended. The Japanese did not jail gang suspects: they chopped off their heads and exhibited them on poles. Immediately after the Japanese surrender when the more tolerant British returned, triad societies sprang up throughout Malaya and Singapore with such rapidity that their membership soon reached scores of thousands. Sometimes over a thousand people would turn up to watch a single initiation ceremony. The result was that in certain areas in Malaya, and in some districts of Singapore, the civil government was almost powerless to check the growing numbers of murders and extortions, robberies and piracy.
When the People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore achieved self-rule in 1959, the newly elected government, headed by Lee Kuan Yew, zealously and determinedly decided to wipe out gangsterism. They had no alternative if they were to become an effective, corruption-free government. Gangsterism was beginning to dominate everyday life. In 1959, there were 21 gangland murders. There were 416 known gangster fights, mostly over territory. The PAP knew they must tackle this problem without delay. At the same time they decided to humanize prison conditions. They did. Today, Singapore claims to have an enlightened and efficient prison system. All prisons are open to inspection by the International Red Cross. But the PAP failed to eliminate the secret societies, though they have managed to restrict their activities almost completely.
On 24 October 1959, the Minister for Home Affairs broadcasted an explanation why the Government, a few days earlier, had offered an amnesty to gangsters. “Why did we offer them a chance to reform and become law- abiding members of society? Because we believe that not all secret society gangsters are bad men. Many, through foolishness, got entangled in the web of crime and did not know how to free themselves.” It was to such people, the Minister said, that the offer was made. All they had to do was to go to the Advocate-General and make a full statement about their past association with secret societies and declare their intention to break away. If the amnesty was ignored they would suffer, for the Government was determined to crush gangsterism. “We will relentlessly pursue every gangster and gang until they are utterly destroyed.” Backed by the people, the Government would move against the gangsters in force ‘to crush those who think that they can defy the organised might and anger of society’. The gangsters were given two weeks to make up their minds.
It was estimated that there were then 10,000 gangsters in Singapore belonging to 120 gangs. Close to 1,000 suspects were in jail. Altogether, 816 gangsters took advantage of the amnesty. As soon as the amnesty ended, the police began rounding up suspects. Among them were the all-girl Ang Hor Tiap (or Red Butterfly Gang). Formed by prostitutes and bargirls, they offered their services for the protection of those in the crime trade, as well as to housewives suffering from unfaithful husbands. For a small fee they would beat up any woman who had enticed away the husband of a client. The gang-girls were identified by a tattooed red butterfly on the upper part of a thigh. Most of the gang were soon arrested. The remnants of the gang surfaced again in 1967, but they were finally smashed with 17 arrests in 1968.
By then, not every secret society had an initiation ceremony. Singapore’s industrialisation and the building of new towns with high-rise flats meant that lonely woods, temples and old houses in which these illegal ceremonies could be organised had become scarce. When the ceremonies were held they followed the usual pattern: terrible oaths were sworn, a finger pricked, blood was mixed with rice wine and drunk from a bowl. Gang clashes continued and traitors were executed.
In 1960, gang fights dropped to 241 and only 11 gangsters were killed. The following year there were fewer collisions, but 18 murders. In 1971, from 700 gang fights in 1959 the number had fallen to less than 70. But the killings were even higher in 1971 than they were when the PAP came to power 12 years before. From these figures, it was fair to conclude that the gangs had become wiser, knowing that the police would actively intervene in gang fights. So they avoided open clashes, but continued to kill one another, a happening that did not cause the police much unhappiness.
In 1972, more than 800 secret society gangsters were under detention. They belonged to gangs such as the Sio Koon Tong, the 08, 24, 36, the Sio Gi Ho, Sio Loh Kuan, or the triads (the societies with initiation ceremonies) such as the Tiong Neng Tok. There were five or six main groups to which lesser gangs were associated. The average age of a gangster was between 15–21 years old; they were mostly school drop-outs. Why did they join gangs? The police did a survey and found that of 87 picked up, one said he joined for excitement, 48 joined through friends, and 23 were forced to join. In 1972, it was estimated that there were perhaps 20,000 gangsters in Singapore, about half of them active. Most of them were either Cantonese or Hokkien.
Two years later, the Home Minister told Parliament that the secret societies were under control, but he admitted that gangs still existed and the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, first introduced in 1955, was still needed. He told Parliament that in 10 years, 1,000 suspects had been arrested on an average every year. Five months later, the New Nation reported that secret society members were still responsible for more than half the daily crime in Singapore. The police reckoned that 10,000 gangsters belonged to 161 secret societies, both active and inactive. The most powerful group, the paper said, was the Sri Tong independent group which was ‘controlling all the major bars, brothels and gambling dens’. Next on the list were the Loh Kuan and Sio Loh Kuan groups. Of the 50 murders that year in Singapore, 20 were gangland reprisals.
After 20 years in office, the PAP government was forced to admit that gangsterism still existed, though on a much reduced scale. Gang suspects continued to be jailed without trial,
Probably one reason why gangsters can survive in Singapore is their pragmatic approach to the extortion racket. They seldom make ‘unreasonable’ demands. They are content to extort comparatively low dues for their protection. They work on a low-profit margin, and try to involve as many prostitutes, hawkers, bargirls, small traders, taxi-drivers, as possible. The gangsters’ reasoning is that victims prefer to pay a small fee rather than be bothered about reporting the matter to the police, thus risking either physical injury from the gang, or a day’s loss of earnings by going to the police station. The gangsters rely on victims believing that it is safer and cheaper, in the long run, to pay up.
