Triads in Singapore

The Dark Side of Amoy Street

Let me show you the other side of Amoy Street and its religious festivals as well. It was not all about tradition and heritage. From the earliest days the triads (later to be called SS or Secret Society, by the authorities) had always mixed religion with their activities. Initiation rites were held in front of deities particularly of Guan Kong, who signified for them loyalty and bravery. Interestingly in a mirroring of this ceremony many police stations in Hong Kong as well as many policemen Singapore and Malaya prayed to Guan Kong as well.

However, rioting and other criminal activities were not exclusive to the triads or for the Chinese. In 1857 a riot by the Indian indentured labour laid siege to the Telok Ayer Police Station.

By the 1950s the triads as a group had a comprehensive grip on activities in Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street. However, by then the triads were also losing the tight organization structure that had stood them well over the years building them into a force to be reckoned with. A number of disputes broke out over territory as the triads fought for dominance. Often these involved fighters provided by the coolies, the labourers that were at that time the backbone for the movement of goods.

There wasa term particular to these triad feuds; they were called in Hokien "piah coolie geng" which translates as "overturning (or properly speaking, thrashing) the coolie house". When that happened, a group of coolies would attempt to burst into a rival gang of coolies' headquarters. If the rivals were caught napping their headquarters would be thrashed and many would be chased away or beaten up. However, because these raids were often the culmination of outstanding feuds, the rival gang would often be waiting.

Fights were nasty. A posting on the net says that weapons used were meat cleavers or machetes. These were certainly used but actually, the weapons were more nasty. They included (from fights that I used to watch):

1. Coolie hooks which were long or short hooks set into wooden handles that were used to drag and hold on to sacks. If you were slashed in the stomach by one of these it is very likely that your intestines would spill out. That is why "fighters" who led the charge often wound pieces of cloth tightly round their stomach and abdomen to prevent their guts being torn out in case they were hooked. Of course, if your were hooked on the head it is very likely your eyes would be gorged out.

2. Axes. These were much favoured weapons of the Amoy Street coolie gangs and their fighters. One blow from an axe could split a skull or, at the very least, break a shoulder blade or hand.

3. Long Poles. Many coolies carry poles as one of their trading tools and these were often used in fights. Some of these poles had weights or hooks attacked to one end. Again, it would be curtains for sure if one got struck by such a pole.

4. Bottles. Many of the houses and coffee shops had crates of empty bottles stacked outside. The bottles provided handy and plentiful ammunition whenever a fight broke out.

To be fair though these coolie gangs did not bully or attack the residents or passer bys. Their fights had specific - usually, economic - motives.

However, the presence of the triads were deep and permeated many aspects of life. In the next post I will write about some of these.

However just a slight detour. Are there no triads in present day Singapore. I came across this report from AFP:


AFP, SINGAPORE
Monday, Jan 22, 2007, Page 5

"In quiet, safe Singapore, people are not supposed to die like Lim Hock Soon.

The nightclub owner was gunned down at his apartment in a case that seemed to belong somewhere else -- perhaps in edgy Hong Kong and its world of triad gangsters -- not in one of Asia's cleanest and most crime-free cities, where the sound of a police siren is rarely heard.

Killing

Police say there had not been a killing like it for about six years in this city-state of more than four million people.

Today, a man nicknamed "One Eyed Dragon" goes on trial for the death of Lim, 41, on Feb. 15, last year.

Tan Chor Jin, 39, is charged under the Arms Offences Act with firing six rounds and "causing injury" to Lim, according to court records. Tan faces death by hanging if convicted at the High Court trial, which is scheduled to last 10 days.

Local press reports at the time said the killing happened about 7am that Wednesday after the gunman, dressed in black, walked in to Lim's second-floor apartment.

He tied up Lim and his Malaysian wife, Kok Pooi Leng, along with their 13-year-old daughter and a maid. Then he shot Lim dead with a pistol in the study, and ran off, newspapers reported. Lim had wounds to the head and limbs, they said.

Tan was arrested about 10 days later at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Along with Tan, two other men and three women were arrested by police who seized six guns, 203 bullets, and 4kg of the drug ketamine, newspapers reported.

Tan is dubbed "One Eyed Dragon" because he was blinded in the right eye during a traffic accident, one report said.

Singapore's the New Paper said Tan was "believed to be a member of the Ang Soon Tong triad," but Singapore police say traditional Hong Kong-style triad groups no longer exist in the city-state."

So there you have it.