>Introduction -
Mention corruption in Malaysia and Singaporeans will think of Malaysian politicians involved in cryonism. Or perhaps the traffic policeman who stopped you for speeding expecting some kind of financial incentive to waive the summons he’s about to issue you.
In this article, I am going to give you a different perspective what the real underworld of Corruption in Malaysia is about.
Purpose of this Article -
1. The purpose of this article is to create awareness amongst Singaporeans that there are syndicates in Malaysia, run by well organised Chinese Triads. Please note that many Singaporeans have already unwittingly fallen into the trap and are now trying to bail out.
2. How to identify such well run syndicates so that you avoid them.
3. What you can do if you are trapped and wish to bail out.
4. What NOT TO DO, so you won’t aggravate the situation further.
Disclaimer -
I am not private investigator. Neither do I work for the police force. And I also definitely have nothing to do with the syndicate itself.
All my details are obtained through research from talking to the members of the Malaysian Police Force, members of the Malaysian Tribunal, victims of the syndicate, internet searches, and even casual talks with syndicate members themselves.
Of course, I have to keep the identities of the people involved confidential.
The Syndicate and its Operations -
The Syndicate runs on a large scale and their operations run throughout almost the whole of Malaysia. I can safely say that if that area, city or town is populated with many Chinese businesses, the more likely the syndicate is likely to operate there. Places like Penang, KL, Klang Valley area and of course JB and its outlying towns. This does not mean that smaller towns like Batu Pahat are safe either. It is that the operations there are at a smaller scale.
The Syndicate’s main “areas of business” are drugs, human trafficking, pirated DVDs and software, illegal financial loans, banned goods (like products from endangered species) and scams to siphon your money off you.
In this article, I am going to discuss on the scams only and not about the other areas like drugs, human trafficking and the rest. This is because if you are a Singaporean visiting Malaysia, you (the target) are most likely to fall into the scam trap, rather than any of the other syndicate’s “business areas”.
Here is an article from the BBC describing how the Chinese Triads operate. Pay attention to the details. This is something you will NEVER get to see or hear, unless you get it from the inside itself. I have bolded the important points as highlights.
Meeting Malaysia’s notorious triads
As part of the BBC’s Who Runs Your World? series, Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur looks at how Malaysia’s notorious triad gangs are run.
In my attempt to find out more the triads, I made the ground rules clear from the start.
I didn’t want specifics, I didn’t want details and I certainly didn’t want names. I just wanted to know how the gangs worked.
I have no idea what Ah Hing’s real name is, but I do know that he is being groomed to take over as tai ko – big brother (a term triad members use for their bosses) – in a gang that operates in a small town in northern Malaysia.
We had chosen a room in an old shop house in which to meet. Ah Hing looked like many working class Malaysian Chinese, with heavy jewellery, cheap shoes and spiky hair. His minder collected tattoos.
“We do sell some ecstasy pills and that is how we make a living, me and my friends,” he said.
“We do take girls for prostitution, and this is much easier to do than ecstasy because usually the government will not bother us when we do this.”
The triads and Malaysia’s other criminal gangs dabble in any number of rackets. Some even smuggle opiated cough syrup.
Dealing drugs in Malaysia carries the death penalty. Hangmen got a pay rise earlier this year – it is an issue the government takes seriously.
Prostitution is easier to get away with, and so is loan sharking or making and peddling fake goods. Malaysia is thought to be the world’s largest producer of pirated optical discs.
But Ah Hing runs girls and sells pills. The women cost the gangs between $750 and $2000 each. They are bought and sold like cattle, and the pimps want a return.
“The girls know they have to work to pay back the money we paid to buy them,” Ah Hing said.
“We do find girls who refuse to work, and we will keep them in solitary confinement and give them a bad time until they tell me they want to work,” he said.
Ancient rituals
The triads have their roots in a 17th Century movement dedicated to restoring China’s Ming dynasty to the throne, but over time they degenerated into criminal gangs.
In some places they still have rituals, as Jessica Lau, a well-connected member of the Malaysian Chinese community, found out.
When Ms Lau lived in New Zealand, her neighbour was a Hong Kong triad boss who decided to retire.
“During his very last days as the leader of the triad society, he gathered everybody from his society and in front of leaders from other societies he washed his hands in a gold basin which symbolised that from today onwards he is not going to be involved in the triad society any more, and now he is old and respectable and a free man,” she said.
But Malaysia’s triads are rather more prosaic than those in Hong Kong. The element of ceremony has gone, and these groups are run as businesses.
Ah Hing referred to his as “our company”. It’s a pragmatic affair, where deals are reached with the authorities – who set boundaries for crimes they know can never be eliminated.
“If I want to operate on a particular street and ask a politician to ask the authorities not to disturb me, the politician might say: ‘It’s impossible to have zero arrests, so you can operate on certain hours and we will patrol after those hours‘ – so it’s a win-win situation,” Ah Hing said.
If someone crosses him, however, it’s most certainly not win-win.
“If someone betrays me personally… I will get a few gang members together and beat him up until he’s paralysed or he’s a vegetable, but if the matter is really big then they’ll be brought before my tai ko for a trial,” he said.
“If my tai ko asks us to deal with someone, even if we kill that person, we won’t be worried, because if the police arrest us, my tai ko will get me out,” he added.
“Last time I was taken in the front door of the [police] lock-up, and right away I walk out of the back door.”
Part of society
Most Malaysians have little or nothing to do with the triads. But many poorer people have nowhere else to turn when they need to borrow money.
All too often, Michael Chong, head of public services for the political party the Malaysian Chinese Association, sees what happens when borrowers default on their payments.
“We do have cases where they run away, you know, with the family… and of course we have some cases where they have been assaulted – assaulted in the sense they have to be hospitalised,” Mr Chong said.
Ah Hing makes no bones about his world and his life. “I admit that I am a bad guy, and that I’m a gangster,” he said.
“So who runs your world?” I asked – to which he gave a simple reply : “The government“.
“If the government doesn’t want to be a bit lenient with us and if they are strict about everything, then there’s no way that I can make a living.
There’s no work,” Ah Hing said.
When the economic downturn of 1998 hit Asia, many Malaysians turned to the triads for work.
It allowed thousand to fill their rice bowls.
That in itself is reason enough for some in power to turn a blind eye to what these gangs do – that and the knowledge that the triads are there to make a living, not to cause trouble.
They may be bad men, but they’re also businessmen.
That’s an insider’s view of what goes on. Note the points I highlighted above.
- The report above implies there is a collusion between the top levels of govt and the triads.
- The lower ranks of the parties that are involved may themselves not be involved, but they have little control.
The Scam Operation -
As promised, I am going to discuss about the scams in Malaysia. The main idea of the scam, as you would know, is to scam money off you. It would be quite a mammoth task to describe their modus operandi, so I have decided to give you links I found instead. Read them. After about 5 to 10 mins of reading, you will get the gist how they operate.
Beware of Scratch-and-Win Scams
“Scratch & Win” Scam @ BTS and Sungai Wang
For this next link, read the comments that follow. It gives details of the operations. These are comments from REAL VICTIMS.
To sum up, the modus operandi is they approach you with a coupon for you to tear open or scratch. Then they tell you have won a mystery prize which could be a car or some cash prize. You are then taken to an office and that’s where you get duped.
Dos and Don’ts -
1. Prevention is better than cure. When someone approaches you to tear open or scratch a coupon, decline and walk away. The less you talk, the better. There is only so much they can do to tail you.
2. Should you somehow be duped to follow them to their office, it is still not late to bail out, although much harder. Below are signs about their office that may alert you it is a scam.
a) The office is usually a shophouse.
b) The office is probably monitored by CCTVs and has very little info about the company.
c) Pressure tactics will be used on you to pay up in order to claim your prize.
d) They will not be willing to provide documents to support the contract of agreement between you and them.
It is still not late. WALK OUT if you are not comfortable and have still not parted your money. The less you talk, the better. Of course, they will try to prevent you (maybe even physically stand at the door)
DON’T BE AFRAID, politely say “excuse me” and walk out. You can even gently use your hand, place it on the shoulder (don’t do that if you are a man and she’s a woman though), and gently but firmly move his body away.
But most likely, no one will stand at the door. They will most likely use verbal pressure to keep you in. However, if you are firm and insistent, they will let you go.
If they do physically keep you in their premise against your will, say you will alert the police for wrongful confinement. That should do the trick.
The last thing they want is violence in their office for fear that the police would come. So fear them not, they won’t physically harm you, JUST WALK OUT.
3. Should you finally be duped into parting your money and you now regret that move, there still is hope to recover it – but the process may take a long time. Anytime from a few days to even months. Here is what you should do.
a) Report to the police.
b) Report to the tribunal after you report to the police. If you do not know the Tribunal office, ask the police. They know.
c) At the Tribunal office listen to every single detail (I really mean this one – EVERY SINGLE DETAIL) the officers tell you.
d) Follow the instructions of the officials at the Tribunal to the last detail. If the tell you to do something, do it. If they tell you not do something, DON’T DO IT.
e) As mentioned earlier in my article, the syndicate operates widely and the top is involved. The lower ranks of the police and the tribunal KNOW what is going on but there are LIMITS to what they can do to help you. These are people who will advise you how to recover your money. Listen to them very closely.
The Biggest No-No is of course, to take the law into your own hands. That’s what the syndicate wants. If you do, you now run foul of the law and you have no case against them.
Some Important Points to Note -
The neighbours beside their office in all probability are involved too. Don’t ask for help from them. The neigbouring offices are probably watch posts to alert the Operations Office of possible raids.
The public would also not be willing to help you, so don’t go round the vicinity asking for help. The public around the area KNOWS the office is a scam run by syndicates, so they won’t even dare touch you with a ten foot pole. The less they deal with you (and the scamming office), the better for them.
Many victims have claimed to be “charmed” and “have lost control”, such that they do not even know how did they part with their money. This, I have no comment because it is dabbling with the unseen world. However, the repeated mention of charms from victims who don’t even know each other, makes me feel that it is an important point to highlight. I leave readers to make their own conclusion on this one.
The Closure -
Should there be a closure to your case and you finally get your money back from them, here are some important points to note.
a) Agree that both sides have decided to close their case and neither side will pursue his case any further.
b) Do it over a gentleman’s handshake with the “towkay” of the office and HONOUR YOUR WORD.
c) The Syndicate will NEVER go back on their word for as long as you don’t on yours.
d) Don’t fear the small fry who is not satisfied he lost his commission because you got your money back, or because he lost his face because you mocked him earlier and now he will take revenge against you. He won’t. If he does, his boss will take care of him. That’s good enough for him to cower away from you.
Conclusion -
This article is to alert Singaporeans who are vulnerable to the scam operations in Malaysia. It is run by triads, so don’t ever take the law into your own hands.
At the same time, don’t be afraid of them. They know that they have to obey the law too. That is part of their deal with the top – (remember that point well). After all, this is what Ah Hing replied to the question, who runs your (the triad’s) world – “The government.”
However, prevention is still better than cure. Whenever someone tells you that you won a prize, smile and walk away. The less you talk, the better.
Related Link
The Feared Chinese Triads in Malaysia – Part 2 (Trafficking Women)
