Salakau

Salakau (Chinese: 三六九; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Saⁿ-la̍k-káu), which means 369 in Hokkien, also known as "Sah Lak Kau", is a street gang or secret society based in Singapore. The numbers 3, 6 and 9 add up to 18, which was the name of an older gang; the number signified the 18 arhats (principal disciples) of Shaolin Monastery. As one of the oldest and most prominent gangs in the country, they are known to take part in many illicit activities such as narcotics, extortion, prostitution and white-collar crime — and many of their members have been in and out of prison for violent attacks and rioting. They have a renowned gang chant sung in Hokkien that is usually accompanied by techno beats. It was reproduced for Royston Tan's teenage gangster flick 15, albeit with direct references to the gang edited out.[1]

Salakau
Founding locationSingapore
Years active1970s–present
TerritorySingapore
EthnicityPredominately Chinese with some Malays and Indians
Activities
  • Narcotics
  • Extortion
  • Prostitution
  • White-collar crime and legitimate businesses
Salakau
Chinese三六九
Traditional Chinese三六九
Simplified Chinese三六九
Literal meaningThree-six-nine

History

From the early 1970s until the late 1980s, Salakau attacked rival gangs and started many turf wars. Salakau recruited many members from Indian and Malay communities after relaxing the Chinese-only rule. In the 1970s, more Malays were reported to be joining after being introduced to gang members during tea dances in discos. This was because Malay gangs were smaller and less structured due to the drastic drop of the Malay population and increase of the Chinese population.[2]

Salakau also made profits from narcotics, extortion, prostitution, white-collar crime and legitimate businesses. Attacks on rival gangs such as the '303' gang (Sakongsa in Hokkien), the Omega gang, and the 18 SYH gang were somewhat of a routine occurrence. The police cracked down on gang activity in the early 1980s and gang wars came to a screeching halt as many of the leaders were jailed. Many other notorious 'headmen' fled to neighbouring countries or were killed in gang attacks. In the 1990s, some teenagers in "pseudo-street gangs" claimed affiliation to Salakau to be "cool" but did not engage in activities as violent as those engaged in by the real gang;[3] in 1993, there were at least nine separate teenage gangs calling themselves 'Salakau'.[1] However, in the late 1990s and early dawn of the millennium, the real gang gained strength as many of the jailed leaders were released, and several of the members had succeeded in scaring off many rival gangs from territories. Gang attacks once again became common and rioting cases shot up. Cases of murder involving gang attacks and riots were steadily increasing and the police tightened its noose on the gangs. Singapore's Secret Society Branch dedicated most of its resources to halt the gang violence and managed stopping a considerable number of members. Slowly but surely, the gang violence receded and many members were put in prison.

Law enforcement

Salakau predominantly holds the territories as mentioned, but gang activity has slowed down considerably due to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) having a better understanding of the gang networks and sufficient resources. The Secret Societies Branch (SSB) of the SPF has made efforts to control the secret societies in recent years. The SSB regularly conducts surprise raids or checks on nightspots, and public places known to be gang territories to deter any potential offenders. Under Singaporean criminal law, a person found guilty of being a member of an unlawful society may be punished up to a maximum of five years imprisonment and five strokes of the cane. Sentences are usually doubled or even tripled for anyone with significant leadership and authority in any unlawful society in Singapore.

Incidents

Murder of footballer Sulaiman bin Hashim
Main article: Murder of Sulaiman bin Hashim

On 31 May 2001, after celebrating the 18th birthday of one of their members, eight male members of Salakau, all of Malay descent and aged between 18 and 21, decided to launch a surprise attack on rival gang Sakongsa (303), who were roaming around Boat Quay. The gang later spotted three Malay teens walking along Boat Quay and presuming the youths as members of the rival gang, the Salakau, led by 21-year-old Norhisham bin Mohamad Dahlan (born on 18 May 1980), went to attack the three youths and began to grievously assault one of them, leading to the unfortunate teen's death while the two others boys (one of whom was stabbed on the back by a gang member) managed to escape to inform the police. Autopsy results showed that the boy was stabbed a total of 13 times, with two separate fatal knife wounds on his neck and chest.

The three teenagers whom the Salakau gang attacked were in fact not gang members but footballers belonging to the U-18 national team. It was a case of mistaken identity. The murdered victim was identified to be 17-year-old Sulaiman bin Hashim, who was a striker in the team while the other two were his friends, Muhammad Shariff bin Abdul Samat and Mohammed Imran bin Mohammed Ali, both 17. Sulaiman was merely five days away from his 18th birthday when he was killed.

Within more than a year from May 2001 to June 2002, the police managed to arrest six of the eight attackers (including the gang leader, Norhisham), who were all charged with murder, while the remaining two others - identified as Muhammad Syamsul Ariffin bin Brahim and Sharulhawzi bin Ramly respectively - fled Singapore and went on the run till today.[4]

The arrested six members were eventually convicted of lesser charges of rioting, voluntarily causing grievous hurt and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Five of them (including Norhisham) were sentenced to fixed prison terms ranging between 3 and 10 years and caning between 6 and 16 strokes,[5][6][7] while the sixth member, Muhamad Hasik bin Sahar, received the most severe sentence of life imprisonment and 16 strokes of the cane as compared to his five other co-defendants.[8][9][10]

Downtown East incident
Main article: Death of Darren Ng Wei Jie

On 30 October 2010, 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie was injured in a gang fight with members of the Salakau.[11][12] He was pronounced dead at the hospital after being brought there.[13] 12 youths were arrested and sentenced with corporal punishment and incarceration subsequently, with 5 being charged on culpable homicide for their roles in the attack.[14]

Bukit Panjang incident

On 8 November 2010, seven youths were repeatedly slashed by a group of parang-wielding men in Bukit Panjang, in what appeared to be gang-related attacks. The victims, aged between 14 and 20, were attacked in two separate incidents. The victim of the first incident, a 20-year-old assistant technician, was slashed in the back and legs. The victims of the second incident were a group of 20 youths who were surrounded by the attackers. In both instances, the assailants first asked their victims whether they were from a gang called "Pak Hai Tong". The victims were slashed when they denied association with the group. The gang members shouted "Salakau" before fleeing the scene. The attacker left then-15-year-old Brandon Lim Qian Da hospitalised with a severed tongue while six from the second attack received outpatient treatment for their injuries.[15]

Drug-smuggling by drone

In 2020, two Salakau gang members were arrested by Malaysian police for smuggling illegal drugs from Singapore to Johor Bahru, Malaysia by drone. The arrested person are known as Boy Setan and his girlfriend.[16][17] Another two people were arrested on a follow-up operation on next day for involving in the drug smuggling activities.[18][19][20]

See also

References
  1. Ooi Boon, Tan (18 May 1993). "The name game : from sports teams and rock bands to secret societies". Straits Times
  2. Ooi Boon, Tan (10 April 1993). "Malay youths joining Chinese gangs". Straits Times
  3. Teo, Ginnie and Phuan, William (20 July 1997). "The 'bluff gangsters'". Straits Times
  4. "True Files S4 Ep 12". meWATCH. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. "Judicial caning in Singapore, November 2001". Corpun. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  6. "Judicial caning in Singapore, July 2002". Corpun. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. "Man jailed for killing national soccer player". The Star. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  8. "Life term for killer". National Library Board. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  9. "Public Prosecutor v Muhamad Hasik bin Sahar" (PDF). Supreme Court Judgements. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  10. "Judicial caning, Singapore". Corpun. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. "Couple lost son in Downtown East gang fight in 2010, but now save his friends". The Straits Times. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  12. "Youths attacked by '369' gang members". www.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  13. "Youth dies from slash wounds". www.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  14. "Downtown East murder: Five youths sentenced to jail and caning". www.asiaone.com. 8 September 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  15. "Youths attacked by '369' gang member Archived 12 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine" AsiaOne News
  16. "'Boy Setan' arrested for smuggling drugs from Singapore to JB using drone". The Star. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  17. Nordin, Remar Bin. "Drugs-by-drone suspects wanted in Singapore". The Star. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  18. "Malaysia police hunt Singapore man for smuggling drugs by drone". South China Morning Post. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  19. "4 arrested after drone carrying drugs spotted over Kranji Reservoir Park". CNA. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  20. Hammim, Rizalman (24 June 2020). "Drugs by drone: 2 more arrested | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
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