When Singapore is mentioned, several labels come to mind: Garden City, Chinese country, world's most expensive, strict laws, and safety in daily life.
In this chaotic yet orderly region of Southeast Asia, Singapore stands out for its exceptional public safety and security, earning a global reputation. This underscores Singapore's strength.
Surprisingly, even in the world's safest country, Singapore has its underworld.
Activities such as gambling, drug trafficking, loan sharking, carrying weapons, and doorstep revenge still occur in certain corners of Singapore.
Singapore's underworld organizations are known as secret societies.
Despite Singapore's strict laws and dedicated police force, secret societies persist, often carrying weapons like small cleavers and knives.
Even in developed Singapore, the coexistence of light and darkness cannot be avoided.
To this day, Singapore continues to grapple with the existence of secret societies, despite government and police efforts to combat crime.
Many of these secret societies were suppressed by Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, decades ago, but are now beginning to resurface.
They are no longer as overt as before, operating more covertly with greater mobility among members, making it harder for law enforcement to apprehend them.
They no longer openly engage in brawls but still carry small weapons like cleavers, knuckle dusters, and knives.
Secret societies in Singapore are mainly divided into two factions: those involved in illegal activities such as gambling and loan sharking, and youth at risk who are prone to getting involved in fights.
Traditional secret societies often engage in illegal profit-making activities such as illegal gambling, extortion, high-interest loans, selling untaxed cigarettes, and cough syrup, focusing on personal gain.
The younger generation of street gangs lacks clear goals and fixed territories, often spending time in entertainment venues and getting into fights over trivial matters.
Many come from broken homes or environments lacking parental care, leading them to seek recognition by joining secret societies.
A real-life story from the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Bureau involves Xiao Guang (pseudonym), whose parents divorced early, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings alone.
Lacking family support, Xiao Guang frequently skipped school and was bullied.
After a confrontation with a senior student armed with a knife, he learned the principle of using force against force.
At the age of nine, Xiao Guang joined a secret society, starting with selling untaxed cigarettes, then cough syrup, and eventually entering the drug trade.
At seventeen, Xiao Guang was arrested for drug trafficking, confirming the saying that "joining the gang is like stepping into a coffin with one foot and into a hospital with the other."
Conflicts between members of secret societies often "affect families."
In 2021, several members of secret societies were attacked due to inter-organization conflicts, resulting in a father and mother being hospitalized for 8 and 14 days respectively.
Fearing retaliation, the victims dared not testify in court.
Singapore's secret societies were once rampant, known as the "underground government."
During British colonial rule, Singapore had two governments: the above-ground government and the "underground government" of secret societies.
At that time, there were nearly 400-500 brawls each year.
In the 1950s, Singapore's secret societies were powerful, with frequent brawls.
Thanks to Lee Kuan Yew's enactment of Article 55, Singapore was able to break free from the rampant underworld.
This law empowered the Minister of Internal Affairs to detain individuals who posed a threat to public safety without trial, applicable to activities of secret societies, illegal loan sharking, drug trafficking, and other crimes.
The police also implemented various policies to suppress secret societies and encouraged members willing to reform to surrender.
Despite the declining number of secret societies each year, Singapore has still seen incidents of knife fights in the past five years.
According to the latest data from the Singapore Prison Service, in 2023, 78 out of 80 people detained under Article 55 were arrested for activities related to secret societies.
Police revealed that about 45% of inmates in prisons over the past three years have gang affiliations.
Senior Investigator Ra of the Singapore Criminal Investigation Department's Secret Society Dismantling Unit admitted that while the ideal situation would be to completely dismantle secret societies, it is currently not feasible.
However, the number of secret societies in Singapore is generally under control, and everything remains manageable.
Singapore's ability to provide a strong sense of security stems from its rigorous, meticulous, and effective laws and law enforcement actions.
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