Hainanese Pinyin
96-513: Ah Kong ( Chinese : 阿公 ) was an organised crime and drugs syndicate that used to extensively control the European heroin trade in the 1970s to 1990s. Originating from Singapore , it was one of the world's largest drug syndicates , having been mainly based in Amsterdam , Netherlands, and Bangkok , Thailand, where they received their drug supplies. The production of heroin was at an area known as
192-510: A 20% cut, thus controlling the heroin pricing. Ah Kong's activities soon expanded to other European cities and had their men stationed in major cities across Europe. Tan, a recalcitrant and habitual gambler, started embezzling the Company's fund. If the accountant would not collaborate with him, he would be replaced. Eventually, Tan's insidious ways were exposed that led to the breaking up between Johnny and him. Johnny went to Bangkok and established
288-410: A Swedish prison. After his release, he affirmed Tan spoke to the authorities and 'fingered' him. Tan moved to Copenhagen later and permanently resided there. He married a Danish woman and took up Danish citizenship. Although some of his followers had good things to say about him, many had not any. Roland Tan's reputation was anything but honest; and he was one known for ripping off his friends. When
384-436: A basic monthly salary starting from 2000 guilders , and had their lodging and food taken care of. All the men, even the lowest ranking, were paid a yearly bonus from a "profit-sharing scheme" with the money from drug deals. Members were also given cars and a petrol allowance for which they had to produce receipts. There was a petty cash system where members could take money out to entertain their friends from Singapore. Each year,
480-473: A close-knit family, demanding uncompromising loyalty from all members. However, Ah Kong was never run along secret societies or triads lines at all. It was well-organized and run efficiently as a business entity with a distinct hierarchy. Ah Kong had also diversified its business into restaurants, the diamond trade, travel agencies, nightclubs, gambling and buying Kung Fu films cheaply in Hong Kong and making
576-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
672-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst
768-454: A cut from the drug seized. In 1997, Dennis received a call from a female friend asking to meet up. Thinking that he was to meet just a female friend, Dennis went alone and was gunned down inside his car by two submachine gun -wielding men on motorbikes. The killing was headline news on the front of all the major newspapers in the Netherlands. The female friend's family was heavily in debts but
864-555: A dispute with the 14K at a restaurant in Amsterdam Chinatown . They entered the restaurant and yelled 'Who's 14K?'. A young man stood up and replied he was and they shot him – killing him on the spot. The man who pulled the trigger was a Malaysian Chinese fugitive known as Tony. Although they were small in numbers but their actions had earned them respect and fear; and their reputation helped them to expand their influence. By 1973, Ah Kong's dealings had grown and they had become
960-592: A domestic addiction problem, but also encouraged foreign narcotics merchants, especially the Chinese, to move into the country. Dutch law made it extremely difficult for the police to cope with narcotics traffic. A trafficker must be in physical possession of illegal drugs to be prosecuted. Sting operations and plea bargains are forbidden. Wiretaps cannot be used in direct evidence. Sentences are short and jails are as comfortable as college campuses. Upon reaching Amsterdam, Roland and his brethren were received and taken care of by
1056-455: A female restaurant employee. During his reign, he recruited many Malaysian Chinese and some local Dutchmen . It was reported in the Singapore press that a hundred men could be flown in from Malaysia if there is a need for any gang clash. The second-in-command, Henry, and third-in-command of Ah Kong were former See Tong members. Under Dennis' leadership, Ah Kong became more influential. Dennis
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#17328559311511152-517: A few days before the assassination, the debts were mysteriously cleared. Siam-kia announced that he was the one who had ordered the hit. However, some people from the inner-circle discredited his claim and some said that the leader of the Sin Ma gang had a part in the conspiracy. Henry, the second-in-command of Ah Kong, was automatically promoted to become the new leader. Henry had risen from the rank of an enforcer and had limited connections. He did not enjoy
1248-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
1344-457: A good relationship with his peers and had little support from them, thus rendering him rather useless. He was fond of gambling at the casinos and loved to go to karaokes. He did not show much enthusiasm in seeking revenge for his predecessor, Dennis. The Ah Kong based in Thailand, in charge of transporting the drugs to Europe, refused to send shipments as a protest of his leadership. The Company's fund
1440-474: A lot of money screening them in Europe, which also acted as fronts for their illegal business. Ah Kong members were all well-off from the profits of the drug transactions and spent freely on women, travel, expensive clothes and drinks. As a rule, Ah Kong left its members to their own indulgences. But ironically enough, the only thing it would not tolerate was drug consumption by members. The Ah Kong members were paid
1536-469: A major menace in Singapore, especially in the 1950s to the 1970s. Gang wars that resulted in deaths and serious injuries, even to common bystanders, were a common sight in those days. In 1954, the Commissioner of Police in Singapore revealed that there were 368 known secret societies in Singapore. The police had kept the records of 20,000 members of secret societies, of which 6,500 were active members. This
1632-631: A major player in the heroin trade. The man in control of the heroin trade then was the first Chinese Godfather in Europe, Chung Mon aka Unicorn of the 14K . He was a Hakka born in Bao'an (present Shenzhen ), China. He was the Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Association in the Netherlands. Not only did Chung Mon do a lot of work for charity and was decorated by the Dutch government, he was connected with
1728-510: A new generation leader call Bernard, but better known as Siam-kia, which literally means Siamese Kid in Hokkien . Siam-kia had previously attained a university degree when he was in prison without trial in Singapore. After taking over the leadership of Ah Kong, Siam-kia handpicked a team of elite enforcers and ran the gang in executive style. A casino was opened at Kerkstraat 23 in Amsterdam. There
1824-599: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
1920-518: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),
2016-482: A person known as Johnny, or Big Johnny as some would like to call him. Johnny was the godson of Roland's mother. He was not a See Tong member but a seaman from Singapore who had resided in the Netherlands. Johnny was a man with many connections. Roland Tan and his brethren, who had very little money with them, saw how members of Hong Kong 's infamous 14K triad were doing a thriving drug trade. Very soon, Tan partnered Johnny and they founded Ah Kong but operated under
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#17328559311512112-606: A well-respected See Tong member, Michael, visited the Netherlands in the 1970s, Roland ordered one of his men to publicly humiliate the unarmed man. In the 1990s, Tan in turn was openly disrespected and humiliated by Henry, who was the Ah Kong boss then, in front of the associates from Taiwan whom Tan had taken to visit Amsterdam. On the contrary, Johnny was seen as a very generous man. Many were ready to risk their lives for him and there were many who were ready to finance him if he so needed it. Ah Kong thrived and grew until early 1978. When
2208-537: Is a group of Min Chinese varieties spoken in the far southern Chinese island province of Hainan and regional Overseas Chinese communities such as in Singapore and Thailand . In the classification of Yuan Jiahua , it was included in the Southern Min group, being mutually unintelligible with other Southern Min varieties such as Hokkien – Taiwanese and Teochew . In the classification of Li Rong , used by
2304-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ 'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,
2400-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
2496-809: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
2592-609: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to
2688-540: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
2784-569: The Language Atlas of China , it was treated as a separate Min subgroup. Hou Jingyi combined it with Leizhou Min , spoken on the neighboring mainland Leizhou Peninsula , in a Qiong–Lei group. "Hainanese" is also used for the language of the Li people living in Hainan, but generally refers to Min varieties spoken in Hainan. The phonologies of the different varieties of Hainanese are highly divergent, with
2880-486: The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore learned about the gang activities in 1977, undercover agents were immediately sent to Amsterdam and other European cities to probe the activities of Ah Kong. After months of investigations, they managed to compile a list of gang suspects and how they worked. Ah Kong members who returned to Singapore on holiday were detained and interrogated. The information gathered
2976-426: The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore spearheaded an international operation that resulted in the seizure of about $ 10 million Singapore dollars worth of heroin and the arrest of more than 50 members of Ah Kong in Singapore, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen , Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur and Penang . Among those detained were three of its four key leaders, which the authorities named Golden K, Ah Wee and Ah Li but
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3072-513: The Chinese community called him Ah Hia, which means "Big Brother" in Hokkien . He was ruthless to his kind but a heroic figure to the common folk. He instructed his men to avoid attention and to be polite and courteous to the common people; and to make sure that nobody make trouble for the Chinese businesses in the Netherlands. He once gave the order to execute the leader of a mainland Chinese gang who had extorted from Chinese restaurants and gang-raped
3168-607: The Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
3264-550: The Dutch underworld was when two members of Ah Kong (Johnny and his lieutenant) went to settle a dispute with the Wo Shing Wo triad in Rotterdam . Johnny's lieutenant severed the rival gang boss's arm with a wakizashi when the latter became hostile and tried to pull out a gun. They escaped but not without a hail of bullets that followed. In another incident, Ah Kong members went to settle
3360-465: The Dutch police went to Chung Mon for help and he gave them a list of most of his competitors. On 3 March 1975, three men approached Chung Mon as he stepped towards his Mercedes outside his office, and fired ten bullets into the Chinese Godfather. It is believed that the three men, who were never arrested, were sent by Ng Sik-ho aka Limpy Ho, a major Chiuchow/Teochew drug lord in Hong Kong who
3456-592: The Golden Triangle formed by Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. Ah Kong was not a triad but a fearsome organized crime gang that was renowned all over Asia and Europe. Although Ah Kong was based in Amsterdam and Bangkok , it had operations in other major European cities and the Asia-Pacific. Ah Kong, which means "The Company" or short for kongsi in Hokkien , was never that influential in their home country of Singapore despite its founding members being from there, due to
3552-533: The Hainan gang. He continued to export large quantities of heroin into Europe and his interests extended to the US. He was one boss known to be involved in the largest deals. During the 1970s, he imported multi tonnes of heroin into Europe alone. Besides the illicit trade, he owned many legitimate businesses from high-end sex clubs or brothels, restaurants to travel agencies and into financing movie production in Hong Kong where he
3648-492: The Russians and teamed up with his long-time close friend, a semi-retired Dutch kingpin, Hugo Ferrol, who was the ex-boss of a Dutch drug lord, Klaas Bruinsma . Johnny was doing well and he took Henry in when the latter was in difficult times. In 1999, Johnny was found dead, at the age of 53, in a hotel room in Hong Kong after a huge cocaine shipment was busted. The Hong Kong police concluded that he had committed suicide; and
3744-822: The Wenchang dialect being the prestige dialect , and often used as a reference. Below is a table for the consonants of Hainanese across the dialects of Wenchang , Haikou and Banqiao . For more information on a specific variety, please consult the relevant article. Many of the most widely spoken varieties of Hainanese notably have a series of implosive consonants , /ɓ/ and /ɗ/ , which were acquired through contact with surrounding languages, probably Hlai . However, more conservative varieties of Hainanese such as Banqiao remain closer to Teochew and other varieties of Southern Min , lack them. The consonant system of Hainanese corresponds well with that of Hokkien , but it has had some restructuring. In particular: Additionally, [ʑ]
3840-478: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Hainanese Hainanese ( Hainan Romanised : Hái-nâm-oe , Hainanese Pinyin : Hhai3 nam2 ue1 , simplified Chinese : 海南话 ; traditional Chinese : 海南話 ; pinyin : Hǎinánhuà ), also known as Qiongwen ( simplified Chinese : 琼文话 ; traditional Chinese : 瓊文話 ), Qiongyu ( 琼语 ; 瓊語 ) or Hainan Min ( 海南闽语 ; 海南閩語 )
3936-456: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
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4032-476: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3
4128-508: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
4224-495: The Asia-Pacific market. He was also involved in cocaine and cannabis . He did meet obstacles when he expanded his interests to Indonesia when the local kingpin there known as Hong Li, took more than a hundred thousand units of ecstasy from him but did not make payment. Siam-kia openly announced a death contract on Hong Li (Hong Li is still alive living in Canada and has return to Indonesia on several occasions). Siam-kia had also incurred
4320-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components
4416-466: The Chinese underworld in the Netherlands with an iron-fist. During this time, he saw the rising popularity of ecstasy and he began to import Piperonylmethylketone (PMK), the raw material used to mass-produce the psychedelic drug for the export markets. He was also involved in other drugs, football bookmaking, loansharking and legitimate businesses as well. Dennis spoke Dutch , English, Italian and several Chinese dialects . All his men and everyone in
4512-544: The Company's fund. The underboss of Ah Kong, Dennis aka Nor Du, who was not a former See Tong member, led a coup d'état, and the allegations implicated Siam-kia of embezzlement which led to his exit. Siam-kia was eventually "deported" to Thailand where he went through difficult times. However, he learned to 'cook' MDMA / ecstasy and began producing them in his home laboratory, and he made a comeback in 1997. He operated in Southeast Asia and supplied ecstasy and ketamine to
4608-458: The Hong Kong newspaper reported that he had stabbed himself. The day before Johnny died, he had handed over his possessions and identification documents to a close friend. Rumours were that he was not able to answer for the failed shipment to the people who had entrusted him and death was apparently his only answer. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write
4704-448: The Netherlands, already had a thriving Chinese community then. The earlier Chinese immigrations were from the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia and Surinam . This was followed by Hongkongers and smaller numbers of Chinese from Singapore and Malaysia. Many opened restaurants or worked as chefs or restaurant workers. Others were gang members or fugitives. Back in those days, Holland's relaxed attitude towards drugs not only had created
4800-580: The See Tong flag. It was later when more non-See Tong members joined them did they stopped using it and had a name change. Roland and his men operated as the muscles and Johnny imported the heroin. With only about 10 men altogether, Ah Kong was a very small outfit compared to the already well-established Hong Kong triads like 14K, Wo Shing Wo and Sun Yee On that had hundreds of members at any one time. Ah Kong members then had firearms but often armed themselves with knives. An incident that marked their arrival to
4896-407: The arrival hall, the law enforcement officers walked up to him and identified themselves but Johnny's men responded with firepower, and a shootout ensued. Johnny managed to escape to Penang, Malaysia. He returned to Amsterdam but was arrested and had 17 murder charges read to him. He was found not guilty due to lack of evidence. On 1 September 1977, Johnny was arrested again and sentenced to 10 years in
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#17328559311514992-632: The assassination of the Ah Kong boss in 1997, they began to lose their influence to the Sin Ma gang based in Rotterdam led by a Singaporean fugitive wanted for first-degree murder with firearm in the 1980s. The last official Ah Kong boss died in March 2010. Roland Tan died in 2020. Secret societies and gangs were part and parcel of everyday life which the local populace in Singapore had to live with. The gangs' activities, which included extortions, illegal gambling, prostitution, drug dealing, loansharking (illegal moneylending), armed robberies and kidnapping, were
5088-450: The car of their rival gang members at the junction of Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road . One of the rival gang members, who were also armed, was killed and the other seriously injured during the attack. The clash had arisen from a previous dispute between See Tong and Pek Kim Leng gang members in a bar. Negotiations held later to settle the dispute broke down. A 'curfew' between the two gangs ensued whereby gang members would attack at
5184-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
5280-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
5376-420: The country's strict anti-drug policies and the successful crackdown on secret societies there. It was also known to have had connections with other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, and over the years they had built strong ties with the infamous Penang -based Sio Sam Ong . Most of the members of Ah Kong were Singaporean Chinese and spoke Hokkien although they were overseas-based. It
5472-465: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from
5568-504: The dislike of some Ah Kong elders because he had betrayed a prominent Ah Kong old-timer, Jack, who had gone into partnership with him. For this reason, when the two men met many years later in Bangkok , Jack smashed a glass onto Siam Kia's head. In 2000s, Siam-kia has made an enormous windfall from real estate investments in Cambodia and runs a casino there. After deposing Siam-kia, Dennis ruled
5664-533: The drug trade in Amsterdam. Not only the 5% cut of every drug deal was to be increased but all drug deals would have to go through the 14K. On the anniversary of Chung Mon's death, 3 March 1976, which was seven months after Chan's arrival in Amsterdam, he went to the Yow Lee domino club co-owned by Johnny and his sworn brother, Mo Yong, who was also a 14K member. On that day, Chan won a few million guilders on domino or pai kow from Mo Yong. Mo Yong contacted Johnny who
5760-472: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see
5856-616: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over
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#17328559311515952-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
6048-465: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility
6144-503: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
6240-407: The fourth, Ah Meng ( Roland Tan ), escaped. The crackdown dealt a decisive blow to Ah Kong. One of the Ah Kong members who was arrested cooperated with the authorities and provided information of the gang members' whereabouts was gunned down in Thailand after his release. Till the early 1980s, the leader of Ah Kong was Benson until he was jailed without trial in Singapore. The gang was later led by
6336-425: The heroin reached its destination without any problem. Drug couriers were paid $ 15000 Singapore dollars per trip and given an all-expenses paid holidays in Europe. This sum, which could buy a house in Singapore in the 1970s, was not easy to resist. With the millions of dollars Ah Kong made, they were able to grow their business very fast. In one operation, they used 70 couriers on a single flight to Amsterdam. One of
6432-567: The highest level of the Kuomintang government in Taiwan as well. Chung Mon took a 5 percent cut for every drug deal. He was questioned by the police on a number of occasions because of his role in the heroin world, but was released because he had a friend with the police who had some influence. When the Chinese community erupted in a series of gunfights as rival gangs lined up on opposite sides of narrow streets and opened fire on one another with shotguns,
6528-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what
6624-459: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
6720-407: The members received about 20000 guilders as "clothing allowance" and Italian designer suits were highly recommended. Singaporean seamen who worked as couriers in European cities were paid at least $ 2000 Singapore dollars a month with an additional $ 1000 Singapore dollars given to send home to their families. Ah Kong members usually accompanied the couriers without them knowing it, to ensure that
6816-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,
6912-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted
7008-716: The reason that the quality was not good enough for the agreed price. His claim was made only after he had sold the cannabis not upon receiving the shipment. During a meeting in Bangkok, Dennis insulted Johnny of being lacking in knowledge of dealing in the drug business and they ended with animosities. Dennis had received threats from his enemies and almost every competitor in the business wanted him dead. Therefore, he moved around with no less than 20 heavily armed bodyguards who carried bags packed with submachine guns and grenades , and who communicated with each other with walkie-talkies . He had also tightened security with surveillance cameras on
7104-575: The reasons for Ah Kong's success was that they were always one step ahead of the law. When Amsterdam customs officers started checking on all Asian passengers thoroughly, Ah Kong flew its couriers to 'safer' airports in London, Oslo , Copenhagen, Paris and Rome. From these airports, the couriers travelled to Amsterdam or Frankfurt by train or taxi. They avoided airports in Germany and Denmark because these countries used narcotics detector dogs. In late August 1978,
7200-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
7296-476: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted
7392-461: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
7488-441: The sight of each other. Roland and many of his fellow gang members were from a Hainanese village at Upper Serangoon, where the community was close-knit and included hardened fugitives and seamen. With the help of See Tong, Roland and some of his 'brothers' managed to escape to Amsterdam . Most of the gang members involved in the attack were arrested and were jailed without trial. Amsterdam, capital and second-largest port city of
7584-420: The small-timers resisted, Ah Kong's actions were swift and brutal. First they resorted to torture, and then murder. Bodies were found on the canals of Amsterdam. From then on, their reputation grew for not only being fearless but also ruthless; and they dominated Holland's heroin empire. Rules were set that whoever imported heroin into the country must hand them over to Ah Kong for distribution and Ah Kong would get
7680-553: The streets than to face the gallows and the wrath of the Singapore law. Ah Kong defeated 14K, after which Ngau Si permanently retreated to London, England. Siam-kia was the most popular amongst all the Ah Kong bosses. Although he was the brain behind Ah Kong, he owed his success to the many capable people he had equipped himself with. Ah Kong became so prosperous that it owned more than a hundred racehorses in Singapore. However, like Roland before him, Siam Kia too succumbed to gambling. He lost heavily on horse racing that led him to embezzle
7776-650: The streets where the Ah Kong casino was located. Ah Kong members were dressed in Versace and wore diamond-studded gold Rolex watches which became their trademark. However, Dennis chose to dress simply without any luxury accessories. Ah Kong soldiers would patrol the streets, airports and train stations and look out for 'China White' traffickers arriving from Asia and other European cities. If they spot any suspicious character they would check on their passports and search them thoroughly. Anyone caught dealing behind Ah Kong's back would be punished and those who snitched will be awarded
7872-488: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
7968-817: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
8064-516: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of
8160-535: Was a rival of the 14K. (In 1991, a Hong Kong film, To Be Number One , that depicted the life of Limpy Ho was made.) Within months, the 14K headquarters in Hong Kong sent a 426 Double Flower Red-Pole (high level enforcer) to replace Chung Mon as the new dragon head. His name was Chan Yuen Muk aka Mo Dedong because he struck a resemblance to the Chinese Communist leader, Mao Zedong . Chan was an aggressive and overbearing man who made it clear he wanted to control
8256-432: Was a time Roland was detained by the European authorities and the Singapore police was ready to get him extradited back to Singapore to face a murder charge but it never happened. According to Lionel De Souza, a Singapore private detective who was with the Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department then, he was one of three local police officers on standby to extradite Roland. However, the deal fell through because there
8352-461: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
8448-441: Was an occasion when Siam-kia was disrespected by the 14K boss known as Ngau Si. A clash between the two gangs erupted. Ah Kong members were outnumbered but were already well known for being fearless and for their good fighting abilities as most of them were trained boxers and/or military-trained, and some others were fugitives on the run from death row and had nothing to lose. The members swore that they would rather die gloriously on
8544-409: Was drained and Ah Kong slowly disbanded. In 1998, Johnny was released from prison for the second time. He had been framed by a small-time Malaysian heroin trafficker and spent more than four years in a Zurich prison. He returned to the Netherlands and went into new trades: cocaine , crystal meth/ice and ecstasy ; and his operations went beyond Europe to as far as the Asia-Pacific. He associated with
8640-442: Was famously known to the underworld who had taken out Chan Yuen Muk. The incident did not deter his close relationship with the 14K from which Chan was from. Tan was not yet going to give up on the past; he gave order to his men to take out Johnny. One of Tan's men who was indebted to Johnny's kindness in the past squealed. Johnny came up with an elaborate plan of being 'dead' so that he could carry out his operation with ease. There
8736-407: Was formed when several members of See Tong (which means buddies or a group of close friends) killed and seriously injured members of their rival gang in a gang clash, and escaped to the Netherlands. While in the Netherlands, the gang received more members joining them. These new members had military training that was acquired while doing their rigorous National Service (NS) stint in Singapore. After
8832-480: Was in Hong Kong at that time and requested a hit because he was unable to pay. Subsequently, Mo Yong told Chan to come back on the following day to collect the cash. After Chan walked out of Yow Lee, he was gunned down along with his bodyguards by the Ah Kong commandos. In no time at all, Ah Kong moved into the areas once controlled by the 14K and stifled the smaller independent dealers, comprising mainly Malaysians, Thais, Indonesians, Dutch, Hongkongers and Europeans. When
8928-423: Was no ground for the European authorities to detain him further. On 30 August 1976, two Dutchmen were arrested at Bangkok airport when they attempted to smuggle 138 kg of heroin in drums. They received long prison sentences but their boss, Johnny, escaped and returned to Europe. In 1977, law enforcement agencies from the west were ready to arrest Johnny at Bangkok airport once he touched down. When he left
9024-766: Was out of a population of fewer than two million people then. To eradicate the secret societies, the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act was used by the Singapore government whereby suspected criminals could be arrested without evidence or warrant, and detained indefinitely without the detainee ever being charged with a crime or tried in a court of law. On the night of 23 October 1969, Roland Tan aka Hylam-kia – which means "Hainanese Kid" in Hokkien – and about ten of his fellow gang members from See Tong had armed themselves with machetes to attack two members of their rival gang, Pek Kim Leng (White Golden Dragon). The members of See Tong were in two cars and had trailed and cornered
9120-520: Was shared with other drug enforcement agencies in South-east Asia, Europe and the United States. The Singapore authorities found that the make-up of Ah Kong consist of Singapore gangsters, seamen and fugitives, and there were four key leaders. They were a highly dangerous group of men who had no compunctions about killing to protect The Company's interests. Within itself, the Ah Kong functioned like
9216-452: Was well connected and had built a vast pool of contacts from Asia to Europe. He had business dealings with the Italian mafia and Yugoslavian crime syndicate , although many adversaries were created at the same time. When Johnny re-entered the illicit trade, he imported 800 kg of cannabis and handed them over to Dennis for distribution. However, the payment was not made in full. Dennis gave
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