Gangsterism
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u r right sas has been note by ssb...the sch is link wif one case on mass hp theif...Originally posted by qazplm:Its not DM that its ZAI..... but he do plays an important part in it.....
SAS have long being noted by CID/SSB.....
rest of it, will be up to your imagination....
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not sure if its just me but i find the topic reeking of elitism, with the idea that pristine singapore do not need certain elements , and so we need stronger measures to take care of such "problems"
wasn't this the very idea that guided most of pap's policies?
denial , and thinking that stronger measures are needed without thinking of the consequences -
Agree whole heartedly. Stretching such self anointed moral superiority and elitism to the extreme you actually find Adoft Hitler, who thinks the Aryans are the superior race and all other undesirable elements such as jews....should be captured and eliminated. I might have stretched a bit too far, but......Originally posted by oldbreadstinks:not sure if its just me but i find the topic reeking of elitism, with the idea that pristine singapore do not need certain elements , and so we need stronger measures to take care of such "problems"
wasn't this the very idea that guided most of pap's policies?
denial , and thinking that stronger measures are needed without thinking of the consequences -
helo ppl
I am new here
Anyways, my 2cents worth,
The problem of gangsterism now is peanuts as compared to 3-4 years ago. Loitering in void decks and malls doesnt constitute any offence as far as I know and underaged smoking doesnt just apply to hooligans alone.
I believe this is probably just a passing phase in their life. A few years or even months, they would probably be sick of it and move on.
Just my honest opinion ,cheers -
i dun see the need to reply to the last few posts as we have different views. here's today article from The Straits Times.
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MORE teens are being caught fighting and many of the clashes are believed to be gang-related.
Scenes from a film last year about juvenile delinquents, commissioned to address the problem of rising juvenile crime.
But what worries social workers most is the changing profile of the youths who claim to be gang members.
A growing number are from intact families, unlike before when most were from single-parent or dysfunctional homes.
Also, more among them are bright students, some even hailing from top schools. However, school dropouts or the academically weak still dominate.
Police told The Straits Times that in the first half of this year alone, 255 youths aged seven to 19 were arrested for rioting, which includes being involved in fights and other disturbances in groups of five or more.
It is a steep rise compared to four years ago.
In fact, just 257 youths were arrested in the whole of 2000. Since then, the number has almost doubled, hitting 475 last year.
The police said there are 'very few' teen gangs here.
However, many of these youths appear to be gang members because social workers said the Streetwise Programme has more referrals, from the police and courts, involving youths who have 'drifted' into gangs.
It is uncertain whether many of them are actually secret-society members because, Streetwise counsellors said, some may claim to have secret-society connections just to scare off their rivals.
Still, these teens cause grief to themselves and others, through smoking, drinking, fighting and drugs, said the social workers.
A study in June suggests parental neglect may be a root cause of why youths fall prey to criminal activity.
Conducted by Teen Challenge, a non-profit organisation, the study found about eight in 10 youths in its Streetwise Programme come from intact families, with many from 'well-to-do' homes.
Teen Challenge senior youth counsellor Joyce Chan said many of the parents spend very little time with their children or are concerned only about their grades.
'Teens expect more from their parents than just pocket money. They want to be understood and to feel loved,' she said.
So when family support is weak and they get poor grades, many youths join gangs to gain a sense of belonging, said social workers.
Others do it for a sense of 'achievement' when they win fights or extort money. 'They want to be somebody. They want others to look up to them,' said Lakeside Family Centre counsellor Steve Boey.
Most are recruited by word of mouth, usually through friends, to become one of the numerous ghin nah in the gang.
In gangspeak, ghin nah run errands for their bosses and are often called on to fight for their gang.
While the police did not give a gender breakdown of the youths caught, the National Youth Council said the Streetwise Programme still sees 'predominantly' boys arrested for gang-related crimes.
Some 650 youths have passed through the programme since a government panel on youth crime launched it in 1997 to address the issue of street-corner gangs.
In a bid to tackle the problem, the Singapore Children's Society is setting up a centre in Jurong in November where youths can hang out.
Said Ms Carol Balhetchet, its youth development director: 'We want to give them skills to help them find jobs so they don't get involved with gangs, which tend to offer them a fast buck from selling pirated VCDs.'
Source: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,275190,00.html?
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THEEBAN (not his real name) joined a secret society 'for fun' when he was in Primary 6.
That was five years ago.
Describing himself then as quiet and shy in school, he wanted 'to become a big shot, so people will notice me'.
His days and nights were often spent hanging out with the gang's other members - about 12 or 13 of them, all in their teens - drinking at coffee shops and often, fighting with weapons such as parangs and beer bottles.
He declines to disclose the name of his gang, but all his 'bosses' are in jail, he said.
'After my first fight, I felt like a big shot. When people saw me, they were so scared. The feeling was very shiok,' said Theeban, whose father is a mechanic, and his mother, a housewife.
By 16, he said he had become such a feared fighter, he left the gang to start his own.
The eldest of three children, he recruited 16 friends from school and collected 'shirt' money of $20 from each of them every month.
Explaining the rationale behind the 'shirt' money, he said: 'When you join a gang, we will take care of you.
'If you have a problem, we must go and help you fight. But we also need money to rush down in a taxi.'
To earn extra money, his gang smuggled cigarettes to sell to students.
Last year, after he was arrested by the police and put on the Streetwise Programme, he said he had given up his old ways.
Now 17 and studying in the Institute of Technical Education, he said: 'I realised being a gangster is useless. It won't get you anywhere.'
Source: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,275080,00.html? -
busted within one year of starting his own gang?
By 16, he said he had become such a feared fighter, he left the gang to start his own.
Last year, after he was arrested by the police and put on the Streetwise Programme, he said he had given up his old ways.
Now 17 and studying in the Institute of Technical Education, he said: 'I realised being a gangster is useless. It won't get you anywhere.'
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Speaking of hooligans, I've had some expiriences myself...those stopid loitering kiddies just want to act 'cool' although I find them quite dopey and dumb with their weird and highly unfashionable hairstyles....they just want to show off adn feel good through smoking in the voidecks with ah lians...some have tried bothering me but they are nothing cuz if you just ignore them or bust their egos, like, 'oi,fuck off lah..' or just comment on how they look and stuffthey'l just shut up...most don't look for you if you're not an easy target. I've had a dozen hooligans surround my school b4 just becasue of some dumb boys who blindly joined a gang...the hooligans were esily rounded up by my sch's PE teacher and matah ( school manager) and sent wimpering back to their sch...
But, the police oso one kind lah...and the soem other sch oso KNS lah...student smoke right outside sch gate the teachers see oso dun care, so... -
But do you know that loitering can cause other problems like staring which leads to fighting and unerage smoking can cause an increase in lung cancer among other problems taht will reflect badly upon the gahmen?Originally posted by eutanesia:The problem of gangsterism now is peanuts as compared to 3-4 years ago. Loitering in void decks and malls doesnt constitute any offence as far as I know and underaged smoking doesnt just apply to hooligans alone. -
Quinsy, these people just dunno the real situation that we students experience.
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hmm.. skyfoo.. r u having some problems wif gangsterS..?
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There are a thousand and one ways to lead o fighting and whatnot, and loitering is just one of them. alrite. Like I said , it a growing phase.Originally posted by Quinsy:But do you know that loitering can cause other problems like staring which leads to fighting and unerage smoking can cause an increase in lung cancer among other problems taht will reflect badly upon the gahmen? -
we were all students once, but the problem is the situation's probably the other way round for usOriginally posted by skyfoo:Quinsy, these people just dunno the real situation that we students experience. -
no. some of them are my friends. just feels that they are a nuisanceOriginally posted by ^HaRu^:hmm.. skyfoo.. r u having some problems wif gangsterS..?
to the public. -
Agree! Its even more different when you've been one of them before...Originally posted by skyfoo:no. some of them are my friends. just feels that they are a nuisance
to the public. -
ha. will nv be..Originally posted by Quinsy:Agree! Its even more different when you've been one of them before... -
Becuz past that stage liao mah...now can think and more matureed of course you won't.Originally posted by skyfoo:ha. will nv be.. -
sometimes imaturity and intorlerence coupled with arrogrance can be mistaken for maturity too
at least thats whats happening in most of sg? -
Most probably. Like my maths teacher. And my geography teacher. And...Originally posted by oldbreadstinks:sometimes imaturity and intorlerence coupled with arrogrance can be mistaken for maturity too
at least thats whats happening in most of sg? -
funny how it always seems to be the people in power, or places of prominenceOriginally posted by Quinsy:Most probably. Like my maths teacher. And my geography teacher. And... -
trust me.. they will grow up one day.. one day they will just realise tt wad they r doing is completely irrelevant to their life..
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Oct 24, 2004
Bash street kids
Misfits feel a sense of belonging - but become the scapegoats when there's trouble
By Debbie Swee
THEY hang out at HDB void decks and shopping centres, go drinking and clubbing, and get into fights.
To fund these activities, they extort protection money from younger, vulnerable kids or 'gin nah' (Hokkien for children) whom they recruit into their ranks.
These street-corner gangs are apparently behind the rise in the number of youths arrested for rioting, say social workers.
Violence among youths, as portrayed in the movie After School, has been blamed on street-corner gangs who go around picking fights with one another.
In the first nine months of this year, 382 youths were arrested, up from 368 last year.
The gangs are made up mostly of teenagers. Some members are as young as 12 years old. The gangs range in size from five to as many as 50 members.
According to conservative estimates, there are at least 10 gangs in Singapore, with different associations and branches.
Their members hang out at billiard parlours, pubs that play techno music, playgrounds, video arcades and malls such as Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and Parkway Parade.
Some gangs even use the names of once-powerful secret societies of the 1960s, such as Sio Gi Ho and Sio Loh Kuan.
But they are unlikely to be affiliated to these groups.
Private investigator Lionel De Souza, who once worked in the Secret Societies Branch of the police force during the 1960s and 1970s, thinks these old gangs still exist but now lack bite.
'These gangs cannot be totally eradicated, but they have now been successfully suppressed by the police, in the sense that they are no longer well-organised entities,' said the 61-year-old.
Street gangs thrive because they provide companionship and acceptance to members, who might otherwise feel like rejects in society, says Ms Carol Balhetchet, director of youth development at the Children's Society.
'These teens have to be more realistic about their preconceived ideas of feeling safe and protected, because they are only wanted by the gang to the extent that they serve the hidden purpose, such as carrying out illegal activities,' she said. 'However, this relationship will not last forever.'
In general, more males than females tend to be involved in these gangs, although gender rarely makes a difference.
'No matter what gender they are, they can be brutal,' said Ms Joyce Chan, senior youth counsellor of Teen Challenge, a voluntary welfare organisation that works with youth offenders.
'Usually, the mentality is that the guys tend to be more heavy-hand- ed, but the girls can also show no mercy.' Ms Chan works mainly with juvenile delinquents, including those who are trying to break away from gangs.
The gangs have devious ways of recruiting members.
Some use the 'good guy, bad guy' technique, where they get a group of troublemakers to bully potential recruits.
Then, the gang leader steps in to act as a 'hero' to protect them.
Another variation is to harass the potential recruit and demand he fork out money to settle the purported grievance and become a protected member of the gang.
Some recruits pay entrance fees of around $20 in addition to weekly protection fees of about $10. Members who cannot pay up are forced to sell illegal VCDs and shoplift.
But the most prevalent activity of gang members is hanging out in their territories and getting into confrontations over petty issues that eventually escalate into brawls.
These face-offs range from the classic staring incidents to boy-girl relationship problems.
Because the gang mentality is based on strength in numbers, the whole gang will turn up to help a member confront a rival.
The greatest problem is that these youths become scapegoats most of the time.
'I call these street gangs the dispensable group, because whenever a fight breaks out or the police conduct raids, they are always the first to be rounded up, rather than the real masterminds,' said Ms Balhetchet.
This is what happened to Aki (not his real name). When he was 15 years old, a classmate introduced him to the Sa Lak Kau (369) gang.
Back then, he felt it was cool to be reputed to be a gangster.
He was eventually arrested for trying to steal a motorbike on Christmas Eve last year, and put on probation.
The experience woke him up.
'I went for a prison visit, and the police showed me the cramped cells and how the prisoners were being treated,' said the 18-year-old.
'They also showed me a video clip of a prisoner being caned. That really shook me.'
The eldest son of a housewife and a machinist, Aki has now sworn off gangsterism.
However, many youngsters like him find it hard to quit these street-corner gangs.
It could be because those who want to leave the gang have to accept a beating from fellow members before they can do so.
In the case of the Sa Lak Kau gang, members have to pay $369 to quit.
Less powerful and influential gangs let their members go without question after a period of absence.
Although members who wish to leave may be threatened with bodily harm or may fear that their family members will be harassed, it is possible to escape from the clutches of these gangs.
Mr De Souza said: 'Change your mobile number and avoid the places where the gangs always hang out. And if they come to your house, call the police.'
Meanwhile, those who have friends embroiled in gangs can also intervene to help.
'Please, you are doing your friends a favour by telling someone who can help them,' he said.
The Straits Times
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/geny/story/0,5562,280962-1098655140,00.html? -
gang is a problem but nowadays, there are just kids that lacking of opportunity and too muhc influence by the TV shows.
If u r born in and around the 70s, or even earlier. u will know what is a gang. they dun accidentally kill pple, the kill with intention.
until u see parangs and guns, things will be just fine for now. dun nid worry so much, just ignore them. -
i hate gangster !!
they only bully the weaker...
eeeee -
x2Originally posted by SGpork:i hate gangster !!
they only bully the weaker...
eeeee -
yeo ah yeo !
Let's drink e yeo's lemon tee.... kinda sweet