Salakau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Salakau, which literally means '369' in Hokkien, is a street gang or sometimes oft-called a secret society based in Singapore.
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[edit] History
The gang was formed during the early 1960s in the early years of Singapore's Independence when the police force was more relaxed in its enforcementships. 369 recruited members mainly in prisons and ex-convicts who wanted to belong to the most powerful gang. Up until recently, 369 was a group of the '18' (Sio Kuntong in Hokkien) secret society. It has since declared its independence from the '18' group and has opened up branches of its own in many parts of Singapore. Places like Tanjong Rhu, Kallang Airport, Teck Whye Lane, Clementi, Tanglin Halt, Mei Ling Street, Joo Seng and places like Yew Tee are the main branches in which many members are recruited.
Most of them are childish teenagers who think it is cool to be associated with a virtually non-existent once-powerful gang. Most eventually grow out of it after realizing how stupid they are. For the majority, the realization came in their late teens or after a term in the boys' home.
[edit] Member identification
Typically, 369 members are tall, skinny boys with heavily-tattooed dragon bodies. They claimed to be fighters but in fact, pale in comparison to burly foreign gangsters like 50 Cent, Notorious 'Big'. 369 members often tattoo lines of dots called 'diam' in Hokkien on their foreheads or even five dots on each knuckle on their fingers to identify themselves as 'Fighters'. Teardrops on the cheeks are also quite common to signify as they have recently lost a 'Brother' due to a gang attack or have no more tears to cry during a fight. Without any fear.
[edit] Gang violence in Singapore
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the gang furiously attacked rival gangs and started many turf wars. It also started recruiting many members from the Indian & Malay community after relaxing the only-Chinese rule. It also made profits from the sale of illegal and pirated VCDs, narcotics and prostitution. Attacks on rival gangs such as the '303' gang (Sakongsa in Hokkien), the Omega gang and other independent branches of the '18' group were somewhat of a routine occurrence. The police cracked down on gang activity in the early 1980s and gang wars ceased 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.[citation needed] However, in the late 1990s and early dawn of the millennium, the 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 force tightened its noose on the gangs. Singapore's Secret Society Branch dedicated most of its resources to halt the gang violence and managed in netting in a considerable amount of members. Slowly but surely, the gang violence receded and many members were put in prison. Salakau often can see them in the market selling their body away. This is to show that they are not scared of the uncles and aunties in the market.
[edit] Recent activity
Salakau has predominantly held the territories as mentioned but gang activity has been brought to a standstill as the laws are stricter. The Singapore Police Force has a better understanding of the gang networks and ample resources to stamp out further violence. The gang situation in Singapore has officially described as 'an unorganized network of street corner gangs with no centralized leaders.'They also can be seen in the club having fun or at the stairs in the HDB flats having sex.
