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HIS life has been all about gangs and jail.

And for some time, it was about gangs IN jail.

Tony has been a gangster since his teenage years, and he has been in and out of jail since then too.

Now 38, Tony is serving his sixth sentence. He is not the only one from his gang who was behind bars.

At one point, he got together with some of the others and had a fight with another gang - in jail.

He has been punished for that.

And he told The New Paper, in a rare interview conducted inside Changi Prison, that he wants out.

Tony's real identity and the name of his gang has been withheld to protect him.

Tony said that when a prisoner entered prison, those with gang affiliations would flock to their friends.

Those without were sometimes approached and recruited.

And the gangs expected the affiliation to continue outside too.

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

All that happened until 2001, when the prisons introduced a Zero Tolerance Policy against gang activities in jail.

Since then, things have improved dramatically.

Tony knows this well.

In 2003, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail for criminal intimidation, being in an illegal gathering and having a dangerous weapon.

His gang had made him arrange an attack on a rival gang. For three days, they staged running battles, before police broke up the fight and arrested several of them. Tony was nabbed with a parang.

Prison authorities gave The New Paper access to Tony at the maximum security wing of the new Changi Prison complex - he wanted his story told - as a warning to youths who have been sucked back into gangs.

Tony greeted those present politely, tried to speak as little as possible and occasionally thought carefully about how to answer our questions.

He looked warily at this reporter while occasionally gazing at the floor.

Tony behaved like someone who had all the fight taken out of him, with none of the bravado and swagger one associates with gang members.

Tony said he's planning to quit being a gangster. It's not so easy though.

Outside of prison, he would have to fight to leave his gang. Inside, he may be accused of being a stooge.

LIKE 'CLASS REUNION'

Prison time can be like a class reunion. You fight together, you go behind bars together.

During his prison sentences, he often met old friends behind bars. Some weren't gang members then.

He said of them: 'I knew they were not gang members but later I heard they had joined gangs while in jail.'

Tony knew few details, but thought that they may have been recruited when they met other friends who were gang members and who promised them friendship and protection in jail.

All that until the Zero Tolerance Policy was implemented.

While in remand before his latest jail term, Tony was interviewed by prison officers and admitted he was in a gang. He took an oath not to take part in gang activities while in jail.

But even with strict prison rules and monitoring, things can still go out of hand sometimes.

In 2004, while in jail, several members from his gang told Tony that they were having problems with a rival gang who also had members in jail.

They decided to fight it out even though they were in prison, and Tony tried to rally some of the gang members to unite under his leadership.

'The fight took place at a spot near the exercise yard which was not easily visible by the prison officers. But the officers soon found out and came and broke up the fight,' said Tony.

For his part in the fight, Tony paid a heavy price. He was placed in solitary confinement for a year and had his privileges withdrawn.

All he was allowed was a single religious book as his reading material. Family visits during the first month were cancelled.

Even after one month, visits were reduced to one each month, instead of one per fortnight. That was hard for Tony. All he had on the outside were his parents, both in their 70s.

Though he has three siblings, he said they have moved away and he has lost touch with them.

Tony's expected date of release was also pushed back by 70 days.

'All I could do for that year was read the religious book, walk around in my cell and lie down and think about my future when I'm released,' Tony said.

Since leaving the Zero Tolerance Policy regime in May 2005, Tony has decided to make a fresh start.

'I have seen several members of the gang enter prison since then but I have told them to leave me alone as I am no longer one of them,' he said.

Tony also wants to get a steady job after leaving the gang, and plans to remove the two tattoos on his arms.

One of them can identify the gang he belonged to and his rank within it.

NOT WORTH IT

Like Tony, an ex-convict, Yusof (not his real name) said it used to be common for gangs to approach inmates in jail.

He had been in and out of drug rehabilitation centres and was jailed for five years and given six strokes of the cane in 1985 for robbery. He is now undergoing rehabilitation at a halfway house.

Yusof, 42, said he was urged to join a gang which promised to protect him in jail and look after his family. He declined.

Former Ang Soon Tong gang member Timothy Koh, 27, heard some gangs were recruiting members in prison when he was jailed for assault in 1997.

But Mr Koh became a Christian and joined halfway house Breakthrough Missions when he was released in 1999.

He has now left the gang, is married and working as a swimming pool cleaning contractor.

Mr Koh said in a mixture of English and Hokkien: 'In our lives, we can choose more than one path. I knew the consequences, but I joined the gang anyway and I also made the choice to leave the gang.

'Young people should know better than to join gangs. The choice is theirs to make and the price is theirs to pay.'

Can I start one?

another article from new paper

Mr Abdul Halim Kadir, president of Taman Bacaan Female Halfway House and Family Service Centre, said: 'I urge Malay parents not to sweep the matter of their child's gang involvement under the carpet but to go and seek advice and help.

'If this problem is not tackled now, the Malay community will regret it and will spend the next two or three decades tackling the problem.'

Mr Md Yusof Ismail, chief executive of Ain Society, said the youths are not just getting involved with gangs.

They also get into illegal moneylending and drug peddling, including Subutex.

Ain Society addresses the issues of youth at risk and development of disadvantaged families through skills and knowledge development.

Why are the Malay youths attracted to gangs?

Mr Md Yusof said: 'Malays love to do things in groups. In the past, they formed benevolent societies to help each other, but societal changes have led to lack of love and care, and broken down such networks.

'So young Malays now join gangs to get that sense of community and belonging.

'They are also restless and join gangs to look for trouble and thrills.'

And there are some social ills.

Malay girls were responsible for one in two teen births and one in three abortions among teens here, according to earlier reports.

The breakdown of the family units contributed to some young boys joining gangs for a sense of belonging.

GET THEM OFF STREETS

Mr Md Yusof said that Ain Society tries to get Malay youths off the streets by giving them a place like the youth groups to hang out.

They also help introduce them to creative arts, oratorical skills, music and information technology.

The society has also teamed up with a private school to let students take their N- and O-level examinations as private candidates.

He said the society is taking some of the kids to Hong Kong on 18 Jun for an adventure-based counselling course.

During the evenings, they will go on a tour with a group that reaches out to gangs, illegal-VCD hawkers and former gang members to see how the group counsels such people.

Mr Abdul Halim, a board member of the National Crime Prevention Council, said Malay parents concerned about their child's gang involvement could call the NurteensLINE at 9777 7687.

Meanwhile, ASP Lim Tung Li said the gang situation was under control here and that the police are working closely with its partners to reach out early to youths who are at risk.

One outreach programme offered by the police is the anti-secret society talks.

He said wayward youths aged between 13 and 18 who are involved in street gang activities are also placed on a developmental programme aimed at changing the behaviour of people who have unknowingly drifted into gangs.

The programme offers counselling, family conferences, peer support, recreation and academic activities.

ASP Lim said a guidance programme was also formed in 1994 to supervise, counsel and rehabilitate juveniles who had committed petty offences.

inspiring ..... is this real ?
source ?
sometime this gangsters all no brains to think...
do this do that.. kena caught.. place in jail..
come out dun wan repent.. go in jail again.. then reflect then change...
by the time too late liao...
someone use to say this
"Choices Have Consequences"
if you choose to study and work hard, of course you will have a better life.
if you choose to join gang, fight, of course prepare for jail..

Rashid is 17, a scrawny teenager who, at about 1.5m tall, is small for his height.

Rizal, on the other hand, is big for a 16-year-old. He's muscular and, at more than 1.8m tall, looks intimidating.

Both know what it means to get in trouble.

An angry tattoo on Rashid's right arm gives you a clue: It identifies him and the gang he wanted to belong to - '21'.

Rashid, despite mixing with gang members, never formally joined one.

Rizal did and is a battle-hardened former gangster.

Both share similar stories: too-busy parents, a bored childhood and gang activities which included brutal fights.

Rizal and Rashid are now working to right their life. (See report on page4.)

They asked that their real identity be kept secret for fear of reprisals.

There is no time-off from being a gangster. They had to fight their way out and the last thing they want is to be accused of snitching on their respective gangs.

BRUTAL

Their stories are not unique.

They are part of a growing problem here. Bored teenagers who get involved with notorious street corner gangs.

Gang members who have been charged with everything, from theft to murder.

One of the most brutal attacks took place in 2000. Then, a Malay youth was attacked by another group and chased through town.

He was stabbed repeatedly and finally collapsed outside the old Mandarin Hotel in town.

His crime? He was at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

A worrying trend is emerging, said Malay community leaders. A disproportionate number of teen gangsters are Malays.

Some have even seemingly taken over from predominantly Chinese groups.

Recently, these teenage gangsters have taken to posting their anthems on video-sharing sites.

To prove their 'mettle', they even post videos of gang members savagely beating up rivals. Like how netizens, claiming to be from the Malay 'Omega' gang, posted a video of a brutal beating at a basketball court here.

Malay youths are also known to have joined the mostly-Chinese '369' gang.

On one posting on a popular video-sharing website, a netizen turned the numerals 'salakau' (369 in Hokkien) into Arabic-style writing.

The police said they are constantly vigilant, but are confident the situation is under control.

The community's concerns pan out. The Subordinate Courts conducted a study in 1998.

Though Malays represent about 15per cent of the population, the study found that 34 per cent of the juvenile rioters here were Malay.

The study also showed that more Malays joined youth gangs, at 24 per cent, compared to the national population.

They may be boys but they are no less brutal.

In one attack in 2001, a group of Malay youths attacked two Malay teenagers at Boat Quay. One of the victims died the next day.

Last month, there was a series of reported attacks around town. Most involved Malay youths.

Rizal and Rashid said they don't have numbers, but they know there are many others like them.

The two met each other while receiving help from the community.

Rizal was bored and, with little money to entertain himself, took to mixing with gangs and peddling illegal VCDs. The money bought him cigarettes and sometimes, drinks.

But he was still bored.

His story started when he was 13 or 14 and still in school.

Friends urged him to join the '24' group, a predominantly-Chinese gang. His friends were also gang members.

'They told me that I could make good money when I joined the gang and I would also be protected,' he said.

DEFIANT

Rizal had little supervision. His dad, now in his 50s, was a taxi driver who was on the road for long hours.

Though his mother was a housewife, she had no idea about his activities. An older sister, now 28, was busy with her own life.

Rizal said: 'I told my parents that I wanted to stop schooling and they tried to convince me to go back to school. But I did not want to listen to them and they finally gave up trying.

'My parents were concerned for me, but I was defiant and did not want to listen to them.'

Rizal graduated from hanging out at street corners to dropping out of school within months of joining the gang.

Soon, he became involved in fights, often scouting shopping centres for the thrill of beating up rivals.

'We would go to the carparks at shopping malls to fight. We would use our fists or hockey sticks as weapons,' he said.

Rizal said his worst injury was when his knuckles got scarred in a fight with another gang member.

'The gang member brought along a beer bottle, and I smashed it to pieces and scarred my hand. I punched him and he got a broken nose,' he said.

When his parents saw his bleeding knuckles, he admitted he had been involved in a fight. When he ignored their scolding, they stopped asking.

But a fight in 2005 woke him up.

While walking with a friend in Jurong, a rival gang spotted and chased them with parangs.

Rizal escaped unscathed, but said his friend lost an arm when it was dismembered at the elbow.

By then, Rizal was in too deep and too afraid to leave.

Then 18 months back, a gang member rushed to his home to enlist his help for a fight.

'When my mother learnt that I was involved in gangs, she was shocked and ashamed. I decided to tell her everything and leave the gang.

'When I told the gang leader that I wanted to leave, he said I could light a cigarette or fight one of the gang members man-to-man, or run down from the 12th storey to the ground floor of a block of flats and fight off the gang members at every storey as I did so.

'After the fight, I was allowed to leave the gang,' he said.

Like Rizal, Rashid wanted to be a gang member. His friends were in the '21' gang and he got a tattoo done to identify himself with the gang.

He thought it was 'cool', he said.

PROTECT YOUR TURF

The Subordinate Courts drew parallels between gangs here and the US. There were many similarities, though gangs there often fought for money for their illegal activities, not a common feature among gangs here, said the study.

But gangs here and in US often fought battles over territory.

Rashid said as much. You had to protect your turf, sometimes even from people in the same gang.

Groups splintered and rivals often fought around shopping centres they called their turf.

Rashid, despite mixing with gang members, never really joined them. Yet when he wanted to leave, he too was beaten up. He stopped mixing with them when a friend had a close call.

Today, Rizal and Rashid are trying to steer clear of the gangs.

They are now hitting the books and trying to go back to school. Community leaders have been quick to acknowledge the problem and intervene.

Rizal and Rashid are lucky. They're still alive and are now fighting to reclaim their youth.

Not Mohamad Sadik Senin. He died after a clash with a rival gang at Clarke Quay in 2000. He had gone to the wrong pub.

He was only 19.

Never join a gang...

smarter gang members are usually not caught

or left the country

Originally posted by soulwinner:

Never join a gang...

rather start a gang

Originally posted by de_middle:

rather start a gang

You want be a rival to the biggest gang in SIngapore? The men in white.

Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:

You want be a rival to the biggest gang in SIngapore? The men in white.

must pay a certain amount 1 leh.. if u want to create opposition party... a few grand i think...

i read message as massage.. i tot got some gangs syndicate which offers massage..

there the real gangster thats "wu ji" but stupid lah but still wu ji

Originally posted by DC+:

smarter gang members are usually not caught

or left the country

so true

sg gangs brains' are replaced with cotton

can someone plz summarize in 10 words or less what the fuk he just said.

Originally posted by the.owl:

can someone plz summarize in 10 words or less what the fuk he just said.

Owl in white will be executed?

Gangsters here in the past are brutal and fierce. They are involved in money making. The reasons why gangs like the mafia fight over turfs is bcos it will affect their business. I read the news once, the gangs here in the 80s even clash with a rival HK gang in the Chinatown of Holland, Asterdam (how to spell ar?) over some conflicts. They were eventually nabbed here.

Nowadays gangs fight for "pride", "honour" and respect. I mean if you want all these, might as well join Singapore Idol or be a sportsperson representing SG.

Originally posted by strado:

Gangsters here in the past are brutal and fierce. They are involved in money making. The reasons why gangs like the mafia fight over turfs is bcos it will affect their business. I read the news once, the gangs here in the 80s even clash with a rival HK gang in the Chinatown of Holland, Asterdam (how to spell ar?) over some conflicts. They were eventually nabbed here.

Nowadays gangs fight for "pride", "honour" and respect. I mean if you want all these, might as well join Singapore Idol or be a sportsperson representing SG.

gangs in singapore still exist. there is what we called the illegal trade like horse betting runner, illegal Toto , porno pirated seller, crime syndicates, hiring of school teenagers gangster, drug seller, and others

basically, there is still such some people in singapore doing all those gang and illegal stuff.

gangsters always have to walk in e dark path n on e running. y join?

i know a lot of people in the 369 gang some of them are friends of friends. i remember meeting their leader once, Julian.

gangs are for looser who suck big time…..the only gang you can join and not get caught becoz of crime is play mmorpg….like final fantasy online….make your own gang there better…not doing anything illegal also…..or play Jedi Academy which is online too…you want become gangster so much then go join the dark side and kill all those in your way…that is in the game….besides…those men in hoods look better than those gangsters also wat….wherelse can you truely become evil….wahhahahaha…

i was in a gang

who here still in gang??

Too lazy to read.

Originally posted by curryman:

i was in a gang

Which gang are you from ?

Originally posted by club18:

who here still in gang??

me!!!! I from sgf...