Chinese honour

It is very difficult, I know, for some of you to comprehend that the triads had honour and code of ethics. But then I am talking about the triads of the 1960s, 50 years or so ago. Times have changed, though. Even the politicians of the 1960s had honour. Today, the politicians are worse than criminals. The politicians, today, would not meet the high standards of honour that the triads of the 1960s had.

NO HOLDS BARRED

I learned about ‘Chinese honour’ from the streets of Kuala Lumpur. This was back in the 1960s, before May 13. The streets I am talking about are Petaling Street, Sultan Street, etc.

Basically, this is what the tourists would call Kuala Lumpur’s ‘Chinatown’.

I was no older than those kids who rioted all over London and in Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Croydon, etc., over the last few days. In fact, I was exactly that age, in my teens.

That was me back in my ‘younger’ days. My ‘street name’ then was ‘Chap Chong Kia’.

I ‘found’ my first girlfriend in Petaling Street. She and her sister sold sugarcane in front of the Rex cinema. The problem is she spoke not a word of English or Bahasa and my Chinese was a rojak-mix of Hokkien, Cantonese and Hainanese and confined to street lingo like ta sei, pinto ley, niamah, fai ti chow, and so on.

Invariably, our ‘dates’ in the Malaysia Snack Bar, across the road from the Rex cinema, had to be held in the presence of an interpreter. There was no way my ‘girlfriend’ and I could communicate without the assistance of this interpreter -- and until today I still don’t know whether the exchanges of communication between us were a true translation of what transpired or whether my interpreter ‘sabotaged’ me and translated the opposite of what we said.

Anyway, ‘Uncle Lee’ can tell you how I won the ‘competition’ to win her heart. Well, let’s face it, I was better looking than Uncle Lee so certainly he would have had to lose out to me. Nevertheless, the relationship did not last because of the absence of intellectual discourse between us.

Yes, you probably would have suspected by now that I was ‘jalan’ with the Long Fu Thong, the triad that controlled that part of Kuala Lumpur. I was far from a ‘Tiger General’ and certainly not one of the ‘soldiers’ -- so I was spared the task of having to engage in any gang wars.

But the streets of Kuala Lumpur were a scary place back in the days prior to May 13. Many a time I had to run for cover as parangs ‘flew’ and blood spattered the streets. I always believed that those who fight and run away live to fight another day. So I ran like the devil was on my tail. And that is why I am still around to tell my tale.

I admit that I lost many friends. But that is the price we have to pay for our association with the triads. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Some died in a hail of bullets. Some got ‘chopped’ to death, the 'traditional' punishment for being on the ‘wrong side’ of the street (‘salah jalan’, as we would say then). But all this was accepted as an ‘occupational hazard’ and we just shrugged off these loses and moved on.

Eventually, we all grew up and grew out of all this. We were kids and this was what kids did back in the 1960s prior to May 13. But we learned a very important lesson. And that lesson was there is honour amongst thieves. In fact, there was more honour amongst triad members then, than you would find amongst ‘honourable’ people like politicians and leaders today.

We respected ‘authority’. We had a very strict code of ethics that you broke only on pain of death. Punishment was swift and brutal and you would always pay for your crime of breaching the code of ethics and of having no honour.

It is very difficult, I know, for some of you to comprehend that the triads had honour and code of ethics. But then I am talking about the triads of the 1960s, 50 years or so ago. Times have changed, though. Even the politicians of the 1960s had honour. Today, the politicians are worse than criminals. The politicians, today, would not meet the high standards of honour that the triads of the 1960s had.

We were not criminals, as such. We did not rob, steal, sell drugs, or beat up defenceless people. We were the enforcers. We kept the peace. We kept the streets that we ‘controlled’ safe from crime so that honest and decent people could live their lives and conduct their business unhindered.

The residents and shopkeepers did not shun or defile us. They welcomed our presence because they knew we did what the police could never do -- we ensured their safety. (In fact, the people feared the police but did not fear the triads).

Whenever any new business opened up the owner would seek us out to request ‘protection’. They were at liberty to decide whether they needed protection or not. There was no compulsion but once they offered to join the protection ‘scheme’ their premises were ‘off-limits’. No one would dare ‘violate’ these premises. To do so would mean death.

It was a good system back in the 1960s. It was how things worked then. Everyone was happy and the police did not have to worry about crime on the streets. All the police could do was to arrest the perpetrators. The triads, however, made sure that crime is eliminated through the elimination of the criminals.

As I always said: you eradicate the plague by killing the rats. This was more or less how matters were resolved on the streets of Kuala Lumpur 50 years or so ago.

Yes, enforcement of the law was swift and brutal. You disturb the peace and you die. You can’t run riot and burn shops and houses and beat up innocent and defenceless people -- like what is now happening all over the UK.

In fact, you still can’t do that in the Chinatown areas of the cities in the UK. It can happen in white, black or ‘brown’ parts of the cities in the UK, but not in the Chinatown areas. Try and the punishment would be swift and brutal.

Do I sound nostalgic? I suppose I am. The Malaysian Chinese of today are not the Chinese I knew back in the 1960s. The Chinese of today have no honour. They do not understand things such as code of ethics. They have no scruples. There is no longer any camaraderie. What has happened to the Malaysian Chinese?

Last weekend I went to a funeral of a local Chinese leader from Liverpool (see photos below). That suddenly brought back fond memories of the Kuala Lumpur of 50 years ago. It appears like the Chinese in the UK -- those from London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, etc. -- still retain the honour and code of ethics that we once knew back in Kuala Lumpur in the 1960s.

Yes, that’s right. I think you know what I am talking about and whom I am talking about. The camaraderie and brotherhood amongst the Chinese here is very strong indeed. Brothers look after brothers. Brothers do not sell out brothers.

Malaysian Chinese should make a trip here and learn a thing or two from the UK Chinese. Those in their 60s and 70s would probably recognise this as Kuala Lumpur back in the days when they were still teenagers.

My respect for the Malaysian Chinese honour and code of ethics of the 1960s knew no bounds. It is very difficult to feel the same way about the Malaysian Chinese of today. They will sell their own mother for the right price.

Look at DAP. DAP leaders are badmouthing and sabotaging fellow DAP leaders. In the 1960s, these types of Chinese would 'disappear' without a trace. They would be executed and their bodies dumped into one of the many mining pools surrounding Kuala Lumpur.

Maybe it is time to bring back the old Chinese honour and code of ethics. Maybe it is time that the triad laws are, again, enforced and those treacherous DAP leaders with no honour and code of ethics be made to suffer a swift and brutal punishment.

Maybe only then will the DAP Chinese leaders understand what honour and code of ethics mean.