Salakau, which literally means '369' in Hokkien, also known as "Sah Lak Kau", is a street gang or secret society based in Singapore.
The numbers 3, 6 and 9 add up to 18, which was the name of an older
gang; the number signified the 18 lohans (principal disciples) of
Shaolin.
Gang violence in Singapore
In the late 1980s 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 Chinese-only rule. In the 1970s, more
Malays were reported to be joining it after being introduced to gang
members during tea dances in discos. This was because Malay gangs were
smaller and more loosely structured due to the drastic drop of the Malay
population and increase of the Chinese population.
369 also made profits from narcotics, extortions and prostitution.
Attacks on rival gangs such as the '303' gang (Sakongsa in Hokkien), the
Omega gang and the 18 SYH gang were somewhat of a routine occurrence.
The police cracked down on gang activity in the early 1980s and gang
wars came 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.
In the mid-90s, some teenagers in "pseudo street gangs" claimed
affiliation to 369 to be "cool" but didn't engage in activities as
violent as those engaged in by the real gang;
in 1993, there were at least 9 separate teenage gangs calling themselves '369'.
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.
Recent activity
Salakau has predominantly held the territories as mentioned but gang activity has slowed down considerably due to the Singapore Police Force
having a better understanding of the gang networks and sufficient
resources. The Secret Societies Branch (SSB) of the Singapore Police
Force has made efforts to control the secret societies in recent years.
The SSB regularly conducts surprise raids or checks on nightspots and
public places known to be gang territories to deter any potential
offenders. Anyone found guilty of being a member of an unlawful society
may be punished up to a minimum of five years imprisonment and five
strokes of the cane. Sentences are usually doubled or even tripled for
anyone with significant leadership authority in any unlawful society in
Singapore.
In 2010, 30 October, while people are celebrating Halloween, a
staring incident happened in Downtown East which ended in a fatal attack
on a Year 2 Republic Polytechnic student, Darren Ng. 4 were arrested 48
hours after the incident and charged with murder, age between 18 and 21
years old.
On 8 November 2010, seven youths were repeatedly slashed by a group
of parang-wielding men in Bukit Panjang, in what appeared to be
gang-related attacks. The victims, aged between 14 and 20, were set upon
in two separate incidents - first when a 20-year-old assistant
technician was slashed in the back and legs, and then when a group of 20
youths were surrounded. In both instances, the assailants first asked
their victims whether they were from a gang named 'Pak Hai Tong'. When
the victims denied associations with the group, they were slashed. The
gang, believed to be eight-men strong, also shouted 'Sah Lak Kau'
(Hokkien for 369), another gang name, before fleeing the scene. The
vicious slashings left 20-year-old Jayasiva Shangar Guru hospitalised
while six others from the second attack received outpatient treatment
for their wounds.
These attacks followed a clash between two gangs on 30 October in
Downtown East which ended in the death of Year 2 Republic Polytechnic
student Darren Ng.
Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salakau