I presented this article at the seminar REPRESENTATION OF THE MAFIAS,
A Literary perspective across Asian secret societies and Camilleri's Sicily. The seminar was organised by the Ambasciata d'Italia Singapore and hosted at the Central
National Library B1 Room 2 on 3rd November 2025 5.30-7.30pm.
Introduction — Unmasking the Secret Society
Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world. It is hard to
imagine that barely over half a century ago, secret societies were still
dominant on this island.
The term “Chinese secret society” evokes images of tattooed men,
blood oaths, and underground rituals — a world of violence and crime. Yet, the
Chinese secret societies that once flourished in Singapore were never simply
gangs or mafias. Nor were they clan associations, though they shared the same
language of kinship and solidarity. Mafias such as the Sicilian Mafia, the
American Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza were primarily driven by profit through
criminal activities.
In contrast, clan associations were largely charity-based, providing
free accommodation, schools, hospitals, cemeteries and funeral aid.
Early Chinese secret societies were not mafia.
Early secret societies were hybrid institutions — motivated by certain
ideologies, part brotherhood, part social welfare network, part resistance
movement — born out of hardship and exile. Understanding them requires looking
beyond their surface to the ideals and anxieties of the Chinese migrants who formed
them.
Roots in China: Brotherhood and Resistance
The story begins in southern China during the 18th century. In the
provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, resentment brewed among the Han Chinese
under the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. From this unrest emerged the Tiandihui (天地会),
or Heaven and Earth Society, which sought to “overthrow the Qing and restore
the Ming” (反清复明).
Although the Tiandihui was banned in Qing Dynasty China, it was not a
criminal organisation until the late 19th century in Singapore. Its rituals of
loyalty and mutual protection drew inspiration from folk religion and popular
literature, especially Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义) and
The Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh, 水浒传).
These tales of righteous heroes uniting against corrupt rulers shaped a moral
vocabulary of brotherhood that resonated with the oppressed.
Tiandihui drew inspiration from the folk religion and popular literature.
When migrants from these provinces sailed for the Nanyang (Southeast
Asia), they brought this code of solidarity with them. For the ‘sinkheh’ (新客),
or newcomers, in foreign lands with no family or legal protection, a sworn
brotherhood was not just symbolic; it was survival.
Arrival in Singapore: The First Brotherhoods
Singapore’s transformation into a British trading port in 1819
attracted waves of Chinese labourers and traders from Fujian and Guangdong
provinces. The secret societies were rooted and formed Hui (会), kongsi
(公司)
and bang (帮) through brotherhood.
The early Chinese came from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong in China.
The Ghee Hin (义兴) society was established in the 1820s,
followed by the Ghee Hok, Hai San, Guandihui, etc. They traced their spiritual
lineage to the Tiandihui. Their goals were part idealistic, part pragmatic: to
support new arrivals, to provide loans and employment, and to defend members’
economic interests against rival groups or hostile employers.
Birth of the Ghee Hin and other secret societies as early as the 1820s.
At the same time, they assisted the police in maintaining order and
referred offenders to the law enforcement agencies. Although the colonial
government was aware of the existence of secret societies in the founding years,
it was difficult to fully control them due to the weakness of the law
enforcement force. For example, in 1830, there was only one magistrate and a
dozen or so policemen. The authority had to rely on the leaders of these
societies to help manage the community.
The Ghee Hin and Ghee Hok drew mainly from migrants speaking Hokkien and
Teochew dialects, while Hakka dominated the Hai San. In the absence of official
labour structures, they controlled coolie labour, mediated disputes, and even
ran gambling and opium farms. Colonial authorities alternated between
tolerating and fearing them, depending on whether their activities generated
revenue or unrest.
It should be noted that clan associations were already present at that
time. However, their social influence was still not as significant as the secret
societies.
Rituals, Loyalty, and Brotherhood
At the heart of the secret societies lay elaborate initiation
ceremonies. New members knelt before ancestral tablets, took their oaths, pricked
their fingers and drank the blood mixed with chicken blood, rice wine and
spices. Such rituals bound them as “brothers” (兄弟)
under Heaven and Earth, reinforced solidarity among men who had left their
families behind.
At the heart of the secret societies lay elaborate initiation ceremonies and brotherhood.
Brotherhood, loyalty, and vengeance were not abstract ideals; they were
codes of conduct that governed survival in a frontier society.
But with power came corruption. Over time, these brotherhoods, which
meant to protect the weak, grew entangled in labour control, gambling, brothels
and violence. By the 1840s, their rivalries erupted into open conflict.
The Age of Riots and Colonial Anxiety
Between the 1840s and 1880s, Singapore was rocked by repeated
outbreaks of violence. For example:
·
1846: Riots between the Ghee Hin (20,000
members) and Guandihui (1000 members). The Guandihui launched an attack during
the funeral procession of the deceased Ghee Hin’s leader. This was the first
serious incident of gang conflict in Singapore's history, triggered by a
shortage of plantation land and unclear land boundaries.
·
1851: Anti-Catholic riots sparked by disputes with
the Catholic Chinese plantations. Because the Catholic Teochew plantation
owners did not pay protection fees, Ghee Hin attacked more than 20 plantations
while the church presidency was on leave. The Teochew community leader Seah Eu
Chin helped resolve the dispute.
·
1854: The “Five Catty Rice Riots” between
Hokkien and Teochew left over 500 dead. The anti-Qing Dagger Society’s Teochew
members fled to Singapore for refuge. When a Hokkien rice merchant deliberately
raised the price, the two sides evolved from a verbal dispute to a 10-day armed
fight between Ghee Hok and Ghee Hin. The colonial government formed a mediation
group comprising British merchant William Henry Macleod Read, the Hokkien community
leader Tan Kim Seng, the Teochew community leader Seah Eu Chin and the Ghee Hok
secret society leader Chua Moh Choon to sit down at a round table, which
finally resolved the crisis. It was
again reported that Seah Eu Chin played a particularly prominent role in the
final settlement. The British government appointed Seah as a justice of the
peace, and he was elevated to the position of honorary magistrate in 1872.
·
1876: The Post Office riot which was triggered
by disputes over remittances. The Chinese and the colonial government came head-to-head
over the Post Office Incident. At that time, there were more than 50,000
Chinese in Singapore. The remittances sent back to their homeland amounted to about
70,000 Spanish dollars yearly. The amount was expected to increase every year.
The government set up the Post Office to handle remittances, on the pretext of
protecting senders' money. Some Chinese merchants believed that the government
aimed to monopolise the remittance market and take away their jobs. They
encouraged members of secret societies to dismantle the Post Office and even
threatened the lives of the Post Office staff. The government swiftly deployed
the police to stabilise the situation.
·
1888: The Verandah riot which was triggered by
the ban on the use of the five-foot way. This was one of the tough measures the
government took against secret societies after the attack on Pickering, the
Chinese Protectorate.
To the British, these incidents confirmed that the Chinese were
ungovernable and their secret societies inherently criminal. But the root
causes were economic and social: dialect rivalry, job insecurity, and the lack
of formal representation. It was a world of coercion, but also of desperation,
reflecting the harsh realities of immigrant life rather than innate
lawlessness.
Singapore Free Press reported the existence of secret societies in 1846.
Pickering and the Chinese Protectorate
In 1877, the colonial government established the Chinese
Protectorate to regulate Chinese affairs. Its first head, William A. Pickering,
was a rare official who understood Chinese culture. Having served in China and
Formosa (Taiwan), he spoke Mandarin and several dialects, earning the respect
of local leaders.
Pickering, in his writings, described the secret societies as “largely friendly
societies”, dangerous mainly because of some of the lawless characters within
them, not because of any political conspiracy. He believed the solution lay not
in punishment but in understanding.
Under his leadership, the Protectorate registered societies, mediated
disputes, and protected workers and women from abuse. Yet his reforms provoked
hostility. In 1887, Pickering was attacked in his office by a carpenter named
Chua Ah Sioh, reportedly incited by secret society headmen due to the government's
tightened gambling control. The attack nearly killed Pickering and led to the
Societies Ordinance of 1890, which banned all unregistered associations.
This new order was overseen by the governor, Sir Cecil Clementi Smith. Smith
served in Hong Kong before taking up his new role in Singapore. He cited that
secret societies were forbidden in China and Hong Kong. Such unlawful
organisations being protected in Singapore for so many decades was something
unimaginable. However, the Societies Ordinance did not eliminate secret
societies. It merely drove them underground.
Pickering, Smith and the Societies Ordinance.
Indeed, the local Tiandihui participated in the fight against the Qing
Dynasty. According to colonial government documents, three of the six leaders
of the 1850s Amoy Dagger Society were Singaporeans, and most of the Dagger
Society members were born abroad. About half a century later, some Chung Wo
Tong (中和堂) members sneaked back to China to support Sun
Yat-sen's Chinese Revolution. The Straits Times (November 22, 1936) reported
that at the time of Sun Yat-sen's death, there were about 200,000 Chung Wo Tong
members in Singapore. Apparently, the "anti-Qing" forces in Singapore
were still strong.
In hindsight, about 80% Chinese migrants were male during Pickering's
time. More than 60% of these male migrants were on the secret societies' name
lists. If these people were largely disordered, Singapore would have become a
ruin rather than a flourishing port city by the early 20th century.
Number of members and office bearers during Pickering's time.
Clan Associations and the Remaking of the Chinese
Community
With the suppression of secret societies, clan associations (huiguan, 会馆)
became more prominent. By the early 20th century, the leadership of the Chinese
community had shifted decisively from the brotherhoods of the underworld to the
boardrooms of the huiguan.
Where the secret societies operated through oaths and secrecy, clan
associations relied on kinship, dialect, and place of origin. They were
legitimate representatives of the Chinese community. For example, the Hokkien
Huay Kuan (福建会馆), Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan (潮州八邑会馆), Cantonese
Ning Yeung Wui Kuan (宁阳会馆), Hakka Wui Chiu Fui
Kun (惠州会馆), Hainanese Hainan Hwee Kuan (海南会馆),
among others.
In many cases, these associations executed the very functions that
secret societies once performed, but within the law. They helped the poor,
cared for the dead, and preserved Chinese cultural identity in a colonial
setting. Today, there are more than 300 traditional clan associations in
Singapore. Some of them are actively engaging in various Chinese cultural
activities in the present English-dominant environment, while others are
relatively quiet due to an ageing population.
Clan associations took on more significant roles.
The Afterlife of the Underworld
Large-scale secret societies re-emerged after WWII. A massive
ritual gathering was held in Clementi Forest in 1948, signalling a possible
revival. It had taken the colonial authority by surprise. The background of
this mass gathering was to form a united front between the Penang and Singapore
secret societies.
By the 1950s and 1960s, more than 300 unlawful secret societies were established
in Singapore. The city was dubbed the “Chicago of the East”, plagued by gang
violence, blackmail, kidnapping and territorial clashes. Even women formed
their own groups, such as the “Red Butterfly”.
Chicago of the East.
Determined to restore order, the government launched multi-pronged
efforts — combining policing, social reform, youth engagement, jobs and
education. By the 1970s, large-scale organised secret societies had largely
disappeared.
Yet traces of their past remain in street names like Ghee Hin
Street (China Street), Hai San Street (Upper Cross Street) and Ghee Hok Street
(Carpenter Street), in the quiet hall of Pu Zhao Chan Si (普照禅寺)
where old society tablets rest, and in the collective memory of elder
residents.
Traces of the secret societies' past.
Key members' resting place.
From Fear to Heritage
Researchers such as Tan Gia Lim, Wilfred Blythe and Irene Lim
remind us that secret societies were products of migration and necessity. Their
secrecy reflected exclusion from the colonial system, not inherent criminality.
Their rituals and hierarchies were attempts to create order in a world that
offered none.
Seen in this light, Singapore’s early Chinese secret societies were more
about belonging. They remind us that the city’s foundations were not just official
rulings, but also by informal networks of trust and obligation forged among the
powerless.
Lessons and reflections.
Conclusion — Brotherhood, Fear, and Memory
To equate Chinese secret societies with “mafias” would misunderstand
their origin. In comparison, the Sicilian mafia and Japanese yakuza were
profit-driven syndicates; the Chinese brotherhoods were born from the moral
language of loyalty and mutual aid.
They began as revolutionary dreams in China, evolved into survival
networks in colonial Singapore. Legitimate clan associations had taken over their
influence. Their story reflects the early days of Chinese migration — the
struggle to find order, dignity and identity in a world of displacement.
Selected References
Annual Reports of the Chinese Protectorate (1877–1890)
Irene Lim, “The Chinese Protectorate”, Singapore Infopedia, NLB
Singapore
Lee Kok Leong, The Dark Underworld: From China’s Tiandihui to
Singapore Secret Societies (《黑道江湖》2025)
Lee Meiyu, “Chinese Clan Associations in Singapore: Then and Now”,
BiblioAsia, Jul–Sep 2014
Lim Tin Seng, “Triads, Coolies and Pimps: Chinatown in Former Times”,
BiblioAsia, Oct–Dec 2015
Makeswart Periasamy, “Heaven, Earth and Brotherhood”, BiblioAsia*,
Jul–Sep 2017
Munshi Abdullah, Hikayat Abdullah (Oxford University Press,
1983)
Tan Gia Lim, “Insight into Late 19th Century Chinese Secret Societies
in Singapore,” Journal of the South Seas Society, Vol. 77
Wilfred Blythe, The Impact of Chinese Secret Societies in Malaysia
(Oxford University Press, 1969)
William A. Pickering, “Chinese Secret Societies,” in Triad Societies,
ed. Kingsley Bolton & Christopher Hutton (Routledge, 2000)
