Price of a high life
Roland Tan: From a Singapore kampung to Europe’s underworld
Ansley Ng
[email protected]
EMBROILED in extortion and fights from an early age, he was wanted
in connection with the alleged murder of a rival gang member in
1969.
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But before detectives could bring him in, 20-year-old Roland Tan
Tong Meng — with the help of the See Tong gang — fled to Amsterdam,
then known for its liberal laws. Along with him went several men
from his Serangoon kampung, a close-knit community of Hainanese
migrants including hardened fugitives and sailors.
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Once in Holland, triad legend has it, Mr Tan and his brethren, who
had very little money with them, saw how members of Hong Kong’s
infamous 14K gang were doing a thriving drug trade in the capital
city. They plotted to take it over.
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After buying pistols, the 10 or so immigrants from Singapore
applied nail polish on their fingertips to avoid leaving prints,
then launched their bloody assault. Although outnumbered, according
to triad folklore, Mr Tan and his gang violently won control of the
Amsterdam underworld.
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That was when Mr Tan, or ‘Ah Kong’, went from small-time gangster
to the criminal big-time – involved in processing drugs and
moneylending under the See Tong flag, in what was then the world’s
centre for heroin distribution.
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His unsavoury past caught up with him on Monday evening, when the
61-year-old was shot in the restaurant that he owned in Copenhagen,
Denmark, by one of his Vietnamese ‘runners’. He is in stable
condition in hospital.
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A Singaporean friend who was with him, known only by his nickname
‘Ah M’, was shot in the stomach and remains in bad condition,
Copenhagen homicide chief Ove Dahl told Today. Family members from
Singapore have arrived in the Danish capital to see him.
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SUBHD: Like a well run company
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For years, Mr Tan lived the fast and high life of a ‘dragon head’,
in triad parlance. Fond of a good steak and blonde women, according
to a former associate who spoke to TODAY, Mr Tan moved to
Copenhagen in the 1980s, married a Danish woman and took up
citizenship.
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But he missed his Singapore food. Flight attendants who knew the
chief and his men would bring him packets of hawker fare from home.
“Char kway teow, yong tau foo, laksa. You name it, they will bring
it over for him,” said the source, once a member of the Ah Kong
gang, which was what See Tong called itself after a name-change in
1989.
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Mr Tan’s men, most of whom were Singaporeans, took their mob life
seriously.
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Recruits – who were typically fugitives from the law or gangsters
deemed to be promising – were approached and sent to Bangkok, the
gang’s “recruitment centre”, where they underwent a selection
process and their loyalty, obedience and bravery tested. Those who
earned the trust of the elders were sent on to Amsterdam.
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“There was a hierarchy in the gang like in any big company,” said
the source. “It was very well run. We took care of each other over
there.”
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In Amsterdam, newbies were sent to work in drug laboratories, where
they processed the raw material from Myanmar. The finished products
were sold on the streets or trafficked out of the city, reaping
$150,000 profit per kilogramme. “We easily made 80 to 100 kg in a
month.”
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The men were paid a basic monthly salary starting from 2,000
guilders, and had their lodging and food taken care of. All the
men, even the lowest ranking, were paid a yearly bonus from a
“profit-sharing scheme” with the money from drug deals and
loansharking.
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They were also given cars and a petrol allowance – for which they
had to produce receipts. “We even had a petty cash system where we
took money out to entertain our friends from Singapore,” said the
source.
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SUBHD: Armani and arms
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Each year, the men got about 20,000 guilders as “clothing
allowance”. Suits from Hugo Boss and Armani were highly
recommended, said the source.
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But underneath those suits, everyone was armed. As a rule, the men
carried a pistol, passport and plane ticket with them at all
times.
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:The gang’s “commandos” or musclemen patrolled the streets daily.
They were particularly wary of immigrant troublemakers, who would
harrass shopkeepers or sell drugs on their turf at lower prices.
The gang would take care of these intruders by “catching them and
beating them up”.
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But their guns – usually a snub-nosed .38 Smith and Wesson revolver
– were rarely drawn, said the source.
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The triad also had legitimate businesses, operating casinos and
restaurants. Over the years, however, internal bickering and
takeover threats from rivals saw Mr Tan give up control and move to
Copenhagen, where he set up his Restaurant Bali in a tourist
square.
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His operations, which by then involved “over a hundred men” and
extended to cities like Madrid, Sydney and Phnom Penh, were handed
over to lieutenants – many of them fugitives wanted for crimes like
murder and armed robbery in Singapore in the 70s.
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SUBHD: A loyal but bad tempered man
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:A fan of gambling, especially chor dai dee (Big 2) and Russian
poker, Mr Tan would often reminisce about past “glory days” and,
despite having lived in Europe for four decades, did not forget his
roots – he preferred speaking Hokkien to his men.
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:The source described his former boss as a “kind and loyal man, but
with a bad temper”. “If he has only $10 and you needed the money
more than him, he would give it to you,” he said.
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:Since opting for a quieter life in Copenhagen where he ran his
restaurant, Mr Tan did not arm himself when going out, thought he
kept one or two Vietnamese bodyguards with him.
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:On Monday, one of his boys – quiet 47-year-old Nguyen Phi Hung –
got into an argument and shot him. He remains on the run.
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One Singapore law enforcer who remembers Mr Tan is Mr Lionel De
Souza, now a private detective. Then with the Criminal
Investigation Department, he was one of three local officers on
standby to extradite Mr Tan from Copenhagen in 1973.
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But the deal fell through. “Having no grounds to detain Tan Tong
Meng further, the Danish police had to release him,” said Mr De
Souza, who declined to elaborate.
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Asked if Mr Tan could now be extradited to Singapore to help in
investigations, a police spokesman told TODAY: “Singapore Police
Force have sent out a request to the Danish police seeking more
information on the two persons involved.”
