Salakau,
which literally means '369' in Hokkien,
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 lorhans (principal disciples) of
Shaolin.[1]
The gang was formed during the early 1940s during the Japanese
occupation of Singapore, and many
gangsters were involved with the anti-Japanese effort. 369 recruits
its members mainly from their branches almost all across
Singapore.. Some of the youngsters in the gang are as young as 13
years old while leadership positions within the gang consist of
older chinese men in their twenties up to their 40s and 50s. The
369 gang is one of the biggest and most prominent secret societies
in Singapore comparable to other well-known gangs such as the Ang
Soon Tong even though they are split from the 18 group due to some
conflicts. The 369 gang has been known to have operations in
regional countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and even Hong Kong.
While the secret society problem remains under control by the
Singapore Police, secret societies such as the 369 remain
influential and are still able to run sophisticated illegal
activities such as loansharking, bookmaking and illegal gambling,
making immense profits. While the secret societies are still
capable of extreme violence and large scale clashes in turf wars,
these are mainly avoided so as not to draw the attention of the
police and allow the gangsters to engage in their lucrative and
profitable enterprises.
Members of this secret society often tattoo lines of dots called
'tiam' in Hokkien on their foreheads or even five dots on each
knuckle on their fingers to identify themselves as 'fighters'.
Teardrops on the cheeks are also quite common to signify they have
recently lost a 'brother' due to a gang attack or have no more
tears to cry, or blood drop below their lips to signify that they
won't bleed during a fight. 369 members have been known to dress in
a predominantly black outfit and usually taunt rival gang members
into a fight with their myriad of gang chants and poems. Gang signs
and gang symbols are a few ways gang members use to exhibit their
association with this secret society.
In the late 1960s 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 1990s, 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[2].
369 also made profits from narcotics and prostitution. Attacks on
rival gangs such as the '303' gang (Sakongsa in Hokkien), the Omega
gang and other independent branches of the '18' group 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.[citation
needed] 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[3];
in 1993, there were at least 9 separate teenage gangs calling
themselves '369'[4].
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.
Yet, from time to time gang violence still flares up, with a fight
breaking out with the Omega gang in 2001[5].
Salakau has predominantly held the territories as mentioned but
gang activity has slowed down considerably. This is due to
the Singapore
Police Force having a better understanding of the gang
networks and ample resources to stamp out violence. The Secret
Societies Branch (SSB) of the Singapore Police Force has made great
efforts at keeping the secret societies in check 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.
The strict laws serve as a deterrent to potential gang members and
has successfully decreased the number of gang-related street fights
and attacks although gang-related violence occurs sporadically. The
most recent case was when '369' gang members were largely
out-numbered in a riot with rival gang at jurong west.
Recently, many malays have been joining the gang instead of Omega,
consisting of malays only. There have been questions of whether if
its a "betrayal" to the race of joining a chinese secret society
instead of a malay one.
Wikipedia is reliable. 
oh yea lets add on ..
Esplanade is one of the hottest place to have gang
fight
(OT: the ads very irritating. 'Congratulation, you won!')