Page 27 - BOOK inside pages as at Aug 8

Childh Forewardood Days

episode after another. Adding to the problem then, my mother
fell ill and became bedridden with a lung infection that
nearly took her life. My eldest brother was very strict and
used to scold me frequently and laid down many rules; to me,
they were a lot of do’s and don’ts. He would warn me that if I
did something wrong, I would be severely punished by him.
Although I knew that he meant well, I resented him. As he
was much older than me, I could not fight back. He and my
two elder sisters worked to supplement the family income,
while my second brother was the main one helping my
parents. It was my second sister who looked after me most of
the time.
At 13 years old, when I had just entered secondary school,
I decided that it was time for me to venture out. After a lot of
persuasion and negotiation, I was finally allowed to move to
a new environment. My family, in the hope that I would turn
over a new leaf, agreed to let me stay with my aunt who lived
in Tiong Nam within Chow Kit.
The area was notorious and full of vice, and gangsterism
was a real problem there back in the 1970s. The original plan
was for me to complete my secondary education in Kuala
Lumpur but I soon became involved with the gangs.
My aunt found me a part time job selling newspapers,
comics, sugar cane drinks and cigarettes at a roadside stall.
My first paycheck was a mere RM15. By the third month I was
drawing a salary of RM30. This was only RM1 per day, but
back then you could have a bowl of noodles for just 20 sen. My
aunt and her husband had four children to take care, so I was
left alone to fend for myself.
I attended a Chinese secondary school for a few years.
The school had students who were gangsters, drug addicts,
homosexuals and many who engaged in premarital sex. That
was the kind of environment that influenced me. After Form
Three, I dropped out from school and became a ‘tai koh’ (gang
leader) with some 30 people in my gang. Ten of them were
from my secondary school. Even at a young age, we were
already terrorising the Chow Kit area.

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BOOK inside pages.indd 27 08/08/2018 05:43 PM