‘Social contract’ a norm in gangsterism

A well defined modus operandi operates among gangsters, says a crime watch group.
KUALA LUMPUR: A sort of ‘social contract’ exists among gangsters that drives the Malaysian Indians to top the charts in issues pertaining to gangsterism, claims Malaysia Community Crime Care Association (MCCCA).

“It is obvious like in any other country, the minority community always gets involved in crime and illegal activities; due to unemployment and lack of government support,” said V Ravindran, the protem member of MCCCA.

He further reiterated that there is no possibility for any race to move forward without the appropriate support.

“There is ‘social contract’ between them. The Chinese gangsters are known as ‘golden collar’ (the financial funders), the Malay gangsters as ‘white collar’ (who take care of the government) and finally the Indian gangsters who are called ‘blue collar’- the men on the street,” he said.

“It indeed follows the pattern of socio-economic landscape of the various races in Malaysia,” he added.

Ravindran disputes claims that 71 per cent of gang members are Indians in Malaysia, though agrees that the majority maybe from the community.

Factors motivating towards gangsterism

According to him three major factors play the role in pushing the Indians into gangsterism; namely self interest, forced into it and socio-economic difficulties faced by the community.

“Sense of belonging and to be seen as macho among their friends cannot be ruled out too. Even women join gangs and feel proud in displaying their tattoos and wearing shirts with symbols associated with secret societies,” said Ravindran.

He added that a proper support from family members, schools and community leaders can prevent this group from become gang members.

On the other hand some may have been forced into gangsterism due to fear instilled by warlords. They are a lesser threat and seldom get involved in crime.

“I strongly believe schools and police alike should focus on this group and help them get free from the nest.”

And finally there are those that have dire financial needs. They are the most dangerous and should be nabbed without any compromise.

Ravindran emphasised that most of the Indians fall in the last category since they are the most deprived community.

“Being the minority race in the country, Indians have been isolated far too long from mainstream development; thus further pushing them into acts of gangsterism for survival,” he said.

He added that majority of the Indian gangsters were involved in cases involving extortion, car repossessing, drug syndicates and debt collection.

“And a small number of them are also active in more serious and heavy crime such as kidnapping, bank robbery and contract killing.”

“Most of the time they follow the instruction of their leaders, and ‘salaries’ are based on experience,” claimed Ravindran.

For example, to be a drug dealer they must first be ‘informers’; and many schoolgoing boys are hired for this job.

Cutting the command chain

“They also keep a watch out for the police and their wages are around RM50 to RM100 per day. A few years later they will be promoted to become ‘runners’ and they start delivering drugs according to their bosses’ orders,” said Ravindran.

“They pay these runners between RM5,000 to RM10,000. Finally they are assigned a ‘port’ or area to manage the drug syndicate and salaries can be more than RM20,000.”

Ravindran reckons that the best way to prevent this group is to disconnect the networks with their warlords.

“Detain the leaders and cut off their line of command. Heavier punishments imposed will also instill fear among gang members,” he said.

Nevertheless Ravindran pointed out that the government should also provide alternatives for the ex-gang members by creating job opportunities. Leaving them hanging will only push them back to gangsterism.

In recent weeks, the nation has been rocked by a fresh wave of crime related to gangsterism. The police has also embarked upon a special ops to nab these gangsters. Yesterday the police named 49 gangs that were being blacklisted.

The membership of these banned organisations stood at 40,313 – with 28,926 of them being Indians, Chinese (8,214), Malays (1,923), Sabahans (329) and Sarawakians (921).