Wah Kee (华记) is a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

based in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

since the nineteenth century. According to the History of Wah Kee, Wah Kee (华记) was created in Singapore by Su Guanghua (苏广华). His associate Zhao Guangheng (赵广恒) created Guang Kee (广记) in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China, while Guan Fusheng (关福胜) created Sheng Kee (胜记) in Thailand, and Zhang Xiongjie (张雄杰) created Jie Kee (杰记) in Vietnam. In the 1950s, they operated openly in the area around

Bentong Bentong (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ﺑﻨﺘﻮڠ), the seat of Bentong District, is a town located in western Pahang, Malaysia, at the border with the state of Selangor in the west and the state of Negeri Sembilan in the south. Government Benton ...

and placed a member on the local council of

Jemaluang Jemaluang is a town and mukim in Mersing District, Johor, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and t ...

.Harper, T.N. ''The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya'', Cambridge University Press, 2001. . During this time, they were commonly associated with the Malaysian Chinese Association, with politician D. R. Seenivasagam going so far as to describe this connection in Parliament. In recent times, they are mainly in the Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka,

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, Pahang,

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

, Sarawak,

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

and other areas. In Singapore, Wah Kee is mainly in the China Town area. The triad also have some branches in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Thailand, Vietnam,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The Philippine Center on Transnational Crime has stated that while the Wah Kee do not operate as a traditional

triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

per se, they are heavily involved in

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

trafficking in the region.{{cite web, url=http://www.pctc.gov.ph/updates/tcthreat.htm, title=TRANSNATIONAL CRIME: A THREAT TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY, publisher=The Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, Department of Foreign Affairs, date=July 8, 2000, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801060454/http://www.pctc.gov.ph:80/updates/tcthreat.htm, archive-date=1 August 2010

References

Secret societies in Singapore Organized crime groups in Malaysia Organised crime groups in Singapore Triad groups

See also

References