How The Triads (Hong Kong Mafia) Actually Work | How Crime Works | Insider

Now people will understand the reason old Hong Kong crime films are so good and realistic.

My dad worked in Hong Kong in the 80’s he told me the apartment building he lived in was owned and controlled by the triads, he said apart from the occasional police bust (which was just for show) they were the best landlords he ever had

As I grow up and live in Hong Kong for 3x years, I can tell his stories and description about the triad is true. In fact, they are part of Hong Kong’s business ecosystem and well known among actors / actresses. It’s just rooted in Hong Kong for decades. Yet, of course he is only telling like 10% of that story, not mentioning the dark side and political influence of that.

Hong Kong has always been notorious for gangs. It's no secret that the Triads controlled the movie industry. In his autobiography, Jackie Chan dedicates an entire chapter to gang activities and the things he went through. Enter The Dragon's extras in the movie was almost entirely made up of gang members. There's so many interviews and books by the American casts that talks about the shitshow that went on during filming, and the fights Bruce Lee had to put down. Bruce Lee himself grew up as a child star in Hong Kong. He was basically raised by gangs, until his father sent him to the United States.

This is one of the best episodes. Triads are rarely covered. This guy was not only a “Sun Yee On” Triad member but also a NYC Chinatown “Tung On” Gang member.

As a Hong Konger, I can tell you that any Hong Konger(Born in the 70s-80s) can count at least 10 actors who are members of triads.

My father was involved with new york. He moved us all out to florida in the 90s. He was betrayed and they let him take us out of nyc and was exiled. I was too young to know anything, but I basically had 50 uncles and grew up in chinese restaurants. I am now a chef, and have nothing but respect for my fathers generation

A friend of mine got mixed up in the world of Triads here in the UK during the late 1980s. He went missing for years without trace. None of his friends or family knew of his whereabouts. Some suspected he went to Hong Kong. He was eventually discovered under a bridge near Glasgow. They were only able to identify him through his dental records as bones and teeth were all that remained of him.

The oath he talked about taking, The oath of Liu, Guan, and Zhang, is the oath of eternal brotherhood, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei made during the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. I'm sure many people will know of the romanticized version of the historical events, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Dynasty Warrior games. The part about protecting the country is probably from the origins of the triads. The triad's origins stem from patriotic secret societies dedicated to overthrowing the Manchus and the Qing Dynasty. And Emperor Guan, is referring to Guan Yu. About 300 years or so after his death, Guan Yu was deified and worshipped. In some Chinese business you can see small shrines dedicated to him. Guan Yu is also worshipped by both the police and triads.

oooh I’ve been seeing videos on western and Japanese mafias for a while so I’m glad you guys are finally covering ones in HK

The Hong Kong movie industry was wild in the 80s and 90s. Andy Lau was forced to make a movie by triads at gunpoint. Carina Lau was kidnapped and extorted with nude photos. Jet Li's manager was a 14K and was murdered. It was crazy.

What's funny is even though he tried to keep it vague, everyone who's semi-into Hong Kong movies has seen a member of the "Boss Family" he's referring to. It is almost universal knowledge that the guy who plays Chow Yun-fat's bodyguard in God of the Gamblers, among other movies, is one of the brothers who are leaders of the Sun Yee Ong gang. His son, presumably the future leader of the triad, is also an actor in the HK/Chinese movie scene.

FYI at 4:40 when he discusses monthly protection money, 20k a month per club - he's likely talking HKD - which is still $2600 USD, per month, per small club. You have to remember this is back in the late 80's, so 5k USD / Month is still ~11k USD now. He goes on to say one Large club is 100k/ - so $13k USD per month - so more than double that in today's $ for just one club / month. Hope that gives some perspective.

Big head is legit and if any of y’all are interested in hearing more of his story go to Chinatown gang stories for a lot of great Asian crime stories

For anyone interested, there is also a videogame where the developers put alot of work into making it somehow accurate on the same time keeping enough room for made up stuff. It's called "Sleeping Dogs", open world game with a Hong Kong Map (no islands, HK put together to one Map mostly still very accurate), a great Story of an undercover cop & great game play. The Story is ridiculously good & even if you not playing videogames, at least go watch the cutscenes/story here on YouTube.

You really never know about a culture til you see for yourself how things go. Insider definitely gave a great platform to be on.

My takeaway is that Sleeping Dogs was basically a documentary :)

Thanks for having Bighead on, Insider! And thank you all for showing love to Bighead and our channel! 👍

I could listen to Jimmy talk for hours. He's the real deal. Wonderful storyteller, too.

"You are not facing jail time, you just disappear!" Damn. Even the triad now fears the government. Pooh bear is scary ngl