Die grootste gevaar in Asië is die bendes, of Triads, hulle opereer met die goedkeuring van die staat en polisie, en het feitlik volmag.
Ter illustrasie hierdie verhaal vanuit die HK-filmindustrie:
Shaw was the lynchpin of the Hong Kong film industry during its boom years from the 60s to the mid-90s including the absolute peak between 1986 - 1992 when roughly 200 films were made each year. It was a period when the majority of Asian nations (Japan aside) didn’t have the resources to import American films, and because Hong Kong films boasted a higher production value than films from other countries in the region, they soared to the top of the Asian charts. In 1992 Hong Kong movies raked in a record US$1.5 billion. It was a lucrative business.
Triads were drawn to the industry by the lure of money. Their most basic ruse was to demand payment for 'allowing' production companies to film on the city's streets. Scriptwriter Philip Chan (formerly a superintendent in Hong Kong CID) told the BBC: "In the day-to-day filming, we were being extorted in the streets; they would demand anything from US$50 to $2,000. Sometimes you would get two or three groups coming at different times. They would try to tamper with the equipment, they would obstruct filming, sometimes they would intimidate the actors. And it was very difficult to get police protection."
Stories of harassment, intimidation and rape have circled the industry for years, but perhaps the most infamous mob-related incidents occurred in 1992 (a peak year) when two big producers, Wong Long Lai and Jimmy Choi Chi Ming, were murdered.
The gangster stories are staggering: Andy Lau said his manager was once held at gunpoint to force him to appear in films over a period of three years; a leading actress said she was gang raped on the instruction of a producer whose advances she had spurned; another said she had been held by force until filming was finished. Later, when she pulled out of a film contract, she was made to withdraw US$200,000 and watch while the triad leader burnt it.
Vandag gaan dit geensins beter in HK nie, inteendeel ... onlangs het ek ’n paar insidente beleef, en net weereens besef hoe magtig en kragtig is die onderwêreld hier.
Suid-Afrikaners kla dikwels oor SA, maar hulle het nog nooit geleef in samelewings waar die Mafia die absolute oorhand het nie ... en waar NIEMAND ontsien word nie ...
Francois Williams