by Ian Hamilton
He lit a Marlboro with the Zippo, took a drag, and blew the smoke sideways, away from the niche. Uncle stared up at Gui-San’s photo and marvelled again at her beauty. They had found each other in hard times and had hardly ever been apart until she was ripped from him by Shenzhen Bay. He had no doubts they would have had a long, happy life together, perhaps filled with children. Now, instead of children, he had brothers. Now, instead of a wife, he had the Heaven and Earth Society. It wasn’t the same, but at least he wasn’t alone in the world.
Uncle stubbed out his cigarette on the ground and deposited the butt in a trash bin. When he returned, he sat down again and tried to gather his thoughts.
“Gui-San, my love, there are going to be changes in my life. More changes, in fact, than at any time in the past, including when I became a Mountain Master and when I went into business with the Liu family and the Communists,” he said. “It won’t affect us, of course. I’ll still visit you. In fact, when I think about it, I might be able to visit more often.
“About six weeks ago things started to go badly between the gangs. You know there’s always been tension, jealousy, and rivalries, but this was different. A group of gangs in Kowloon decided, without provocation, to take over other gangs through sheer violence. They succeeded in Macau, and there were rumours that their next targets were in the New Territories. I decided that even if the rumours weren’t true, I couldn’t just sit back and wait.
“Over the years I have made many friends among the other Mountain Masters, so I reached out to some of them, first for information and then to gauge their interest in forming a defensive alliance. Their responses were heartening, and they confirmed that I had made friends and that my judgement was trusted. When I talked to them, I learned that Man, the leader of the largest Kowloon gang, was using the British handover of Hong Kong as an excuse for his aggression. He claimed that the Communists would come down hard on the triads, and that the best defence would be for gangs to amalgamate — voluntarily or otherwise. I thought that was nonsense but I had no proof, so I called my friend Liu Leji in Beijing, told him about Man’s claim, and asked if there was any truth to it. That one phone call, Gui-San, started a chain of events that I still can scarcely believe.” Uncle shook his head. “Sorry for what must seem like confusion on my part, but I’m trying to relate things in their proper order, and there was a lot going on at the same time.
“Anyway, Leji promised to find out what he could in Beijing that might be used to discredit Man. While he was doing that, I tried to persuade other gangs to join with us and together fight off any aggression. At that point my old enemy Wu, from Tai Wai New Village, re-entered my life, determined once again to impose his presence in Fanling. And, Gui-San, he decided the best way to do that was to send three men to kill me.” Uncle could hear his voice tremble. He reached for his cigarettes, lit one, and walked over to the worship hall entrance to smoke it. When his emotions had steadied, he returned to the stool.
“I hope that didn’t alarm you,” he continued. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but I keep no secrets from you. This is the first time I’ve thought about it since it happened, and I didn’t expect to get so emotional. In all the years I’ve been a triad, I’ve never violated the Thirty-Six Oaths, and the idea that a brother would violate the most sacred of those oaths shakes me to the core. Obviously Wu didn’t succeed. A few days before, Wang had insisted that I accept a bodyguard. I resisted the idea but eventually gave in to help save a young man’s membership in our gang. Then that young man saved my life. What hand lay behind that twist of fate?
“Ironically, Wu’s attack had the opposite result of what he’d intended. We retaliated and did tremendous damage to his gang’s drug business, with only one loss of life. And his attack convinced more Mountain Masters that we needed to form a coalition committed to protecting each other. I said ‘Attack one of us and you attack us all’ so many times as I tried to persuade gangs to join us that I would wake up in the middle of the night with those words on my lips. Anyway, enough gangs expressed interest in my idea that we held a meeting to talk it through. We didn’t ask them to commit there and then, but to come back in a week with an answer. What a week that became!
“It started when Man made a move to take over Tsuen Wan. Even though my idea of a coalition was still up for discussion, I decided to try putting it into action. I reached out to two Mountain Masters who I knew supported the concept and enlisted their aid. Our three gangs put together a small army that, with Tsuen Wan’s approval, joined with their men to beat back Man. Chow, the Tsuen Wan Mountain Master, had been opposed to the idea of an alliance. After our victory he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter. And others who had been uncertain came on board as well. By mid-week we had virtually every gang in the Territories with us and — just as satisfying — there were indications that Zhao from Kowloon and maybe some gangs from Hong Kong Island would join.
“I have to say, Gui-San, that I was feeling very pleased with myself. If the week had ended there, I would already have considered it a success. But then I went to meet with Liu Leji in Shenzhen, and it took a turn I hadn’t anticipated. Good friend that he is, Leji had been trying to find something definite that I could use to discredit Man’s claim about the Communists’ plans after the handover. I thought the meeting would be about that, but there was so much more.”
Uncle smiled at Gui-San’s photo, and for a second he thought she smiled back. “The Chinese government wants us to partner with them,” he said, his smile broadening. “They have promised not to interfere with any of our activities in Hong Kong and are going to let us expand our operations in China into four new cities. In exchange, we’ll be their men on the ground in Hong Kong. If that’s confusing, let me explain. The handover agreement explicitly prohibits them from having a military or police presence in Hong Kong until 2047. But there are things they want to do, and returning convicted criminals to China to carry out their sentences is one.
“Over the past three weeks we’ve sent ten men over the border to face Chinese justice. I have to confess I’m not completely comfortable with the idea. There was one man, for example, who hadn’t been convicted of anything and was carrying a U.S. passport. His crime seemed to have been getting involved in a financial dispute with a company that has ties to a senior member of the Communist Party. We picked him up and sent him over the border anyway. It was a signal to Beijing that we would honour our agreement, no matter what. Two days later they told us in which four cities we could start operating, and gave us the names of the local officials who would work with us. From our side, figuring out which gang gets to operate in which city is going to be tricky. I’m going to be doing a lot of consulting before I make a decision . . . Did you notice that I said I’ll be making the decision? That’s the other thing that’s happened, Gui-San.”
Uncle stood up and moved closer to the niche so her face was directly in front of his. “The gangs formed the alliance I wanted and then went a step further. The Communists wanted me to be the contact they deal with in Hong Kong. I thought that would be an issue with my colleagues, but my friend Fong had been lobbying for days for the creation of an Executive Council with certain limited powers. The gangs not only agreed to it, they elected me chairman and gave me sole authority to make some decisions. I’m honoured and flattered, but it does pose a few challenging questions. One I’ve been asking myself is, can I continue to function as Mountain Master in Fanling and also adequately perform the role of chairman of the triad societies? Maybe I can delegate some of my day-to-day duties in Fanling to my deputy or the White Paper Fan, but that still leaves open the potential for conflict of interest. The chairman can’t be biased; he can’t play favourites. And in both those cases, perception is as important as the reality. I have to be seen as impartial, as making decisions that are based on facts and are in the best interests of the entire triad community.”
Uncle looked into Gui-San’s eye
s and began to feel calmer. He stood there quietly as the questions in his head began to sort themselves out. After a few minutes he kissed the tips of his fingers, pressed them against her lips, and said, “There, you’ve helped me again. I knew you would. The next time I visit, it will be as Chairman of the Hong Kong Triad Societies.”
Uncle moved the urn into the middle of the niche, picked up the stool and bag, and left the worship hall feeling completely at peace. His life was about to change again, but as long as he had Gui-San and his brothers, there was nothing to fear.
Acknowledgements
When I first presented my storylines for the Uncle trilogy, this particular plot was one of them. At the time, the idea that the Hong Kong triads and the Chinese Communist Government were or would become partners was — I thought — a bit far-fetched, but current events and the history I came across overtook what had started out as a fictional what-if.
History took the form of Tao Siju, who was the Minister of Public Security for the People’s Republic of China between 1990 and 1998. As I researched possible ties between the Hong Kong triads and the government in Beijing, his name appeared in a surprising way. During a trip to Hong Kong in 1993, Tao Siju held a news conference during which he spoke openly about Hong Kong’s triads. He admitted, among other things, that the government in Beijing had and maintained links to the triads. The quote on page 287 of this book states his actual words, which were spoken at that conference. In my opinion, it seems obvious the People’s Republic of China and the Heaven and Earth Society in Hong Kong did strike a deal and became partners.
That partnership became evident during the recent pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. Given the conditions of the handover agreement, the Chinese could not intervene militarily and left it to the Hong Kong police to manage the protests. But as the police struggled to contain them, it was reported that groups of “citizens” had taken it upon themselves to attack the protesters. Several media outlets suggested that the “citizens” were triads acting on behalf of Beijing as a paramilitary force. What Uncle sensed might happen, had come to pass.
Plots in several previous Ava Lee and Uncle books mixed fact and fiction, and sometimes foreshadowed real events, but never in a way that caused me distress. This plot was different. Given the empathy I have for the current situation of the citizenry of Hong Kong, I actually struggled to continue with it. Whenever I did, I asked myself this question: Would Uncle have gone ahead with the deal he negotiated if he had known the consequences twenty-five years later? I believed the answer was no, and pressed ahead. Still, the story may not be finished. I was supposed to write only three novels in the Uncle series, but now I feel compelled to continue. I am anxious to discover, for example, the actual state of Uncle’s life when he first encountered Ava, and to learn what emotions she unleashed in him. Equally, I am drawn to the final months of his life. We have seen them through Ava’s eyes, but I want to see them through Uncle’s. What did he take pride in accomplishing? What did he regret? Did he rue his agreement with Tao Siju? So there could be a fourth book, and maybe even a fifth. Stay tuned.
Now to my thanks.
My editor, Doug Richmond, once again did a masterful job. Doug is precise, not heavy-handed, and he has excellent instincts. As always, he made this a better book. What more can you ask of an editor?
And once that work has been improved, who better to see it through to completion than Maria Golikova, the managing editor at House of Anansi? Thank you, Maria.
In addition to my wife, Lorraine, I am blessed with a team of first readers who generously give me their time and their expertise. I have met only some of them personally, but feel I know them all. Many thanks to Catherine Rosebrugh, Kristine Wookey, Carol Shetler, John Kruithof, Lam Lau, and Ashok Ramchandani.
Lastly, I want to say thank you to the many readers who reach out to me via email and other ways. Your messages have brightened some dreary days, and they have often encouraged me to keep writing. So please don’t hesitate to let me know what you think of this book or any of the others. You can reach me through my web site,
www.ianhamiltonbooks.com.
IAN HAMILTON is the author of thirteen novels in the Ava Lee series and three in the Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung series. His books have been shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the Arthur Ellis Award, the Barry Award, and the Lambda Literary Prize, and are national bestsellers. BBC Culture named Hamilton one of the ten mystery/crime writers from the last thirty years that should be on your bookshelf. The Ava Lee series is being adapted for television.
House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi’s commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada’s pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.
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July 2021
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