Secret Societies

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36 oaths of the Hung Society, Tiandihui initiation ceremony altar paraphernalia (William Stirling Co)
Early 20th century
Singapore
1996-02795
NHB Collections
National Museum of Singapore

Many of us have heard about the secret societies of Singapore’s past, the dark and shady precursors of today’s gangs. They have always been portrayed as evil-doers who liked nothing better than to stir up violence. But were they?

This set of 36 oaths taken during the induction ceremony shows that perhaps, secret society members were not the horrible gangster-style troublemakers they are often portrayed as. Their loyalty to society and their blood brothers is a rare and admirable trait. Many members lived their lives according to these oaths; their actions were probably driven by them too.

Many may ask, why join a secret society? Imagine if you were miles away from home and were given an opportunity to join a society of people from your homeland, wouldn’t you join? Many of these secret society members were the manual labourers who toiled endlessly beneath the sun, day after day. They only wanted to maintain that sense of belonging to their homeland, never intending to create trouble or start fights.

Many of our forefathers were members of secret societies. They may have given their blood and tears during the fights but their sweat and toil were given to building our nation.