Memories are made of these...Gambling

[douglaslam]

ON CHINESE VICE, GAMBLING

For too long the Chinese had been castigated as incorrigible gamblers, opium smokers, carriers of disease, living in squalor and preying on white women. Such were the prejudices right up to much of the 20th century.

That said,I want to talk about gambling in the Haymarket (Sydney's Chinatown area). My memories of Chinatown is not complete without the illegal casinos There were up to three gambling dens in the heart of Chinatown before the legal casino came to the fore. I do not necessarily see the gambling dens as something evil and totally undesirable. We must see it from the perspective of social context.

In a predominately single male society among the Chinese, gambling was an escape and a means of socialising. In my younger years, I was never afraid or embarrassed to be seen entering or leaving an illegal gambling joint. I wasn't in it to gamble.

Inside a typical gambling den, there was always an area set aside for the people to read newspapers from HK, watch TV, or simply have a chat. And there was always a big urn of tea for everyone. Most of the patrons especially during the day were the boarders living in those sub-standard cubicles which I mentioned earlier. Some came out from the suburbs. I liked to mingle with them. I was easily the youngest person around most of the time. These were the people trapped in their cocoons. Their misery would multiply many folds if it weren't for these peculiar meeting places.

You can also argue that the gambling dens had been the ruin of many a poor boy. But I won't condemn them outright as houses of sin. In those days the gambling dens were run by everyday people that you bumped into. I haven't heard of loan sharks circling, extortions, or money laundering. I may have been naive, or poorly informed, but an older friend I talked to,had told me he was often asked to be a stakeholder, and reap regular dividends. My friends are not stand over men !

How do you see the illegal gambling places, do they have a place in our rich overseas Chinese folk lore? Do you share similar experience in Nth. America, and elsewhere? I hope history won't judge them too harshly.

Douglas

[laohuaqiao]

Years ago, before we have the government sponsored lotteries, some of the larger associations in the Chinese community ran a weekly lottery based on part of the Thousand Word poem. Instead of numbers, the first 100 words of the poem were used. For those not familiar with the Thousand Word poem, it's a poem of 1000 words, with no word repeated within the poem. The poem begins as 天地玄黃 　宇宙洪荒. Each week, agents from the associations would go to the smaller family associations to gather bets and deliver the previous week's prize money to the winners.

[laohuaqiao]

As to the gambling parlors in New York City, they were definitely not innocent recreational centers. Because of the money involved many were backed by organized crime. From late 60s to the 80s, they promoted youth gangs by hiring teens to run errands, gave them guns to guard the entrances. Basically, they took advantage of the minors whose immigrant parents both worked to make ends meet and thus were without supervision at home and readily lured by the easy money. They used underage minors to do a lot of the dirty work because if caught the minor would only be sent to a children's correction center rather than a long prison term for an adult. Very quickly, the youth gangs got involved into extortion of local merchants, gang territorial fights, gun fights in public places, countless innocent bystanders were wounded or killed over that period of time.

Ever since the casinos were opened in nearby Atlantic City and Indian reservations, bringing in big name stars from Hong Kong to perform, they took away much of the gambling business from the Chinatown parlors. There are probably a few places left and the mahjong tables in family associations. That and the fact that the surviving gang members have grown and started families of their own, youth gangs is less of an issue in the community.

[geoff]

Douglas,

What era are you talking about?

Do they still exist today?

[helen]

We had Greys Ave in Auckland - In the early 1900s to maybe early 1960s. I well remember the time came up to Auckland. Dad must have had to do something - and Mum was warning us to stay in the car and be quiet. There were opium addicts about apparently.

Wellington had it Haining St, and Lynetter Shum has been researching the area and the times.

www.stevenyoung.co.nz/The-Chinese-in-New-Zealand/Current-Historical-Research/REMEMBERING-HAINING-STREET-With-both-eyes-open.html

[douglaslam]

Thank you laohuaqiao, Geoff and Helen for making this thread interesting. The NZ experience is akin to ours. The US one is more violent, perhaps it is to do with the gun culture and the emergence of the organised gangs. The Chinese lottery based on the Thousand Word Poem was before my time.

My personal experience is only from the late 60s to the 80s. By the 80s, the scene was heavily "diluted" by the new wave of arrivals.

Just as in Helen's accompanying article, the illegal casinos here did act as a "warm, safe place off the streets" for many of the lonely old men. One on street level, had two frontages, one was a greengrocer, the other a cheap eats restaurant, tied to the gambling den at the back. The restaurant served meals to walk-in patrons, and catered to the needs of the casino.

Let's go back to say the early 70s,on the 2nd and 16th day of each lunar month, a ritual is observed, the various gods are honoured, a small feast is laid on for anyone cared to join in. I always take note of the lunar calendar because I don't want to miss out on a feed.The main gaming table is cleared for food service, soft drinks and scotch are there for everyone to enjoy. Just pick up a pair of chopsticks, a bowl and a glass, and you are in. One Hainanese helper, whom I got to know in my dishwashing days, is always pleased to see me. His welcome is genuine. The heap of roast pork and chicken he puts on my bowl is like a haystack. For the loners, it is an occasion not to eat alone. I usually leave well fed, well lubricated and contented.

Other important Chinese feativals such as the Moon Festival, Winter Solstice and of course our New Year, were also observed with a free feed for all. Christmas was not forgotten either, it was a good enough excuse to celebrate with another feast. You could see the old timers light up, and become chatty. They ate and drank together, they were part of the festive season, they were not forgotten or alone.

I was happy in their midst, none of them knew my name but they knew me as a regular. I cherish those memories forever.

[geoff]

Douglas,

Thanks for those memories.

The 1980's doesn't seem any different to 1880's. There was an 1891 "NSW Royal Commission into alleged Chinese Gambling & Immorality & alleged Police Corruption", held in Sydney. The 496 page report contains many interviews by members of the small chinese community. Illegal gambling & opium smoking were just 2 of many questions asked to each interviewee. The real reason for the commission was to find out chinese earned their living. It's a great report on how chinese lived & worked in Sydney in 1880's. Found a relative in the report which fills in his first decade in Sydney.

For a " free feed", do you observe Ching Ming at Rookwood cemetery, Sydney?

Geoff

[laohuaqiao]

The Chinese lottery was also called White Pigeon lottery 白鸽票. There is a casino game in Las Vegas called Keno that is a variation of the White Pigeon lottery, popularized by the Chinese railroad construction workers.

The description below came from a site on history of Keno:

The origins of keno are a bit of a mystery, but there are a few stories floating around out there. What's the truth? Sadly, as with all history, the truth is a matter of opinion. Apparently ancient Chinese scrolls indicate that Cheung Leung of the Han Dynasty introduced a game similar to keno around 200 BC. Cheung's city was at war for several years and was beginning to run out of supplies. Rumor has it that the citizens of his city refused to contribute any more to the war fund, so Cheung created a game of chance to produce revenue for his army. This game, a numbers game not unlike keno, was an instant success and played a great part in saving the city. Quickly spreading throughout China, keno was also used to help fund the building of the Great Wall. The game also became known as the White Pigeon Game because carrier pigeons were used to send the winning numbers from the keno games in the larger cities to small villages and hamlets.

The heritage produced by this keno history is a Chinese poem of a thousand numbers. The 'thousand character classic' as it is known is a set of independent characters placed in a rhymed form. Originally a new way for children to learn, the poem is so well known the characters are often used as a romantic numbering system. So instead of having a board of just numbers on the original keno boards, they used these characters. Originally as many as 120 characters were used in the game, only after it left china would the number drop to a more familiar 80.

From there, the story gets a little dull. Basically the most common theory is that Chinese immigrants imported the game as they helped construct the railroad in the old west. Regardless of its illegality, keno was played continuously by Chinese immigrants, so much so that in and around cities like San Francisco it became known as the Chinese lottery. The game didn't have much success making its way into mainstream North American culture while it continued to use the Chinese characters as numbers. Keno history didn't evolve further until near the end of the 19th century when the characters were replaced with more familiar numbers.

In classic American style, when gambling was legalized in the state of Nevada in 1931 the fact that lotteries were not covered under the legislature discouraged no one. All they had to do was change the name of the 'Chinese lottery' to something else, so that it wasn't a lottery anymore. Thus, it was changed to 'horse race keno', playing off of the idea that the numbers are horses and you want your horses to come in. As the government passed a law that taxed off-track betting, Nevada swiftly changed the name again, shortening it to just keno. Now THAT'S some good keno history!

The Chinese search engine Baidu.com has a different take on the origin of White Pigeon lottery that's more believable, that the gambling game began in the Ching (Qing) Dynasty as pigeon races with each pigeon identified by a character of the 1000 Word poem tied to its feet and gamblers bet on the order of finish by picking the characters from the poem. baike.baidu.com/view/1528006.htm (in Chinese)

[douglaslam]

The White Pigeon Lottery was popular in the cities amongst the Chinese, I suppose up to the 1950s. It has a transliteration in English something like Peckabu. Perhaps , Geoff can look it up on his reference of Chinese history in Sydney by Shirley Fitzgerald.

Now, gambling was not tolerated, not officially anyway, except horse and greyhound racing, poker machines and two-up on our veterans day, ANZAC Day. How did the Chinese get round the ban?

The police was less than squeaky clean then. Once in a while, they staged raids in Dixon St,(heart of Chinatown). Before they set off, the gambling dens would be informed well in advance.At the appointed time, the police duly arrived with press photographers in tow, perhaps. A dozen or so of gamblers rounded up, taken to the station in a police paddy waggon. An illegal gambling racket was smashed, and the streets made safe once again.

Who were these gamblers? They were none other than the old men boarding in those cubicles nearby. They were the willing scapegoats, they volunteered to be rounded up and taken to the cop shop. Someone from the casinos would turn up, post the bail and they were out in no time. It was a minor misdemeanour, no criminal conviction recorded. Each person was paid for his troubles. The police were seen to be doing their job, the old men earned a little income, So everybody was happy. Gambling went on until the next raiding party.

This was a farce of course, but everyone was happy to play along. There was little anyone could do to a bunch of old Chinese men speaking little or no English, or giving the names of Ah Foo, Ah Bing etc,.etc,. Why would you bother to pursue the matter? They all looked the same?
It was nothing short of comical, and a stroke of genius for the old fellas had nothing to lose, no reputation to protect. A perfect marriage you might say.

[douglaslam]

Talking of gambling of yesteryear in Sydney's Chinatown, one colourful character comes into mind. No, it wasn't me. I was largely invisible. It was Ah Sook, Uncle to the Cantonese speakers, Mr. Lum or Lummy to others.

Ah Sook was from Toishan. My reliable source told me he came down to Sydney from Queensland after WW II. He was the front-man for one of the casinos, and held the purse string. He was bespectacled, always an immaculate dresser, in collar, tie and jacket. Such was his presence that when he walked down the street, people called out to him Ah Sook; an honour accorded to few men. It was a reputation well earned and well deserved. He was an upright and dignified man.

How did this come about? In the days before help was extended to those in need especially non-English speakers,or Chinese seniors clubs appeared on the scene,the illegal casinos were defacto social service centre to the single male. Ah Sook gave advances to those who were in dire need, if you were really down and out, he would send for a meal from the kitchen. The casinos themselves were refuge for many single men to while away time. There was no coercion for anyone to gamble. For those who lost their shirt such as visiting seamen, he was ever ready to hand out the equivalent of a weeks pay if asked. The gamblers played against each other, not the house, except in fan tan.

From time to time, some of the lonely old men passed on without next of kin to arrange a funeral. Ah Sook would start a collection, or pay through the casino to give the deceased a simple but proper burial. These were exceptional charitable acts.

To the end Ah Sook was a very generous, charitable and magnanimous person. He never bad-mouthed anyone, I never heard of anyone spoke ill of him. He was owed a lot of money by a lot of people.

Throughout his time, he supported Gee Kung Tong, the Chinese Masonic Society staunchly. When his own end came , the Society gave him a final farewell befitting a respected elder of a bygone era.

The illegal casinos of old were not necessarily a hotbed for crime. In fact, I did not hear of any heresay or alleged stories of organised crime, strongarm tactics to recover debts, or rival feuds in bloodshed. This must be unique to Sydney. The casinos also responded to community appeals such as the building of a pavillion at the Chinese cemetery. Perhaps, I am only aware what was going on skin deep. I never felt threatened or unease in any of the illegal casinos.
The character of the illegal casinos started to change with the influx of migrants upon abolishing the White Australia policy. Their final demise came when licence was granted to a large legal casino. Chinatown is the poorer without them. I miss them.

[laohuaqiao]

Sydney Chinatown and New York Chinatown are different universes, anti-universes(?).

For years, we also had a well known character whom people called Tsat Sook, Uncle Seven. From NY Times report at the time of his death in 1994, "A United States Senate subcommittee report in 1992 described him as the 'so-called Godfather of Chinatown' and leader of the Hip Sing Tong, which has used the Flying Dragons street gang as its enforcers." He, "following an older brother, immigrated to New York in 1923, when he was 16. He first worked in a Chinatown laundry and took other menial jobs, and like thousands of young immigrants he soon joined the Hip Sing Tong." He "was convicted of second-degree murder in 1935 and went to prison for 17 years; the origins of the case are obscure, but experts said the word in Chinatown for many years was that he had allowed himself to be framed and imprisoned to protect someone higher in the organization." Upon his release from prison, he rose to become the head of Hip Sing in 1974. When he died, there were 3 days of public ceremony in Chinatown.

Uncle Seven's chief rival for some time was the leader of On Leong Tong, known as Chinatown's Big Boss, who himself was an interesting character. Big Boss was once a high ranking Hong Kong police officer and came to NY in the 70s, rumored to have fled HK upon corruption investigations by the then newly formed Internal Affairs Division. He quickly became a prominent local businessman and leader of On Leong. Then suddenly in the mid-80s, he again fled, this time to southeast Asia; speculation was either a contract was put on him or the FBI was on his tail. He settled in Guangdong after he retired and passed away a few months ago in Guangzhou. His wife still lives in NY and actively gives to charitable causes.

[helen]

I don't have any stories about Greys Ave - but a book written by Eva Wong Ng describes the area through a young girl's eyes.

Chinatown girl : the diary of Silvey Chan, Auckland, 1942 / written by Eva Wong Ng. New Zealand is at war when Silvey starts her diary but for Silvey this is just a backdrop to the main issues of her world - the closure of her school and the arrival of Chinese-American soldiers

It is the anxious years of World War II. Silvey Chan lives above a shop in Auckland’s downtown Chinese district. Hers is a close-knit community with its own traditions and festivals – and even a neighbourhood ghost. For a school project Silvey asks her mother and her grandfather to tell her their stories of emigrating to New Zealand from China. As she learns about their experience of settling in a new, strange country she records her own story – her fears about the war, the American soldiers she befriends and Sunny, the boy from the fruit shop who keeps asking her out…

www.booksellers.co.nz/nzpb_fin/junfic_06_3.htm

[helen]

CHINESE AND OPIUM,

EXCITING ARREST AT DAWES' POINT. In the small hours of the morning of October 20, two Chinese were arrested in an exciting manner at Dawes' Point, Sydney. Inspector McVane, of the water Police, had received information that some opium was to be landed, and accordingly gave instructions to Senior-Constable Beattie, who was in charge of the night shift. At about half-past two Beattie, who was accompanied with three constables, saw a Chinese come out of the water near the Government boat sheds at Dawes' Point. He gave a cry, and immedately a second Chinaman approached the water's edge, carrying some clothes. Beattie then arrested the first man, who was dressed in a bathing suit, and had evidently swum ashore from the vessel. The man gave the officer a severe fight, however. The second man was secured by the other officers in wait. The vicinity of the boatsheds was then searched, and 125 tins of opium, valued at over £4 each, were found. - Hawera & Normanby Star 31 October 1910

[helen]

www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10548838&pnum=2

The closest we got to a Chinatown quarter in Auckland was the bottom section of inner-city Greys Ave. Eva Wong Ng, in a paper to the 2005 "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Banana" conference, noted that the Auckland Town Hall was erected in 1909 on the site of Thomas Humlog's Chinese laundry.

The Auckland Chinese population was then tiny; in 1900 it was just 155. Most were involved in growing or hawking fruit and vegetables, or in the laundry business. Grey St, as it was then known, was home base because rentals were cheap and it was next to the city markets.

As the population grew, Chinese boarding houses developed, and opium dens and gambling houses. For Europeans it was a place to avoid, but "those who grew up there tell a different story. As children they had wonderful childhoods". In 1947, many houses were demolished to make way for the multi-storey state flats. Then in 1959, lower Chinatown was demolished to make way for the civic administration building. In 1964, the last Chinese-occupied buildings in Greys Ave were demolished.

Unlike cities that embraced their exotic corners and turned them into tourist traps, we bulldozed ours. If Mr Harvey and his Chinese sister-city had stuck up some "traditional" gates and turned a section of New Lynn into a food alley, let's not kid ourselves it would ever have been Auckland's authentic Chinatown.

[douglaslam]

The only thing I can comment on opium is that I know what it smells like. very pungent. In the early days after "liberation", villagers were still smoking it. And when I arrived in HK in 1956, one of the tenants in the old pre-war flat, who was a taxi driver, must have his fix each day in his room. He was quite open about it.
Back then the flat didn't have a wet closet, everything had to be taken downstairs to be collected. We used firewood and kero. for cooking. It was so crowded that I slept on the corridor on a Singer sewing machine. This was HK and the place is still crowded as ever.