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Kings of Chinatown
Caught between fate and betrayal, a son must decide where his loyalties and ambitions lie.
The Syndicate, run by the aging Wong, is trapped in a battle for survival as a long-running gang war draws to an endgame, threatening to destroy what is left of his crime organisation and family.
Although he has valiantly kept his surviving son away from the Syndicate, Gavin is slowly drawn into a plot to topple his father by his bitter chief lieutenant, preparing to seize power after years of being sidelined.
Beyond the brutal gang warfare, a wider landscape of political manipulation and corruption emerges. All sides are desperate to settle old scores as a power-hungry politician and a disgraced police inspector join forces to assassinate Kuala Lumpur’s infamous “King of Chinatown”.
The Syndicate, run by the aging Wong, is trapped in a battle for survival as a long-running gang war draws to an endgame, threatening to destroy what is left of his crime organisation and family.
Although he has valiantly kept his surviving son away from the Syndicate, Gavin is slowly drawn into a plot to topple his father by his bitter chief lieutenant, preparing to seize power after years of being sidelined.
Beyond the brutal gang warfare, a wider landscape of political manipulation and corruption emerges. All sides are desperate to settle old scores as a power-hungry politician and a disgraced police inspector join forces to assassinate Kuala Lumpur’s infamous “King of Chinatown”.
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Published January 1, 2022
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About the author
William Tham Wai Liang
17 books15 followersI am an Editor-at-Large for Wasifiri, the author of The Last Days and have written extensively, with fiction and nonfiction appearing in various publications. I am currently an editor based in Kuala Lumpur, and prior to this I was the senior editor of Vancouver's Ricepaper Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 13, 2022
"Kings of Chinatown" gives the reader an insight of what organised crime looks like in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although the story is fictional, the author William Tham draws his inspiration from actual characters and happenings. Thus there are references to the infamous 'Botak Chin', one of Malaysia’s most notorious gangsters in the 1970s, and the horrific May 13 racial riots, and allusions to the tragic Highland Towers collapse, all of these resulting in the loss of innocent lives.
The story traces the rise and fall of Wong Kah Lok, the head honcho of the so-called Syndicate, a mafia-type crime outfit feared by those who refuse to do ‘business’ with it. In its heyday, cold blooded killings became rampant as Wong asserted his hold and sway over the territories he controlled. He became the undisputed “King of Chinatown”. But now he is getting old and begins to lose his grip as he faces enemies from within and without. First, his once trusted lieutenant Foo is mounting a serious challenge to his leadership after years of being sidelined. Foo ropes in Gavin, Wong's son, to engage in gang killings, much to his father's displeasure in getting him involved. Foo hopes to get the son to turn against his dad when the time comes. Then Foo orchestrates the killing of Chang, Wong's rival, without Wong’s authorisation. He is now one step closer to taking over the Syndicate.
Then there is Fakar, the college chancellor and a power-hungry politician, who has been in cahoots with Wong for many years but now feels that the latter’s usefulness is expiring and wants him eliminated because he knows too much. And he knows just the man he can rely on to do the job: old inspector Ramalingam, who has been fighting organised crime since he became a policeman. Now disgraced by his unsavoury link with Fakar and his failures, he feels the chance to redeem himself is within his grasp.
These men’s scorn for the old Wong leads to a major and brutal breakout of gang warfare with him as the main target. Many casualties ensue but will Wong emerge unscathed? The finale of the story will surprise the reader.
Ardent fans of "The Godfather" should find this novel appealing as it shines the spotlight on organised crime. This time the action is closer to home. To my knowledge, it's a genre not many local authors venture into. For this the author has my admiration.
The novel does pack a punch in many places. The author doesn’t leave much to the reader’s imagination when describing brutal killing sprees. However, much as I hate to say it, the pace is somewhat draggy and meandering at times. There are a lot of backstories in the narrative but the frequent going back and forth made it difficult for me to connect the dots sometimes. Some characters pop up without some form of introduction. This left me wondering who they are but that got sorted out as I read on. Also there isn’t a lot of dialogue. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I prefer a novel with a generous dollop of it.
To sum up, for me it's a good read but not a breezy summer read.
My thanks to Clarity Publishing for dropping this book to me. This review is given voluntarily.
The story traces the rise and fall of Wong Kah Lok, the head honcho of the so-called Syndicate, a mafia-type crime outfit feared by those who refuse to do ‘business’ with it. In its heyday, cold blooded killings became rampant as Wong asserted his hold and sway over the territories he controlled. He became the undisputed “King of Chinatown”. But now he is getting old and begins to lose his grip as he faces enemies from within and without. First, his once trusted lieutenant Foo is mounting a serious challenge to his leadership after years of being sidelined. Foo ropes in Gavin, Wong's son, to engage in gang killings, much to his father's displeasure in getting him involved. Foo hopes to get the son to turn against his dad when the time comes. Then Foo orchestrates the killing of Chang, Wong's rival, without Wong’s authorisation. He is now one step closer to taking over the Syndicate.
Then there is Fakar, the college chancellor and a power-hungry politician, who has been in cahoots with Wong for many years but now feels that the latter’s usefulness is expiring and wants him eliminated because he knows too much. And he knows just the man he can rely on to do the job: old inspector Ramalingam, who has been fighting organised crime since he became a policeman. Now disgraced by his unsavoury link with Fakar and his failures, he feels the chance to redeem himself is within his grasp.
These men’s scorn for the old Wong leads to a major and brutal breakout of gang warfare with him as the main target. Many casualties ensue but will Wong emerge unscathed? The finale of the story will surprise the reader.
Ardent fans of "The Godfather" should find this novel appealing as it shines the spotlight on organised crime. This time the action is closer to home. To my knowledge, it's a genre not many local authors venture into. For this the author has my admiration.
The novel does pack a punch in many places. The author doesn’t leave much to the reader’s imagination when describing brutal killing sprees. However, much as I hate to say it, the pace is somewhat draggy and meandering at times. There are a lot of backstories in the narrative but the frequent going back and forth made it difficult for me to connect the dots sometimes. Some characters pop up without some form of introduction. This left me wondering who they are but that got sorted out as I read on. Also there isn’t a lot of dialogue. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I prefer a novel with a generous dollop of it.
To sum up, for me it's a good read but not a breezy summer read.
My thanks to Clarity Publishing for dropping this book to me. This review is given voluntarily.
November 7, 2022
Book review: Kings of Chinatown by William Tham Wai Liang
I just finished reading this recently. As the title says, it’s about the kings of Chinatown, or rather the gangsters or triads in Kuala Lumpur. The story is about Wong Kah Lok, and his son, Gavin, and Wong’s right hand man, Foo. Wong’s longtime rival is Chang. There’s also Inspector Ramalingam, who has been trying to get rid of organised crime, and Fakar, a college chancellor, who is corrupt and hungry for power.
Wong wishes to keep his son out of the organised crime business and got him into a college where Fakar was the chancellor. Wong stays secluded and does not bother much about running the Syndicate, leaving it to Foo to do so. Foo decided to involve Gavin in the Syndicate’s business, by involving him in a gang killing, as he hoped that Gavin, who has been estranged from his father, could be manipulated by him later. Foo then set about plans to kill Chang, Wong’s rival, without Wong’s knowledge, by getting Maut to do it. Chang was later killed. This act made Wong’s underlings and others lose respect for him, including Fakar, who blackmailed Inspector Ramalingam into helping him get rid of Wong. So what happened to Wong? Read the novel to find out.
This novel is a confusing read for me, because it is written in different time periods and different voices. At times, I was not sure who was telling the story and there were also excerpts from a diary. There were also a lot of minor characters, mentioned in passing, and that was confusing, too. I felt there was no need to populate the novel with all these minor characters, who were just names who distract from the main plot. The story is also full of unnecessary details, which were quite tedious, unless you are into details. The reader will also learn the names of many places and states in Malaysia, as the setting is not just KL but also other places like Georgetown. Names of towns like Kajang, Serdang and Banting are strewn throughout the book. Characters come from all over the country to join the gangs. There are characters like Pontian Chew, Malim Chew and Kampar Niu. The author also mentioned fictionalised incidents based on real events like the Highland Towers disaster and people like Botak Chin.
Having said all that, I will say this book is a bit above average read for me. I am a slow reader and my pace is slowed down further by the back stories, going back and forth between the different time periods, the unnecessary details and the many characters and places mentioned. I do commend the writer for his meticulous details. The plot itself is actually interesting and gives a glimpse of organised crime in Malaysia.
My rating:
3.8 out of 5
Thank you to Clarity Publishing for choosing me as one of the winners of the Book Giveaway.
I just finished reading this recently. As the title says, it’s about the kings of Chinatown, or rather the gangsters or triads in Kuala Lumpur. The story is about Wong Kah Lok, and his son, Gavin, and Wong’s right hand man, Foo. Wong’s longtime rival is Chang. There’s also Inspector Ramalingam, who has been trying to get rid of organised crime, and Fakar, a college chancellor, who is corrupt and hungry for power.
Wong wishes to keep his son out of the organised crime business and got him into a college where Fakar was the chancellor. Wong stays secluded and does not bother much about running the Syndicate, leaving it to Foo to do so. Foo decided to involve Gavin in the Syndicate’s business, by involving him in a gang killing, as he hoped that Gavin, who has been estranged from his father, could be manipulated by him later. Foo then set about plans to kill Chang, Wong’s rival, without Wong’s knowledge, by getting Maut to do it. Chang was later killed. This act made Wong’s underlings and others lose respect for him, including Fakar, who blackmailed Inspector Ramalingam into helping him get rid of Wong. So what happened to Wong? Read the novel to find out.
This novel is a confusing read for me, because it is written in different time periods and different voices. At times, I was not sure who was telling the story and there were also excerpts from a diary. There were also a lot of minor characters, mentioned in passing, and that was confusing, too. I felt there was no need to populate the novel with all these minor characters, who were just names who distract from the main plot. The story is also full of unnecessary details, which were quite tedious, unless you are into details. The reader will also learn the names of many places and states in Malaysia, as the setting is not just KL but also other places like Georgetown. Names of towns like Kajang, Serdang and Banting are strewn throughout the book. Characters come from all over the country to join the gangs. There are characters like Pontian Chew, Malim Chew and Kampar Niu. The author also mentioned fictionalised incidents based on real events like the Highland Towers disaster and people like Botak Chin.
Having said all that, I will say this book is a bit above average read for me. I am a slow reader and my pace is slowed down further by the back stories, going back and forth between the different time periods, the unnecessary details and the many characters and places mentioned. I do commend the writer for his meticulous details. The plot itself is actually interesting and gives a glimpse of organised crime in Malaysia.
My rating:
3.8 out of 5
Thank you to Clarity Publishing for choosing me as one of the winners of the Book Giveaway.
April 14, 2024
Personally don't quite like the flow of the story. But kudos on the meticulous detail of the writing
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews