The talk will be conducted in English.

In Singapore, gangs are traditionally called secret societies, with their origins in the underground Chinese triads typically known for being embroiled in illegal and dangerous activities. In truth, these groups also provided social support and some welfare services for Chinese men arriving in colonial Singapore mostly as low-skilled workers and were prominent in resisting Japanese occupation in World War II. They started to recruit members aggressively from other ethnic groups after Singapore’s independence. This talk will discuss the evolution of secret societies and some of the multiracial aspects of the secret society landscape. 

About the Speaker
Kamaludeen Mohamed Nasir is an Associate Professor of Sociology and the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. He is the 2016 Western Sydney University International Alumni of the Year and won the Nanyang Research Award in 2017 for being one of the three best young professors, university wide. He has authored seven books and published articles on cultural sociology, globalization, the sociology of youth, and popular culture. Some of these works include “Protected Sites: Reconceptualising Secret Societies in Colonial and Postcolonial Singapore,” “Antipodal Tattooing: Muslim Youth in Chinese Gangs,” and “The Malay Gangster”. He has been a visiting scholar at New York University, The Graduate Center (City University of New York), the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the Australian Catholic University, and the University of California Los Angeles.