S’pore man, gang leader at 15, now preacher & father of 2 who counsels ex-offenders

By Amadea Chan, Chloe Goh, Christie Chua and Valerie Seow

“I used to really enjoy fighting and loved seeing blood. It was a bit twisted–extremely twisted,” said Timothy Koh on his criminal past.

Koh, previously a headman in one of the biggest secret societies in Singapore, Hongmen, evaded the police as a wanted man from the age of 15 but was arrested before he was 17, serving two and a half years in prison.

Now 45, Koh owns a company in the logistics, moving and courier industry, is a qualified preacher and counsels those who are addicted to drugs.

He is also married to a wife of nineteen years, with whom he has two children.

Koh credits his turnaround to a miraculous encounter in prison and a mindset of focusing on the present instead of letting his past define him.

Dropped out of school in Primary 2

But it was not always smooth sailing for Koh.

Koh grew up in a broken family, with his parents separating when he was just a month old. He was raised by his uncle and grand-aunt.

“My father was also involved in the underworld and was rarely around, so I often stayed with different relatives, moving from one house to another,” Koh said in Mandarin.

“I never felt like I had a real home.”

Koh stopped going to school in Primary 2, after being expelled for throwing a chair at his teacher.

At the age of 9, he picked up his first cigarette.

At 10, he was abusing inhalants.

At 15, Koh had his first encounter with a gang outside the Yishun Ten cinema (now Golden Village Yishun).

He’d just finished watching a movie with a friend when a group of over 10 youths, sporting tattoos, piercings, and dyed hair, asked him what gang he was with, to which Koh said none.

15-year-old Koh suggested they pick their toughest guy to fight him.

If he won, he could leave. If he lost, the gang could do whatever they wanted.

Gang leader at 15

Surprisingly, Koh won and was recruited to join Hongmen, which is believed to be the first-ever secret society in Singapore.

Koh said that in the early 90s, being in a gang was quite glamorous.

“My aspiration was to become a gang leader.”

Six months later, Koh’s wish became a reality. He was promoted to a “small leader”, and had permission to recruit new members.

From 1995 to 1997, Koh took part in various illegal activities, such as fighting, loansharking, negotiating, assault, drug trafficking and prostitution.

After one particularly intense fight, the skin on his hand had split from knocking out someone’s front teeth.

“The teeth got stuck in my hand, they fell out with just one punch,” Koh recalled.

A wanted man who fought for a living, Koh dared not bring around his identity card in fear that he would be caught.

He joked that he was a clever guy, memorising various addresses at the other end of Singapore to recite if he ever got stopped by the police.

After claiming that he had lost his ID and had reported it, Koh would ask the officer to drive him home so he could show them paper evidence.

“It's a form of psychological warfare. They would never drive me there,” Koh said.

Arrested before 17th birthday for fighting police

On Jun. 18, 1997, before his 17th birthday, Koh was arrested after fighting and injuring four policemen.

Koh said that he had called for another gang to meet his group for “negotiations” at a void deck between 12:00 to 12:30pm. This was a ruse as he intended to fight them.

However, the other party did not turn up.

Just after the meeting time passed, a group of plainclothes police officers showed up.

Thinking that they were from the other gang, Hongmen members started fighting the police with knives, baseball bats, and anything they could find, only for the officers to shout amidst the chaos that they were the police.

“I almost fainted, I was doomed. I liked fighting so much, but I never thought about fighting the police. Only a fool would do that,” Koh said.

Koh was arrested the same day.

Koh was detained but was not given a fixed jail term. Instead, his release would depend on his behaviour in prison.

Epiphany in prison

Around his two-year mark, Koh was reflecting when he said he heard a voice say to him, “Do you want to live your whole life like this?”

Koh brushed it off initially, thinking it was an impulsive thought. But the words had stirred something in him.

The same day, a fellow inmate, who was a Christian, asked Koh if he thought of becoming a Christian himself.

Struck by the remarkable coincidence, Koh said, “Okay”.

Despite the stigma he faced – gangsters tended to shun those who turned to Christianity – Koh knew that he wanted to change his ways for the sake of a better future.

As Koh couldn’t even write his own name in Mandarin, he decided to learn the language, and would go round with a thick dictionary asking inmates for help to read the words inside.

He also started the habit of waking up early to kneel in prayer – asking God to keep him from vice.

Koh expected to serve at least five years in prison as a gang hitman.

However, when his case was reviewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Koh was able to sign the papers for his release in 1999, after just two and a half years in jail.

Koh remembers part of the exchange he had with an officer supervising his release.

“He told me to leave, but I was sceptical,” Koh said. He even told the officer to stop joking around.

“I thought he was kidding. How could a hitman be released so soon?”

Met future wife at halfway house

After Koh’s release, he voluntarily stayed at Breakthrough Missions, a halfway house that typically takes in former drug abusers, in an attempt to change his old lifestyle.

Freddie Wee, Deputy Director from Breakthrough Missions, noted that Koh’s case was “unique” as he was not a recovering drug user, but said Koh was allowed to stay in the halfway house as he felt Koh would benefit.

Initially, Koh found it difficult as everyone there was much older than him. He also faced communication issues in his first year which led to fights.

Koh said, “Even though I wanted to change, I didn't know how to solve problems, so I often reverted to old patterns [of violence].”

Most of the first three years at the halfway house, Koh noted, was spent learning to control his temper.

While at Breakthrough Missions, Koh also crossed paths with his future wife, Tan Teng Teng, a university graduate who helped her mother sell noodles at the canteen of the halfway house.

“What attracted me to Teng was her dedication. She worked in an air-conditioned office during the week [but] still helped her mother sell noodles in a hot coffee shop on weekends,” Koh says fondly.

As for Tan, she liked how Koh was polite and loving towards the elderly, despite having a fierce front.

In 2001, not long after they met, they started dating.

During his stay at Breakthrough Missions, Koh requested to go on staff with them.

He served as a trainee staff for three years and as a staff member for another four years.

Back to society

Koh said his wife served as a pillar of support for him, standing by his side throughout his difficult journey of reintegrating back into society.

“For example, because my educational background is not high, I need her help with the English language aspect,” Koh said.

When Koh started his business in 2015, Tan helped him proofread his business contracts and also oversaw other administrative matters.

An ex-offender and friend of 20 years, Henry Khew, who was in Breakthrough Missions with Koh, said he always admired Koh’s eagerness to learn and improve himself.

Koh later studied theology at Trinity Theological College in Singapore and also earned a psychology diploma at the ACC Institute of Human Services.

Koh also served as a preacher at Grace Methodist Church for a year and volunteered with a Christian organisation, Prison Fellowship Singapore, to counsel inmates — especially those addicted to drugs.

And given Koh’s background, halfway houses would engage him for what he called “freelance” counselling work.

“I went everywhere, to many different halfway houses. If their residents struggled and found it hard to communicate with the staff, they’d call me, and I’d go down to help,” said Koh.

In 2020, Koh co-founded a halfway house, House of Anatole (“sunrise” in Greek), with a friend.

"It's about mindset, not habit"

Koh described his past self with one word, "immature".

After “creating havoc” as part of a gang and being arrested in his youth, Koh was glad he chose a path out of that life, and into a more promising future.

He has been married to Tan for nineteen years. They have two children.

Tan said that their children look up to Koh in spite of his checkered past.

“How he picks himself up, getting educated, helping others around him, also motivates our children in their daily life,” Tan said.

Reflecting on his past, Koh added: “Life isn't like a movie. It has consequences and not 'what-ifs.'”

“Everyone makes mistakes, but not wanting to change is what's truly frightening. Every day, we make choices that shape our future. It's about mindset, not habit.”

This article was produced as part of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's media practicum module collaboration with Mothership.

Top image courtesy of Koh and by Amadea Chan