Triad Gangster In World Of Drink, Drugs, Violence, Gambling And Womanising

Kim Goh

‘I put the gun to my head, closed my eyes and I pulled the trigger.’ For Kim Goh, caught up in a tangle of gang culture and drugs, the danger of Russian roulette was just one of the many life-threatening situations he faced.

In prison Kim’s life was turned around when he had a very personal encounter with God. From a triad gangster to a Methodist minister – the contrast in his life then and now couldn’t be more surprising.

Kim was born into a prosperous middle-class family in Singapore. His father, a lawyer, was a bully and a drunk who ruled his family with harsh discipline. But Kim remembers happy times too from his childhood. His family was Buddhist and took delight in celebrating the many religious festivals during the year.

When Kim was invited along to the local Christian church by a friend, his mother had no objection to her son attending. ‘She thought that there were many gods and having one more was fine,’ Kim recalls.

Although Kim showed interest in the Christian faith, he was soon disillusioned by what he saw as the hypocrisy of the church leaders. He decided he would have nothing more to do with the church. ‘I never left Buddhism but any Christian influence that might have moderated my behaviour was now gone,’ he says in his recently published biography Conquering the Dragon. ‘I began to think of the Christian faith as a white man’s religion.’

He grew into a confident young man but the bad company he kept left their mark on his personality. He was influenced by violent gang culture, the occult, gambling and black magic. ‘I took the anger and pride into adult life. Gambling was my passion and my weakness,’ he says.

He left home to work and travel but most of all to look after Number One. ‘I moved into a world of lust and dope and I found that it suited me very well.’ His travels took him across America where the Russian roulette incident took place, throughout Europe and eventually he arrived in the UK. He worked in Chinese restaurants, becoming manager of a chain.

His professional life was a success yet he was still torn between the gang lifestyle and the attractions of living a straight and respectable life. In his early 30s Kim joined a gang, becoming the bodyguard to a triad ‘Godfather’.

This position took him further into the world of drink, drugs, violence, gambling and womanising. ‘I was turning to the occult to find that sense of peace that eluded me. In reality, all of these things, including the practice of black magic, stole my joy.’

In time, Kim’s illegal activities came to the notice of the police. He was arrested and sent on remand to Hull Prison. His felt angry and betrayed. It was, unexpectedly, the chaplain who triggered the full force of Kim’s rage. Kim started to swear at God. To his surprise, he heard God ask ‘Why are you swearing at me?’

‘I have never been so scared or so elated as I was at that moment. I felt God’s presence. I saw everything I had ever done flashing in front of me. The sight of it made me feel sorry and ashamed.

‘I realised that whatever I’d been searching for all those years, I had now found it. I felt like God had taken all of the rubbish that had burdened me and lifted it away.’

‘I heard God say: “Kim, I love you and I forgive you, but don’t forget the consequences; the choice is yours.”’

Kim’s response was to join ‘God’s gang’. His life was under new management now. He was convicted, served his prison sentence and on his release, he joined a church. He felt God wanted him to work for Him.You can read in his book Conquering the Dragon how Kim’s life changed. Today he is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church. ‘I look back,’ Kim says, ‘and I am amazed at how far I have come, by the grace of God. I owe my whole life to the Lord, who has such amazing love and grace for the lost souls in the world.’

Kim Goh

Story and picture by courtesy of ChallengeNewsline