This article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 9, 1999.

SINGAPORE - At the void deck of Block 811, French Road, in Jalan Besar, some 100 people sit around wooden tables, playing cards and munching on tid-bits.

More than 30 brightly coloured blankets, with sombre messages such as "We hope your journey from here will be a smooth one" sewn in gold thread, are hung out on poles.

The blankets, sent by clan groups, well-wishers and companies, can cost up to $800 each.

They are indications of the fame - or notoriety - of gang leader Aw Teck Boon, 43, also known as Singapore Siao or the Madman of Singapore.

Once in charge of a group of 60 men in the Sio Kun Tong secret society, the bony-faced moustachioed leader now lies in a coffin.

He is dressed in a Newcastle football jersey. It was his favourite club. He knew the names of all the players by heart, and he should, since he was a big bettor.

His four-year-old daughter, Wendy, runs around playing with the neighbourhood children, oblivious that her father is dead. His 28-year-old Thai wife weeps silently in their one-room flat upstairs.

The one topic of conversation among those at the wake: How he came to such an end.

Some say that his foul temper offended people; some, that he owed loansharks more than $10,000; while others said he had been on the hit-list of rival gangs because he was growing too popular.

Mr Aw, who had spent about 10 years behind bars for having links with the underworld and armed robbery, was a feared man in the underbelly of law-and-order Singapore.

The second of six children, he was thrown in prison under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, well-known as "Section 55", for being a kingpin in the underworld.

He was arrested sometime in the early 80s, after he and some 100 gang members got into a fight with a rival gang, which resulted in the death of one man.

In his heyday, he could take on several men at a go, said a source.

"He was quite brutal and often did not leave any of them standing up. But he was the sort of person who'd settle things face to face."

In his favourite coffeeshop haunts at Beach Road and Geylang, he was known for his foul temper.

A drinks-stall assistant at a Geylang coffeeshop who declined to be named said in Hokkien: "Whenever he came, we'd all say, 'the madman has come' and we always hoped that he would not cause trouble. Sometimes when he got very drunk, he would get into brawls even with the people he was drinking with.

"He would overturn the tables and break bottles if he lost his temper. But after he came out from prison, he stopped doing that. Maybe prison life had tamed him a bit."

A friend of Mr Aw for over 20 years, who also declined to be named, said he had a weakness for liquor.

"It often got him into a lot of trouble...sometimes he would say things which offended people."

But ask his followers if he "controlled" the brothels of Geylang and they would tell you that he was a friend of the brothel owners and would go out of his way to "help" them.

Ask them what he did for a living and the reply was that he was a seaman. His relatives whipped out his passport to show the places he had been to.

They were anxious that he should die with a good name. Said a follower of 20 years called Ah Gao: "We were like brothers. He would go out of his way to help me ... it didn't matter if I called him at four in the morning or what the problem was all about, he'd be there."

Despite his shady life, many came to pay their respects at the wake.

Elderly folk who live in the neighbourhood wept when they caught a glimpse of his body in the coffin.

"Why would people want to murder him? He was such a good man. He helped my family and gave us some money when we were in debt," wailed one woman, who later told The Sunday Times that she was introduced to Mr Aw by a friend, and had borrowed "several thousand dollars" from him.

"He did not even ask for the money back, you know," she said, crying.

A 69-year-old destitute who gave his name as "Eng" said Mr Aw gave him money whenever he saw him sleeping in the void decks in Jalan Besar.

"Sometimes he gave me $50, sometimes $10. He always asked me how I was and told me that I was too thin and had to fatten up."

Sources said that a week before Mr Aw's death, he was having drinks with a man who was not from his gang. A heated argument broke out, and after some other gang members helped cool things down, the other man left in a huff.

On Tuesday, Mr Aw gave in to his weakness again and had one too many at a Geylang coffeeshop. Too tipsy to go home, he decided to sleep out the effects at the Eng Choon Wushu Association at 435 A, Geylang, something which he often did.

Police found his tattooed body with stab wounds in his neck, armpit and waist after receiving a call at about 3 am on Wednesday. There were no signs of struggle. He was found lying face down.

His brother Aw Teck Lim, 40, a businessman, said in Mandarin: "Yes, my brother had a past and he had been in trouble with the law before, but he was also a man of principle who knew how to treat people who deserved kindness well.

"He didn't deserve to die this way. Whoever did this to him is just too gutless to deal with him face to face."