With the growth of the casino industry, a business called "bate-ficha" was developed and it is usually run by different triad societies.

As different triad societies compete for controlled territory in the casinos and on the streets, disputes between societies occur from time to time.

"Having said that, we have long-entrenched triad societies, many of which have tentacles to Macao."

The first record of a triad society, Heaven and Earth Gathering, dates to the Lin Shuangwen uprising on Taiwan from 1786 to 1787.

The series contributed a lot to the public image of triads and was condemned by certain quarters as glorifying secret triad societies.

In 2003, a local court sentenced the leader of a triad society to a death sentence with two years of probation.

"We are more familiar with all the situations in Macao, and the triad societies and all their activities."

It also investigates triad societies and their hierarchies with particular emphasis on their involvement in organised crime.

It did not appear to be against the law, as the triad society was, but rather beyond the law.

Perhaps a hint of the old Po-han peeped out then; the free-spirited, even somewhat wild teenager who had sought out the triad society as a substitute family.