Mention the name “Botak Chin” to any young Malaysian today and you are likely to be greeted with blank stares.

But for Malaysians of the older generation, that name will most certainly ring a bell, with it being plastered all over newspapers and wanted posters once upon a time.

While popular culture is content with placing mobsters in countries like Mexico, Japan, Russia and Italy, gang culture used to be an issue in Malaysia as well.

The public would read in the newspapers reports of daring armed robberies by ruthless gangsters with massive bounties on their heads.

And one among these notorious gangsters, whose reputation is either that of a hardened criminal or a misunderstood soul — depending on whom you ask — was Botak Chin.

Born on March 3, 1951, Wong Swee Chin was the son of a railway worker and had a relatively normal childhood until he dropped out of school when he was 15.

This was really quite a shame as a medical test conducted during his adulthood found him to be actually quite an intelligent person.

Afterwards, he worked as a fishmonger to support his family and it was during this time that he first came into contact with the criminal underbelly of 1960s Kuala Lumpur.

His life took a turn when he was roughed up by local ruffians for failing to pay them protection money.

To protect himself, he befriended some petty criminals, and one thing led to another; he was soon a member of a gang called Gang 360.

Most 18-year-old Malaysians today are more concerned about college applications and their future career prospects.

Wong, on the other hand, participated in his first robbery at that age, and not too long after, got his hands on his first revolver.

Despite his young age, he proceeded to found his own gang and they were soon making a name for themselves, committing eight robberies in a single month.

He gained the moniker “Botak Chin” around this time, which seems to be a misnomer today since he always had a healthy head of hair.

According to some, “Botak” was really an acronym for “Bantu Orang Tak Ada Kerja”, meaning helping people without jobs.

Anyway, his lack of experience led to his subsequent arrest, and he was sentenced to serve seven years in prison.

He only served five though, with his good behaviour earning him a ticket to freedom. When he was released, he did try to turn over a new leaf by becoming a vegetable seller.

Unfortunately, this new gig did not last.

Driven by desperation, he returned to criminal life when he visited Thailand to acquire a large assortment of firearms, before recruiting known mobsters and establishing yet another gang.

An abandoned tin mine in Sentul was the gang’s hideout, where they would practise their marksmanship on stray dogs roaming around.

Wong’s infamy reached its peak as he and his gang went on a crime spree — robbing banks, clubs, illegal gambling dens, armoured trucks and even temples.

His crimes were far from bloodless, with civilians, police officers and rival gangsters gunned down by Wong and his gang.

Life in Kuala Lumpur back then was almost something out of a cowboy Western, with high-speed car chases and shootouts between the gangsters and the police being regular sights.

Despite being a scourge to the police force, members of the public did sympathise with Wong. Some even compared him to the legendary Robin Hood.

Stories have been told of Wong giving away the proceeds of his crimes to the needy, with one tale relating how Wong gave an elderly ice-cream vendor thousands of ringgit out of his own pocket.

He is also said to have some level of moral standards, abstaining from targetting poor folks as well as never putting children in harm’s way.

Others did point out that these supposed acts of kindness could have just been his way of keeping possible witnesses against him quiet.

The scale of his crimes soon drew the attention of the police heads, with top crime buster S Kulasingam being deployed to bring Wong to justice.

A squad, called the Magnificent 12, was led by Kulasingam to do just that, and in encounters with Wong’s gang, they gunned down several of Wong’s gangsters.

Enraged, Wong plotted his revenge and orchestrated an assassination attempt on the law enforcer, who thankfully escaped with minor injuries.

Unperturbed, Kulasingam finally got the final showdown he sought when the squad ambushed the gang in Eng Leong sawmill on Jalan Ipoh.

A fierce firefight ensued which saw several more gang members killed and, in the chaos, Wong was wounded and then arrested.

He faced multiple criminal charges, with his illegal possession of firearms earning him the death sentence.

While he was held in Pudu Jail, he attempted to escape but failed, though he brutalised three prison guards in the process.

Rather strangely, during his incarceration, the prison was flooded with letters and phone calls from Wong’s legion of female admirers.

Despite his appeals for clemency, the consequences of his actions had finally caught up with him and he met his end at the gallows on June 11, 1981.