2. The Hong Kong Connection
Gangster
BBC
4.7 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking.
We visit Georgie Pai’s birthplace, a rural village close to the border of mainland China. Through those who knew him and the history of the region, we uncover how he was recruited into Wo Shing Wo and track his rise to the position of Red Pole – an enforcer with an army of disciples. But all that power can come at a cost.
Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn
Archive: Drunken Master II: Golden Harvest, Paragon Films, Hong Kong Stuntmen Association. Directed by Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.2 | Savings, credit cards, car finance, reclaiming, insurance, investing, power of attorney, decision, |
| 0:12.2 | indecision, analysis, paralysis. |
| 0:15.4 | Don't panic. |
| 0:16.4 | The Martin Lewis podcast is twice weekly, helping you navigate our complex consumer world. I'll walk you through a big money saving topic step by step. Then in question time, you set the agenda and ask whatever's on your mind. |
| 0:28.6 | Would you rather be locked in an empty shopping centre with a thousand snakes or just one gorilla? Within reason. |
| 0:34.2 | The Martin Lewis podcast, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:38.4 | New episodes drop every Friday wherever you get your BBC podcasts, |
| 0:43.5 | but if you want them first before anywhere else, |
| 0:47.1 | and trust me, you do. |
| 0:49.2 | Head over to the BBC Sounds app and search Gangster. |
| 0:53.3 | You're about to listen to Gangster, the story of Georgie Pye. |
| 0:59.5 | Episodes will be released weekly wherever you get your podcasts. If you're in the UK, you can |
| 1:06.0 | listen to the whole series right now, first on BBC Sounds. |
| 1:12.8 | A quick warning. |
| 1:16.6 | This episode contains some descriptions of violence. |
| 1:25.5 | Chinese martial art takes time. |
| 1:30.5 | They have to do stance training for six months to a year. |
| 1:38.2 | In the grounds of a Taoist temple in the new territories of Hong Kong, I'm getting a lesson in Kung Fu. |
| 1:45.7 | They have to do basics and conditioning for a year. Then they have to learn the forms, then they have to learn the applications of the forms. |
| 1:48.5 | You could take them up to three years to learn how to fight. |
| 1:54.0 | We're in a village called Fanling, close to the border with mainland China, |
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