Friday, March 25, 2022

What happened to Morgan the Kidnapper ( Siang Lim Park Gunfight )?

Many of you who have read my recent previous post titled, " Gunfight at Siang Lim Park August 1965", must have been left wondering what eventually happened to that elusive and most wanted gunman...Morgan Teo aka Morgan the Kidnapper. If you have googled the net about this long-forgotten top criminal you would have been disappointed. There is practically nothing very much out there about him and a few of his infamous brethren in crime...top wanted killers and gunmen such as Oh Kim Kee and Lim Ban Lim
But much have been reported about their legendary misdeeds mainly in the press of those years. 
Unk Dicko is certain he has news clips about some of these chaps...but have not located them yet. The reason I am so certain is I knew I had over the years, collected news reports of major crimes committed and their aftermath. 
Nevertheless, the answer to what eventually happened to Morgan the Kidnapper must be told. 
My recollection is based entirely on memory of the events as I can recall today. Morgan Teo and his gang had been involved in a string of high profile kidnappings where ransom was paid for the release of those he captured. He was known to skip in and out of Singapore to nearby Indonesia. 
He was considered very dangerous. Besides the guns he always carried with him, he was also known to have quite an arsenal or cache of smuggled arms and weapons, such as hand grenades. 
That day in Siang Lim Park, he threw 2 of these grenades at the police ambush party. 
After fatally shooting Inspector Allan Lim of the CID, he eluded capture and made his escape by climbing into the ceiling of the next terrace house. 
The next 2 houses the occupants have been earlier asked by the Police to leave their homes.  
Whenever a police officer has been killed by a criminal, a no-holds barred response from the police is expected. 
Morgan has to be captured dead or alive! 
The police teams went into an overdrive mode in an all out attempt to pin-point his whereabouts. 
By making the fatal mistake of shooting dead a Singapore Police Officer, Morgan had in a way, signed his own death warrant. The heat was on! 
It wasn't very long before the police confirmed his whereabouts. 
He was in the ceiling at the 3rd house. The police knew precisely where he was. 
They also knew from past experience he was likely heavily armed with several guns and even grenades.
Police took no chances.
The located house was surrounded from front and back.
Police using a loud hailer called for him to throw down his weapons and surrender.
Morgan responded by firing his guns.
Earlier, his henchman and a woman have already surrendered to the Police.
To end the stalemate, the Police attack team launched a front and back attack with grenades
and guns blazing away. 
The house soon caught fire.
When the fire was put out by firemen they found his body on the ground ...burnt.
Around his neck there was a gold chain with his name " Morgan " inscribed.
UPDATE :
In later years more details of the heroic action of the Police officers involved in this
shoot out were published.
I have met personally with some of them including the late CID detective Lionel de' Souza
who related details of his involvement that day.
I am a living eye-witness of that gun battle in Aug 1965.



















11 comments:

peter said...

yah I i now remember the event.

Unk Dicko said...

Can you recall any other thing?

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Unk Dicko, the titles of your blog articles remind me of these two movies, I had seen.

"Gunfight at O.K. Corral" which starred Burt Lancaster as Marshall Wyatt Earp, and Kirk Douglas as 'Doc' Holiday. The gunfight took place in Tombstone, Arizona, and the victims were buried in Boothill.

"Morgan the Pirate" which starred Steve Reeves. Reeves is sometimes acknowledged as 'one of the greatest bodybuilder of all time' because of his proportionate and symmetrical physique. He won the 1950 NABBA Mr. Universe, held in London, by defeating the favorite, Reg Park. Reeves took home to California, the winner's trophy of a 'priceless' bronze statue of Eugene Sandow, the legendary English muscleman.

Cheers,

Unk Dicko said...

Glad the titles reignited some memories for you in the films you saw.
I had seen both the movies you mentioned too.
Gunfight at OK Corral...is probably the most famous of all shootouts in the days of the wild west. I had also seen the earlier and later versions of the movie including, "Wyatt Earp".
In 1992,I was in Phoenix, Arizona on my way to Flagstaff, then the Grand Canyon. Tombstone was not that far away ( about 70 km) but time was not on my side to explore that legendary, historic town.
I had also wanted to explore San Antonio, Texas where the ALAMO is located. Same problem, insufficient time.
Sir Henry Morgan the swashbuckilng pirate remains an endearing true story of an incredible ordinary man who rose from rags to riches and into the history book.
Yes...call him "Sir", he was knighted by the King of England for his "piracy" against the Spanish!

Anonymous said...

Hey uncle! Do you mind sharing more about Lim Ban Lim story? Sound quite ibteresting..:))

Unk Dicko said...

Hi Anon,
Thanks for dropping by. Yes,Lim Ban Lim was an unforgetable part of our criminal history. He was top of the police list of wanted men. At one time,when I was still in active service,I had a small pic of him kept in my wallet..just in case !
Certainly I'll blog about him and his exploits one day. For the moment, my computer setup is being redone and reconfigured..not ready yet. So have not been able to do anything like scanning etc..accessing my file archives also affected. Soon, I will resume.

ChinYi said...

Hi, I can share story of lim ban lim . I heard a lot from my parents. He's from the same kampong as my parents and he used to woo my grandmother back then.

Unk Dicko said...

Hi Chin Yi,

Thank you very much for dropping by and especially for offering to share a story about Lim Ban Lim. Certainly, please do share.
I've sent you a message via your own Blogpost. Pl check and let's take it up further.
Warmest Regards !
Unk Dicko

Simin said...

Hi Uncle Yip,

I am currently doing a research for a project on Serangoon Gardens and was told about Lim Ban Lim being gunned down at St Helier's. Just wondering if you could share more about it?

Also I wish to have a chat with you about your experiences living in Serangoon Gardens.

Please drop me a message at simin@oak3films.com

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Simin

Simin said...

By the way, are you aware of this shop on Dunlop Street, Little India, specializing in the retail of the ukulele? They also have another outlet at Kallang Rivergreen Building!

Cheers,
Simin

simin@oak3films.com

Yee-wei Chai said...

Dear Uncle Dick

I just discovered your website and would like to know how i could get in touch with you regarding finding out about Lim Ban Lim and the gangsters of the past.

If you could reach me at ywchai@gmail.com that will be great thanks!