There are triads involved in every walk of Hong Kong life it seems. But perhaps one of the most brutally mercenary in which they are involved is the incredibly lucrative death business in Hong Kong. There are only a few funeral homes in Hong Kong, all of which mint money. Then there are all the people that round up some sullen monks of either Daoist or Buddhist persuasion to perform some funeral rituals and buy flowers and coffins at vastly inflated mark-ups.

If you have ever lost someone close to you in Hong Kong, you will know the rage I felt when my father passed away and I had to go to the government death registration office in Wu Chung House, Wanchai. There, even as I sat waiting to tell some functionary that my father was no more, there were funeral touts trying to drum up business from me, aggressively. At that moment, I was seething with anger.

These scenes shockingly were about to erupt into violence yesterday, as rival triad groups were about to fight each other over who was going to be allowed to prey on grieving relatives at a newly-opened government mortuary. According to the SCMP:

Police arrested 50 men yesterday as two suspected triad gangs massed at a new mortuary, ready to fight for the right to prey on grieving relatives.

The men, suspected to belong to rival factions of the Wo Shing Wo triad society, were caught at the main entrance and in the car park of the public mortuary in Kwai Chung at about 9.30 am.

Police said the gangs were believed to have arrived for a showdown over which would control the lucrative trade of touting for funeral business. They were arrested before trouble broke out, a detective said.