THE old adage says a picture is worth a thou- sand words. An inter- esting concept when considering a certain little photograph men- tioned in this space a couple of weeks back. \ quick review oF search Warrant and police court tiles gives the hackground Kwok Tam was arrested bv the Vancouver Police gang squad following the exccution ofa search warrant on ‘Tan's palanial Burnaby home while conducting an extortion investigation. The search viekled a couple of semi-auto- matic handguns, ammunition, a silencer, a half pound of raw opium, almost $80,000 in cash and assorted other indi- cations of a less than pure litestvle. Bat along with the gans, drugs and assorted other evi- dence that have led to charges Yani is currently facing, police also found a photograph of Tam seated on a couch with our very own bay premier, Glen “Ernie” Clark. “Ernie,” youll recall, was the bov premier’s nickname in the halevon days of his vouth at Notre Dame high school before he single-handedly drove our debt up to stratos- pheric levels and our ccono- my in the other direction, The photo leads to the inevitable question: Does the premier of the province have a relationship with an alleged gangster? Tam came here in the fat ter part of the ’80s asa refugee claimant. That claim is still in the refugee review process. Police have now alleged that Tam is a kingpin in the shadowy world of Asian gees, In tact, they have been qe Uy cheering the fact they were finally able to get ata member of the hierarchy instead of the usual collection of street thugs and soldiers in the criminal armies of the triad world. The extortion case that led the police to Tam’s house involved an alleged loanshark- ing matter in which a lieu- tenant of Tam’s, Huo Quin Zheng, loaned a woman $15,000 in a West Broadway casino. According to court docu- ments, the woman, who police have asked not be named publicly, lost her stake and was directed to Zheng, an omnipresent figure in the casino. According to the police, Zheng was demanding inter- est payments of 10% a week 1,500 just in interest! The court documents also show the woman lost her Mercedes as part payment, and then in August, Zheng allegedly threatened her lite if she didn’t sign over every- thing she owned in her house, again as part payment. According to the court documents, when the potive arrived, Zheng had a moving van there and was busily load- ing up for the second time. Evidently, the first load had been dropped off at Tan's house, hence the search war- Christmas Gift Suggestions GIFT CERTIFICATES 1637 Lonsdale Ave. 1730 Marine Dr. North Vancouver West Vancouver The police chim Tam isa majer plaver a the local lest gambing scone, Gambling, vou see, is the traditional cornerstone of the Asian organized crime groups Thev are constantly fighting for control of certain: casinos, terfitory, areas of influence and the like. Which brings me back to the photograph, which, after the search warrant, tound a place of honour on the squad desk at police headquarters, a sort of amMonument to the high levels in which seme of the more well-heeled crooks move. On the back of the photo, in Chinese handwriting, the inscription indicated the pic- ture was taken in the pre- nier’s private office. Not ata community fundraiser, mind you, or other such plaice where the premier comes into contact with hun- dreds ot the fiule people. Oh no, in the premier’s private office, On a sofa. Cosy like. We tried to find out what the relationship was between the pwe men, The “gangster” and the politician. The premier’s press secre: tary, Jean Wolfe, the former reporter trom the last bastion of left-wing political correct- ness, Radio Canada, came up with a variety of vacant denials. “Sorry, We're drawing a blank.” ~No recollection of ever iiferent picture of P testing the pan 7 YH frosdsat ps sorte Thvoush oie Aad the best at the det “Wall he's xc mmething ona \ jot et peapic sant te st thet picture tanen wath tua,” Aindon, aad on, and on. Pin totd Py same very reli able sources, that Gordon Watson, the ante abortion activist teted by some and pil loried by others, has written a terter demanding the premier come clan about his relation ship with the alleged crime bows, Wanon ale wants to know if Kwok Fam wasa contributor to the NDP or the premier’s election cam: paigns. Oooh! Now there’s an interesting question, SS ied The premier wei id tune ns boheve thar the pher Shaper Was neds more A tune mivenag with the “hundreds” of peapic he somes teross 11 es bast ite of Pung OUPS, SOTEL running the provinee. Somehow, were supposed to believe that any Tom, Dick or Kwok can get into the pre mier’s office and get a sou ventr pie with the boss, A modern day Grinim would enjoy thar one. Political contribution? Business deal A little lobky ing. mavhaps? Who knows at this paint. But, somehow, considering the NDI"s voracious appetite for evpanded gambling in our inde corner of the workd and given Tam’s, uh, shall we say man meat Criticism of post office was off-base Dear Editor: Re: the letter vou pub lished in your Dee. 16 issuc. Powas not surprised that you published: this: slant on Canada Post because yours and all other newspapers hate Canada Post Corp, Bat Pde have a comment for Garth Edge: You are complaining about service and maybe it’s justified bur I really don’t think that vou're getting all the facts straight. Lam a letter carrier and | work hard and this time of the year mail volume triples. We all criticize things we domt understand and | would Uke to help vou understand. AH walks are evaluated with a morning and afternoon portions tor delivery, Your house is most likely on an afternoon: por- tion, Your house is not the only house that vour letter carrier delivers to. PE might alo mention the face that my customers on my walk are very nice and quite satiMied with the service they get from me. My gues is that you're most: likely cither unem- ployed, retired or just a born complhiner. Shawn Anderson North Vancouver Season’s Treasures fron Santa Capilano Mall 988-6607 _JEWELL ERS Vv Wednesday. 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