Ma Sik-yu (, died 1998) was a Hong Kong businessman and, along with his brother

Ma Sik-chun Ma Sik-chun (, 1938 – 15 June 2015) was a Hong Kong businessman, media mogul and, along with his brother Ma Sik-yu, co-founder of the Oriental Daily News. Biography Ma Sik-chun and his older brother Ma Sik-yu came from Chiu Chow, Guangdong. ...

, co-founder of the

Oriental Daily News ''Oriental Daily News'' is a Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong. It was established in 1969 by Ma Sik-yu and Ma Sik-chun, and was one of the two newspapers published by the Oriental Press Group Limited (). Relative to other Hong Kong n ...

Biography

Ma Sik-yu and his younger brother

came from Chiu Chow,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. They eventually relocated to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. The Ma brothers became associates of Ng Shek-ho, a major

drug trafficker The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

in Hong Kong. Ma Sik-yu was nicknamed "White Powder Ma". It was alleged that the Ma brothers began trafficking

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

from 1967 onward. They were able to procure heroin by having Ma Sik-yu personally traveled to the Golden Triangle in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, along with forging a political alliance with

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

general

Ouane Rattikone Major general Ouane Rattikone (Ouan Rathikoun), a Laos, Laotian senior military officer, was the commander-in-chief of the Royal Lao Armed Forces (French language, French: ''Forces Armées du Royaume'' – FAR), the official military of the Ro ...

. Ma Sik-yu was also involved in the activities of Chiu Chow triads in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. The brothers founded the ''

'' in 1969. In 1977, warrants were issued for the arrest of the brothers for the importation of 700 tonnes of

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

into Hong Kong between 1968 and 1974. Ma Sik-yu, after being tipped off about the police, escaped to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, where there was no

extradition treaty In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

with Hong Kong. His brother followed one year later. He died in Taiwan in 1998.

Legacy

was run by Ma Sik-chun's son Ricky Ma Ching-fat. In 2010, Oriental Press sued the companies behind five websites, including

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

, for publishing allegedly defamatory statements. The complaints were mainly about the drug trafficking history of its founder, the Ma brothers, found on the

Chinese Wikipedia The Chinese Wikipedia () is the written vernacular Chinese edition of Wikipedia. It was created on 11 May 2001. It is one of multiple projects supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. The Chinese Wikipedia currently has articles, registered ...

. The

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...

, as a company registered in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, had ignored the court summons and was absent from the trial. The Oriental Press Group therefore received a favorable ruling on paper, including damage claim and an injunction order in August 2010. The articles remained on Chinese Wikipedia.

In popular culture

* '' Lee Rock'' : 1991 film, Character Big Brother Ma, portrayed by Chun Wong. * ''Legend of the Brothers'' : 1991 film, Character Hoi, portrayed by

Kent Cheng Kent Cheng Jak-si is a Hong Kong film and television actor. He is a two time recipient of the best actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Biography Cheng was born in a poor family in Hong Kong.Interview of Be my Guest, TVB, 21 June 2008 He int ...

. * '' The Prince of Temple Street'' : 1992 film, portrayed by Kent Cheng.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Sik-yu 1998 deaths Year of birth missing Hong Kong newspaper people Hong Kong expatriates in Taiwan