Other newspapers followed suit, and soon small publications began to fold. The distributors of the two competing papers have threatened and roughed up small vendors to gain an edge. The Chairman of OPG, by contrast, Mah-Ching Kwan, remains as elusive as he is notorious. The Oriental Press building has tighter security than some Canadian banks, journalists employed by its English-language daily Eastern Express have joked. An electronic security center videotapes every floor and tape recorders capture everything including mundane elevator conversations.
Armed guards comb the premises.
Identity cards must be clipped on at all times. Employees are fined if they are repeatedly caught without displaying their card. Rumor is that the tight security came about because of an armed attempt by a triad group to kidnap Chairman Mah from his office. Although this event has never been confirmed, it is not implausible. Rumors also circulate that the Mah patriarch is the notorious drug dealer White Powder Mah.