As a result of the British administration's hands-off attitude and the predominantly male; transient; and uneducated nature of the population; 19th century society in Singapore was rather lawless and chaotic. Prostitution; gambling; and drug abuse (particularly of opium) were widespread. Chinese criminal secret societies (analogous to modern-day triads) were extremely powerful; some had tens of thousands of members; and turf wars between rival societies occasionally led to death tolls numbering in the hundreds. Attempts to suppress these secret societies had limited success; and they continued to be a problem well into the 20th century. After independence; Singapore society underwent a sea-change.