Another Chance
It was a story about prison inmates who was awarded with the Youth Achievement Award, for their reformative efforts in learning and education during their time behind bars. It was my first time in a prison, and all the security checks and emptying of pockets are did not piss me off this time. I had expected to see ex-convicts with bulging muscles and threatening looks after walking through corridor lined with metal fences and passing by numerous prison guards. We were led to a hall where the award ceremony would take place. As I entered, I saw the shaven heads of the inmates, and there was a row of female inmates wearing pyjamas-looking prison clothes. The male inmates looked like army recruits with shaved heads and black-rimmed spectacles. I could not comprehend what they have done previously to cause them to be in jail. The occasional tattooed arm reminded me of the fact that I these are people who have run afoul of the law. All of them looked young, in late teens or twenties. Some looked like they could just be any of my classmates in school.
I was eager to hear their stories when we got to interview them after the boring award ceremony. I tried to make interesting pictures given the constraint that no faces should be visible. It was tough, but gave the task an added challenge. I treat it as an excuse to try out-of-the-norm angles.
The 2 guys we interviewed could be the best examples of bad-turned-good the prison authorities found for us. I was a little skeptical initially, but I sat down to listen as they got interviewed. Both were imprisoned 5-6 years for drug trafficking and possession. Both were in their late teens when imprisoned and managed to retake their O Levels in prison. They spoke good English, smiled and talked gently and patiently. Was it a character developed out of years in a cell, when one reflect on one's action? One of them even had his mother sit through the interview with us. The sad fact is that both came from broken families, with divorced parents.
They did not look a single bit like criminals. They looked and behaved like JC students who had shaven their heads in preparation for NS. The difference between myself and them is that while I spent my early twenties, which are among the best years of my life in University, where I pursue my passion and knew my wife, both of them were in prison.
They were deeply affected by their family situation and took the wrong step. If it was heroin instead of ice or ecstasy, they would not be around now. I thought they were unlucky to spent the best years in prison, but fortunate too, to be given another chance, to live and to lead a better life.
One will be released in a month's time. He intends to apply for a diploma course, having completed his O levels in prison. I do not think that either will commit the same mistake again, as they have too much to lose now. I wondered how many more young lives have been destroyed by drugs and crime.
They were lucky to be young offenders in Singapore, where there is a prison school for them to pursue their studies and learn new skills while serving time. Still, the 5 or 6 years of youth was lost and they may not be given equal opportunities in society again.
As a parent, I have seen for myself the long-term effects of our actions on the child.
Inmates waiting in line to receive their award from the Minister of Education.
I was eager to hear their stories when we got to interview them after the boring award ceremony. I tried to make interesting pictures given the constraint that no faces should be visible. It was tough, but gave the task an added challenge. I treat it as an excuse to try out-of-the-norm angles.
The 2 guys we interviewed could be the best examples of bad-turned-good the prison authorities found for us. I was a little skeptical initially, but I sat down to listen as they got interviewed. Both were imprisoned 5-6 years for drug trafficking and possession. Both were in their late teens when imprisoned and managed to retake their O Levels in prison. They spoke good English, smiled and talked gently and patiently. Was it a character developed out of years in a cell, when one reflect on one's action? One of them even had his mother sit through the interview with us. The sad fact is that both came from broken families, with divorced parents.
They did not look a single bit like criminals. They looked and behaved like JC students who had shaven their heads in preparation for NS. The difference between myself and them is that while I spent my early twenties, which are among the best years of my life in University, where I pursue my passion and knew my wife, both of them were in prison.
They were deeply affected by their family situation and took the wrong step. If it was heroin instead of ice or ecstasy, they would not be around now. I thought they were unlucky to spent the best years in prison, but fortunate too, to be given another chance, to live and to lead a better life.
One will be released in a month's time. He intends to apply for a diploma course, having completed his O levels in prison. I do not think that either will commit the same mistake again, as they have too much to lose now. I wondered how many more young lives have been destroyed by drugs and crime.
They were lucky to be young offenders in Singapore, where there is a prison school for them to pursue their studies and learn new skills while serving time. Still, the 5 or 6 years of youth was lost and they may not be given equal opportunities in society again.
As a parent, I have seen for myself the long-term effects of our actions on the child.
Inmates waiting in line to receive their award from the Minister of Education.
posted by Kwang Peng at 10:48 AM
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