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The child Thank you for all you had done for us. We are missing you, and will continue to miss you till the day we meet you again. Child of god, indeed you are. previous posts A friend of mine suggested that i should blog. Aft... True MIssing you Updatessss Updates Updates "When you know that your loved one is looking stra... Alright, gonna update before everyone starts telli... Again. comments links Krys Da Jie Aisya aka Ms "Lucky seh" Ah Gong Ant Uncle Zong Hui aka Hunky Kang Sheng(Uncle's best friend) Xiao Mei Hui Qing aka Food Buddy Stalker Jessie Chia Sin Sawadee Act Young Daigo "Sir" Gloria Josephine Gong Zhu Fredy aka Mr"I-Wan-2-Punch-U" Marc aka Mr "Wa Wa Wa Wa.." Lamer Char aka Asthma Woman My Lao Di My Lao Mei Ms Bear Baby Boi Mao Mao Miss "Otah" Mojojo
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Thursday ( Give them a second chance... @ 11:25:00 PM )  Recently I have read this article on “Lime” magazine. Pretty surprised that “Lime” actually had other interesting stuff other than gossiping about artist and talking about fashion. Well, at least that was what I thought nowadays magazines are offering to readers. Anyway, there’s a pretty interesting topic that was talked about in this month’s magazine. The article is basically revealing two real life stories about the past and present of ex-convicts. One was sentenced to 21 months of reformative training for rioting (Marc, 21), while the other was sentenced 23 months for robbery (Hong Jie, 20). It was only a wrong decision made. “It was all because of a staring accident”…. Because Marc and friends were unhappy with the sudden “fame” they are receiving, they decide to beat up the group and later landed in reformative training centre. “The first time I stole, I was caught. I was placed on probation but during that period, I committed theft at a company.” As if probation was not enough to tone down Hong Jie’s wild nature, he committed the same mistakes again, only to be heavily punished by law. Both teens, who could be enjoying their youth like the others, spent months in RTC just because of a wrong decision made. People learn most from their setbacks. Indeed, the two guys have finally “awoken” and realize how silly they are to waste their youth this way. They decide to amend, make full use of their time in stuff they should have been doing instead. “I took ten months to complete my ‘O’ levels and scored 19 points for five subjects.”……. “In KBC, I took one year to complete my ‘O’s. This time round, I scored 11points for five subjects.”…. They have make use of their time in RTC to gain more knowledge as the first steps to improve themselves. Ironically, their results are better than many of the teens out there, probably hinting that people only learn to cherish when they have once lose it(find this phrase familiar?). However, life isn’t going to be easy for them. “All I ask is employers give people like me an opportunity to prove ourselves.” “When I first came out of RTC, I applied at several polytechnics but was rejected, no matter how many appeal letters I sent in.” It seems to be humans’ nature to not forgive / forget one’s wrongdoings. Though society is unfair to them, family and friends showered words of kindness and encouragement, giving them the courage to strive even harder. “Everybody makes mistakes. It’s okay as long as you repent.” “She said as long as I’ve turned over a new leaf and I’m determined to work hard, she’ll stick it through with me.”….. At last, their hard work and sincerity are paid off. “Right now, I’m studying engineering in a local polytechnic.” “I explained my case and when he saw how determined I was to study, he was willing to give me a second chance.” Moral of the story-work hard and things will turn out right sooner or later. They had not only worked hard to be a better man, they repay the society for giving them a second chance too. “In fact, I study a lot more than my girlfriend and I’ve inspire her to hit the books more often. In a way, I’m a positive influence in her life.” “I’ve known these kids since they were in primary school and I charge them very low tuition fees. I just want to help them as much as I can.” They have proved their importance to the society. Advice from them…. “To ex-convicts who’re hoping for a fresh part in life: When people say you’ll never change, prove them wrong. If you put your mind and soul to it, you can do it. That will-power and determination is all within you.” “Everyday, I tell myself, “I’m capable!” It livens up my spirit. I’m capable of doing anything.” Life is just like a Chinese chess game. Every move must be planned carefully or your army may be defeated. Sometimes, you need to sacrifices your warrior to in turn round up your opponent’s warriors. No one knows who the winner is till the very end, thus you need to be calm, alert, humble and wise to master this game. This applies to the real life. There are many times in your life where you have to make decisions that will cause your downfall / success. To steal for your own thrill and break the law, or not to steal for the sake of your bright future that awaits you. To riot so as to not break your promise with your “brotherly friends”, or not to riot so as to not break your mum’s heart. During times like this, you often have to sacrifices something in order to keep something. Sacrifices thrill for your future / future for your thrill. Sacrifices promise for your mum / mum for your meaningless promise. It’s your choice. However, sometimes it’s not the end of the world when you made the wrong decision. You may have suffered some lost, but you have not totally lose everything, ex-convicts, for example. They have lose precious time, but gain wisdom and better understanding of life. They just have to work harder to gain trust from the society that’s all…. Come to think of it, we are pretty unreasonable creatures huh? When fellow people made one big mistake like committing crimes, they are deemed as sinners, thus it is alright to not accept them. But, humans do make mistakes don’t we? Be it big or small, the mistakes we made each and everyday are uncountable. If so, how can we judge one’s sin by how drastic their mistakes are? Does that means that one who makes small mistakes each and everyday, who thinks nothing of their mistakes and do not bother to improve themselves can be forgiven, while one who makes a drastic mistake and later repent and strive to be a better person should be sentenced “death” by the society and not given another chance, regardless of the effort they put in to amend for their wrongdoings? What right do we have to do that anyway? Law only punish them, but gives them a chance to “recycle” - to turn from “garbage” to “products”, while we humans just “burn” this precious “resources”. Government “deposit” them, seeing them still as assets to our society, while we people simply “dispose” them, seeing them as burden to our society. You know what? Government is smart. Many ex-convicts have proved our perception against them wrong by working harder than any of us and striving hard in becoming nothing but the best of the best. And what about us? We simply just shake our legs and continue committing mistakes every now and then. We are the ones that are the useless “weeds” growing from our country’s developing “garden”. Perhaps the government should consider putting us all in jail for a year or so. Maybe only then will we do some soul-searching. I have wasted my 10 years of education for 10 years of play. Because of that, I failed my mathematics during my “O” s and was not able to be admitted into any desired course in polytechnic. I had to choose between re-taking my exams or just go ITE to study any course available. I decide to choose the path I had vowed never to take again - re-take my exams. Throughout that 1 year, I struggled with my studies and my job, as my parents could not afford to pay for my exams fees and my daily expenses. Also, my family has encountered financial difficulties at that time. I admit it was not easy for me. Seeing your fellow friends telling you how exciting life in polytechnics is, how interesting their course is etc. I always had to try swallowing that lump in my throat when they talk about this. Fortunately, I have not wasted that one year. Though my results are not excellent, but it is sufficient for me to apply for desired courses. I have made yet another risky decision that no one would advise me to do so. I only applied for the three courses that I really liked and nothing else. After the interviews and written tests, one of the courses rejected me while the other two put me in waiting list. I see no light in my future. I have really given up all hope. Fortunately, god has been generous with me. I was given a place in Film, Sound and Video (FSV). But my experience is nothing compared to the struggle the ex-convicts are having. If only we are willing to give them another chance. If only we could accept them the way we would if they are our loved ones. If only the day would come. If only……. If anyone of you has any wish to help the ex-convict in any way, you can visit www.yellowribbon.org.sg for details. If not, you can still “help” by putting down your prejudices against them. As quoted by “Lime” magazine, “Everyone deserves a second chance, even ex-convicts who’ve paid the price for their crimes.” 0 comments |
