KOTA KINABALU: When businessman John Lam was approached by a friend to hire a man on parole from a prison sentence several years ago, he was shocked and scared.
“I was afraid and worried because that person is an inmate and is still serving his sentence although under parole,” he said at a career carnival of paroled prisoners and the state Prisons Department on Friday (Feb 10).
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Lam added that he had never heard of such an initiative before and said that he was worried of the potential risk to him and his staff.
However, after much persuasion from the friend, Lam finally took a risk, gave the parolee a chance and discovered that it was the right decision.
“The concern and worry I had back then is nothing compared to the nervousness I feel standing on this stage right now,” he said, adding he is glad that he gave that person and himself a chance.
He remembered how disciplined that person was, how he stood still like a soldier when speaking to his superior, how he was always ready to carry out any tasks given and how he would obey instructions without question.
To date, Lam has hired over a dozen parolees and encourages employers out there to give these people a second chance in life.
Similarly, businessman Datuk Yap Yun Fook described the parolees and ex-convicts he has worked with before as people who are obedient and disciplined with a high learning drive.
“They may have made their mistakes but they’ve served their time and I am sure those who are allowed out on parole have learnt their lesson and truly want to change,” he said.
He feels that the community can do their part to help former inmates by just being more open, giving and caring.
Yap said if former convicts were given second chances in life, they might prove to be better people and not resort to going back to their old ways.
He added that they would be forced to go back to the wrong path in life if no one gave them a chance.
During the event, two former convicts - Norazmie Naim and Ray James - shared how the corporate smart internship (CSI) programme between the Prisons Department and companies helped them start over.
Norazmie, who is now a factory maintenance worker, said he was given a chance to work with a brick-making company under parole a few years ago and during that period, he learnt new skills and started to have a clear objective in life.
“I was an addict and I was jailed for it. However, after the CSI programme, I realised that I needed a change and I must work for the chance that I want in my life and I am thankful that someone was willing to give me that chance,” he said.
He said if society refuses to give people like him a second chance, they could never recover and would continue going back to jail.
Jay, a palm oil cultivator and mechanic, thanked the Prison Department for their intervention programmes and people who gave him a chance to work while under parole some years back.
“With the right guidance and the second chance I was given, I am now addiction free and I have my own success story to tell,” he said.
He said under normal circumstances, a person who is being sent to jail would yearn to get out and would be very remorseful.
“So the intervention is very much needed and the right opportunity could actually make or break a person. I am glad I was given that chance and now, I am a new man,” said Jay.
The Prisons Department has allowed 52,306 inmates to go out on parole between 2008 and 2022, out of which 48,813 successfully completed their parole during this period.
For the CSI programme since 2016, the country has seen the involvement of parolees go from just 25 people to 4,998 in 2022.
The number of companies taking part increased from just one in 2016 to 117 in 2022.
This brings the total number of parolees completing the programme to 14,151 thus far.