[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/","headline":"Finding one’s place in society after leaving prison","name":"Finding one’s place in society after leaving prison","description":"After jail time, most offenders go on to rehabilitate and reintegrate themselves into their communities. But according to the Singapore Prison Service, about one in five of these offenders (as of 2020) find themselves back behind bars within two years of their release. Why does this happen? And how can it be prevented?\u00a0In the first […]","datePublished":"2021-05-14","dateModified":"2022-04-15","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/#Person","name":"Ming En Liew","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/","identifier":132,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1620976598613_1280X626_281829.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1620976598613_1280X626_281829.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/","commentCount":"3","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2026-05-03 02:08:42","description":"So glad I stumbled upon this.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"racing tv live stream free","url":"https:\/\/prod-dbpedia.inria.fr\/describe\/?url=https:\/\/www.oneotv.com\/"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/#Comment2","dateCreated":"2026-04-27 04:51:00","description":"Really well-researched and written.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"womens salomon shoes sale","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/women\/Salomon-Women-Shoes"}},{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/#Comment3","dateCreated":"2026-04-25 14:24:18","description":"Thanks for making it so relatable.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Salomon maison margiela shoes","url":"https:\/\/globalshoepalace.com\/product-category\/women\/Salomon-Women-Shoes"}}],"about":["Community","Local","Singapore"],"wordCount":1738,"articleBody":"After jail time, most offenders go on to rehabilitate and reintegrate themselves into their communities. But according to the Singapore Prison Service, about one in five of these offenders (as of 2020) find themselves back behind bars within two years of their release. Why does this happen? And how can it be prevented?\u00a0In the first part of the series, TheHomeGround Asia explored how time behind bars impacted an offender\u2019s journey to recovery. In this second segment, we find out how the year after being released from prison has helped or hindered the rehabilitation and reintegration efforts of former offenders. Leaving the prison cell and facing the outside world was a huge hurdle for an ex-offender who wishes to be known as June. In fact, June’s perception of how society viewed her was a reason why she continued to succumb to taking drugs, which led to her being incarcerated four times on drug consumption charges over 20 years.\u00a0\u201cI always thought society didn\u2019t like me, especially my family. That\u2019s why I take drugs… When I\u2019m high, I feel like the world is mine. I make my own world,\u201d she shares.\u00a0Stigma continues to impede former offenders like June from their recovery and can be psychologically damaging too.\u00a0Esther Chin, a case worker with HCSA Community Services\u2019 halfway house, explains, \u201cOftentimes, when they go through stigma and people think that they won\u2019t change, it increases their psychological distress. So, when a person is stressed and going through depressive moments, they find that they are isolated again, just because of the things they have done. It\u2019ll… not be helpful for the recovery process.\u201d\u00a0Meeting counsellors from non-profit New Life Stories instilled June with a determination to recover, enabling her to come to terms with the stigma: \u201cWhen I am outside, there’s a lot of stigma towards me, but [the counsellors] always say, \u2018Don’t care how they want to talk, [what\u2019s] important is yourself.\u2019\u201d\u00a0In the past, she says, \u201cI got angry when people stigmatised me as a drug addict.\u201d But with repeated reminders from counsellors, she was able to tell herself that \u201cwhat\u2019s important is the people that care and know me.\u201d And now when people talk about her, she takes it as a \u201cchallenge\u201d to be better.Staying away from negative influencesWhile being shunned by society is a hurdle, falling in with the wrong crowd has its own set of problems. Former gang members and drug offenders say they might find it difficult to distance themselves from friends and old acquaintances, who might still be engaging in nefarious activities.\u00a0During time in prison, former gang member Yeo Yun Luo was a harbinger of havoc, inciting fights and riots, which landed him in the maximum security wing of the Reformative Training Centre (RTC). While serving his time, Mr Yeo was visited by a pastor from Victory Family Church. Over time and with regular visits from the religious leader, he found faith and decided to change his ways, taking that first step toward reformation.\u00a0Since his release, Yeo Yun Luo has stayed on the right side of the law, and is now working as a project lead at an engineering firm. (Photo courtesy of Yeo Yun Luo)\u00a0Upon release, Mr Yeo moved away from his old neighbourhood, where his former gang members operated, to live with his grandmother. The separation from his past life helped his recovery process: \u201cI didn\u2019t know anybody [in the new estate],\u201d he shares. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons that helped me change into a better person… it\u2019s a new environment, and I don\u2019t mix with [old company]. In one or two years, it became a habit. I realised that I didn\u2019t need these people.\u201d\u00a0In instances where physical distance is impossible, other ex-offenders like Rafiq (not his real name) employ the strategy of walking away. In the interim, he sought advice from peers who were also on the path to recovery, joining the Men\u2019s Support Group run by the Industrial and Services Co-Operative Society (ISCOS), an organisation that extends friendship to ex-offenders and their families to help them lead meaningful and productive lives.\u00a0\u201cIt was great to be able to share freely about my struggles, seek advice on communication and coping strategies, and encourage each other to continue to maintain the changes we want to make and not give up,\u201d Rafiq says.\u00a0Similarly, June stayed away from people and situations that might prevent her from kicking her drug addiction. After her release, she had to report for regular urine tests, where she would often meet others like her who were in different stages of recovery. In these instances, June would politely inform them that her son was waiting for her at home to avoid prolonged interactions: \u201cJust say ‘hi, bye’, like that.\u201dBut while determination and willpower make it possible to keep potential trouble at bay, family is a more complex matter.\u00a0Family acceptance or rejectionFamily can play a pivotal role in a former offender’s rehabilitation journey. (Source: Canva)Soraya Abdul Rahim, a counsellor in the Family Care & Therapy Department of New Life Stories, says that the family unit is an integral part of rehabilitation and reintegration. Specifically, she addresses how family might sometimes be detrimental to an ex-offender\u2019s recovery.\u00a0\u201cSome are supportive but you might also have those who are negative influences,\u201d she explains. \u201cFor example, you have families who have engaged in previous offending behaviour and are still engaged in it, so they might encourage [the ex-offender] to come back to it, and do these things together.\u201d\u00a0Otherwise, family members might reject the offenders. In the worst-case scenario, Ms Soraya has witnessed instances where relatives actively try to sabotage the offenders, as they no longer want to interact with them.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s sad because they have no faith in the person\u2019s ability to turn over a new life,\u201d she says.\u00a0On the flip side, family can also serve as a pillar of strength for former offenders, motivating them to rehabilitate and reintegrate back into society. Such was the case for June, as well as Van, who served five years in prison for assisting with her husband\u2019s drug trafficking operations. Both mothers cite their children as being the key reasons they have kept on the right side of the law, so far.\u00a0June says, \u201cThe one thing [that keeps me staying clean] is every day I get to see my son in front of me. I get to see him growing up. Then I tell myself that I’m a mother.\u201dLikewise, Van emphasises, \u201cMy thinking is my kids and my family, that\u2019s all. The first thing is my children… [they] come first.\u201dNow full-time, stay-at-home parents, they spend their days caring for their kids and catching up on the family time that they lost while in prison.\u00a0Housing and employment concernsBeing homeless and jobless after multiple incarcerations was a stressor that pushed Rafiq back on drugs. (Source: Canva)Besides family and social influences, practical circumstances may also hinder an individual’s rehabilitation. HCSA case worker Ms Chin cites two common concerns: housing and employment.\u00a0She uses Maslow\u2019s hierarchy of needs to explain this.\u00a0\u201cBasic accommodation is the most needed,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen there\u2019s nothing to shelter them, it\u2019s like they lose their identities in life.\u201d\u00a0This was demonstrated in Rafiq\u2019s life, when he found himself homeless after repeated incarcerations: \u201cI was again on drugs, as I was homeless and had no direction in life.\u201dThe second key concern raised by Ms Chin is that of employment after release, something that Kevin Anand, a former gang member, struggled with when he was first released in February last year.\u00a0Even though Mr Anand is out of prison, he is subject to a probation period of three years. During this time, he remains under police supervision and has to report to a police post every Tuesday. \u201cMonday to Friday are normal working days for Singaporeans… so there were a lot of obstacles for me to actually find a job,\u201d he shares.\u00a0He also describes the challenges he faced when searching for a job, especially during interviews: \u201cSome of them [prospective employers] ask me, \u2018Oh, are you still a gangster? Are you sure you\u2019ve changed?\u2019\u201dWhile he eventually managed to find people willing to hire him, it took multiple attempts before settling into a job.\u00a0This, Ms Chin highlights, is a problem that many ex-offenders encounter: \u201cSome of them are not able to sustain the jobs they have. That means they work for maybe one or two days, or one week, then they start giving up.\u201dMs Soraya concurs, \u201cJobs and finding the kind of employer that really understands [is] a struggle for quite a number of [ex-offenders].\u201dShe explains that ex-offenders who are on probation often have a curfew to adhere to, which prevents them from working overtime, even if the job requires it: \u201cSometimes the boss needs them to work overtime, they can\u2019t… Even if they explain, sometimes the bosses get very upset with them.\u201d\u00a0Others, Ms Soraya says, may be single parents who need to care for their children, which adds another layer of stress and restrictions to their job search.\u00a0Kevin Anand is now working his dream job at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, where he is a zookeeper caring for primates. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Anand)From the experiences and difficulties Mr Anand had to deal with when job hunting, he suggests that the prison service provides more support to inmates during incarceration and after their release.\u00a0\u201cThere are a lot of very good, talented people I\u2019ve met inside prison, but their talent is going to waste because nobody recognises it, \u201d he rues. \u201cThey want us to work whatever job they give you, and so, there\u2019s no progressiveness there.\u201d\u00a0Instead, he thinks that it would be better if offenders go through certain interviews while incarcerated, to \u201csee what they are talented in, and rehabilitate them from there.\u201d\u00a0In Mr Anand\u2019s case, he eventually found an opportunity to return to his old job at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, eight months after his release. Today, he works as a zookeeper handling primates, fulfilling a childhood dream of his.\u00a0Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Finding one’s place in society after leaving prison","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/finding-ones-place-after-leaving-prison\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]