Dear friends,
On Monday, a 20-year-old ended a WhatsApp conversation with a thumbs up while waiting to be escorted to the reformative training centre. He initiated the conversation by thanking us for introducing him to Prison Fellowship Singapore (PFS) and requesting us to check on his mother which we assured him that we would.
2 Fridays ago, this young person’s mother reached out to a colleague who coordinated her neighbourhood WhatsApp group. She was distraught and informed that that her son was sentenced to 6 months in reformative training a few days prior. Both mother and son believed that a probation order was not given because they had no legal representation. They wanted to appeal and the following Monday, they filed for one.
When mother and son met us, we learnt that their family and friends had advised them to see out the sentence and to start afresh. While mother agreed with the logic, she felt that she had to support what her son wanted. We then conveyed what a couple of volunteer lawyers told us. They have a right to appeal but an appeal was no guarantee of a reduced sentence and even if another probation report was called, it is unlikely that the findings will be different. Also, an appeal is a costly affair and they have seen how the process has put a strain on individual well-being and family relationships.
So, when the young person told us that he found a lawyer online, we said that we may not be able to work with someone unfamiliar with our restorative justice approach. We also asked him if he had considered the financial strain it would have on his family. After some thought, he agreed to be introduced to PFS who promptly reached out to him.
PFS attended to his fears and that of his mother with much care and gentle understanding. They enabled the young person to articulate his interest in cars and to picture a future working in the automobile industry which also gave us some context as to why his offences were related to cars. Importantly, they provided a picture of life in the reformative training centre and the means in which he could maintain contact with his mother and a good friend whose friendship he did not want to lose.
Assuming responsibility, making amends and seeking to repair hurt relationships are at the heart of restorative justice and this episode over the past 2 weeks got us reflecting on the value of social capital and the importance of nurturing loose ties in our lives. While PFS has been on our mailing list for years, we have not collaborated or worked together. However, we got to chat at a recent networking session organized by the Far East Organization for charities they partner, and this encounter prompted us to seek their help in supporting the young person and his family.
I write this short note every week to celebrate peaceable actions and to keep the notion of community alive. Even though I may not have spoken to you recently, I would like you to know that by identifying as a member of our community, you keep hope alive for those among us who need a little help to get by.
For peace and community,
Gerard
The key to the happy life, it seems, is the good life: a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community. – Paul Bloom
