Last Sunday, Humans of KL was invited to visit the Bentong prison as they are partnering with Resorts World Genting for a program called ‘Beauty Behind the Wall’ which aims to equip female inmates with culinary skills. Ever since then, I just can’t stop sharing my prison experience with my friends because it was that eye opening.
Besides the female inmates’ culinary workshop, we had a tour around the prison and we visited the male inmates’ textile workshop. We were given a brief on the rules and we were told that we can’t talk to the inmates.
People say that ‘the eyes tell a story more than a tongue’ and it’s true. There were some scary eyes, they will stare at you and it sent chill down my spine; there were regretful eyes, which tells us how ashamed they are; there were hopeless eyes, which tells us how much that they want to be heard.
And there were their hands, they all had a pair of scarred hands. Those hands sent themselves to prison, and those hands are the same hands that are trying to rewrite their own future.
‘Why’, ‘What’, and ‘How’ filled my mind.
‘Why are you here?’
‘What have you done?’
‘How can I help you?’
From the conversation I had with the prison officers, I learned about the causes and consequences of being in a prison, and their personal views of the imprisonment and the rehabilitation system.
When we were leaving the prison, some of them leaned forward to the tiny little window like they were sending us off. At that moment, it felt like they were asking for a second visit as they have lost connection with the outside world for so long.
This is one of the reasons that I joined HOKL, it’s that I get to practice what I preach, and it widens my perspective in life over and over again. It fills me with great pride that I can make an impact. Even if I manage to make just one small contribution, then all this effort would have been worthwhile.
Written by Samantha Siow
Originally from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/day-prison-siow-san-san-samantha
