Our laws often don’t take into account the punishments that will result from people going on Instagram and essentially crying the modern versions of “Burn the witch! Burn the witch!”.
CNA has covered how the digital age made lives after prison extremely difficult for ex-offenders, so do check it out if you need to understand what I mean.
The gist is this: because stuff online are there forever, ex-offenders find it hard to start life anew.
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Employees, friends, and families would find the records and judge them based on things they were already punished for.
Worst case scenario, someone gets an incomplete picture of what they had done and still blamed them. (It’s why we give links so you can come to a conclusion yourself.)
It probably also doesn’t help that sometimes people question if we can and not if we should for science.
What I’m trying to say is, ex-offenders did something bad, but it doesn’t mean that they are or will always be bad people.
So it’s going to seem like nothing much to you, but to the ex-offenders, the free phones might be something needed to help them get back on track.
Project Give A Line, Change A Life
The Straits Times reports that more than 30 ex-offenders had received a free mobile phone with a six-month unlimited data plan, which is an initiative by non-profit group Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (Iscos).
Ex-offenders chosen were from Iscos’ Project ReConnect, which as the name implies helps former offenders to reconnect with the community. Those in the programme spent three years or more in prison.
Giving them the phones also helps them get accustomed to technology. According to the Iscos website, ex-offenders tend to face challenges financially, strained family ties, social stigma, lack of positive peer support and low self-confidence.
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This isn’t limited only to the ex-offenders, as their families would also suffer from the parental absence, lack of positive role model, low motivation and feeling of abandonment and low self-esteem.
The smartphones will come pre-loaded with the new Iscos app that allows access to Iscos programmes and services, which will allow them to receive updates on new events and initiatives, and sign up for events or make appointments for help.
This initiative is sponsored by food and beverage manufacturer Food Empire Holdings and virtual telco Zero1.
Recipients On Receiving The Phone
A former inmate Mirah (an alias) under the Work Release Scheme, 30, says that the phone allows her to keep in touch with her four children by using it for video calls.
“I miss my children a lot, and now I can use this to call them and find out how they are doing.”
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She has to return to Lloyd Leas Community Supervision Centre in Changi at the end of the workday since she is serving the rest of her sentence for drug-related charges at the centre.
This means she cannot see her children.
Even if you think that ex-offenders don’t deserve a chance, you have to think of their children.
Richard, 60, wants to use the given assistance and subsidies to gain new skills.
“I can use the app to keep in contact with those from Iscos, and also to find out more about how to enrol myself in a barista course.”
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Iscos says they plan to give out 500 smartphones by the end of next year. Let’s hope that they are successful in guiding them back to being members of society.
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