My learning years in jail
By Philip Lee
HE SAYS it without hesitation: 'The six years I spent in prison were the best years of my life.'
Explaining why, Mr David Thorairajan, 27, says that the imprisonment changed him from a gangster and a failure in school to being a caring son and a university undergraduate today.
Mr Thorairajan, who is tall, slim and tattooed, speaks about his life in a voice so soft that it is at times nearly inaudible.
But his eagerness in wanting to help troubled youths emerges loud and clear.
'I am studying for a BSc degree in social science. I hope to major in psychology. After I graduate, I want to return to prison and help the young offenders the way I was helped when I was behind bars,' says Mr Thorairajan, a student of the Singapore Management University (SMU).
It was his second imprisonment in 2002 for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a victim during a gang fight that turned out to be the turning point in his troubled life. Help came in the form of prison counsellors and a religious leader.
With so much time behind bars, he soon realised he should use it to fulfil what he had failed to do as a student - pass his examinations.
In school, he had played truant so many times that his teachers despaired over him. At one stage, his mother, a lab assistant, had to literally drag him to school. But the moment she left, he would disappear again.
He was retained in Secondary Three for three years. When he finally sat for his Nlevel examination, he failed.
Mr Thorairajan recalls: 'I was very immature then. I hated school. My home environment was poor. My father, a security guard, and I were not on speaking terms. He was home very late each day because of his job. Also, there were times when he would hit me.'
So at 15, he sought solace by joining a gang. His first serious brush with the law was in 2000 when he was involved in a gang clash during which his best friend was killed.
He was jailed for 18 months and caned six times for his act of violence.
Months after his release from prison in 2002, he was fighting again after he caught sight of the rival gang member who had killed his friend. This time he got six years and 12 strokes of the cane.
Jail time turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He studied and went on to pass his O and A levels. He learnt from the religious leader the values of love and forgiveness, and he embraced these fervently. In the A-level examination at the Kaki Bukit Prisons School, he was the top student in his cohort. He also threw himself into the many curricular activities in prison, among which was to be the news anchor in the prison's radio programme, News Behind Bars.
After his A levels, his mother sent applications on his behalf to a few universities in Singapore. He was then still in jail.
He secured a place at SMU this year after four of the university's officials, including Professor David Chan, who was then the interim Dean of the School of Social Sciences, travelled to the prison to interview him.
Mr Alan Goh, SMU's Director of Undergraduate Admissions, says: 'David is a picture of contrast and intrigue. He is cool and calm, almost Zen-like; yet he exudes a palpable sense of fire-in-the-belly with an intense determination to not only turn over a new leaf but to turn many more new leaves from the big tree with the yellow ribbon.
'This higher purpose of giving back to society instead of focusing just on himself marks David as courageous and outstanding ' and he is the sort of talent SMU would always keep a keen eye on.
'We rewarded him with a merit scholarship even when he did not ask for it - to launch him into a new and meaningful second life.'
The scholarship is valued at $5,000 a year and is tenable for the duration of his fouryear study at SMU, subject to good academic performance.
Now that he has got his life in order, he speaks a bit about the relationship with his father.
'I am today on talking terms with him. We still don't say very much but I ask him, "How are you today?" and he asks me questions like: "Have you eaten?"'
'When he leaves for work, he tells my mum, "Okay, I am going."'
'When he first said this, it surprised my mum, as she told me he had never done such a thing before. So, things are improving at home.'
Asked what Christmas means to him, Mr Thorairajan smiles and says: 'Previously, it meant clubbing and drinking but today, when I think of Christmas, I think of love and forgiveness.'.
By Philip Lee
HE SAYS it without hesitation: 'The six years I spent in prison were the best years of my life.'
Explaining why, Mr David Thorairajan, 27, says that the imprisonment changed him from a gangster and a failure in school to being a caring son and a university undergraduate today.
Mr Thorairajan, who is tall, slim and tattooed, speaks about his life in a voice so soft that it is at times nearly inaudible.
But his eagerness in wanting to help troubled youths emerges loud and clear.
'I am studying for a BSc degree in social science. I hope to major in psychology. After I graduate, I want to return to prison and help the young offenders the way I was helped when I was behind bars,' says Mr Thorairajan, a student of the Singapore Management University (SMU).
It was his second imprisonment in 2002 for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a victim during a gang fight that turned out to be the turning point in his troubled life. Help came in the form of prison counsellors and a religious leader.
With so much time behind bars, he soon realised he should use it to fulfil what he had failed to do as a student - pass his examinations.
In school, he had played truant so many times that his teachers despaired over him. At one stage, his mother, a lab assistant, had to literally drag him to school. But the moment she left, he would disappear again.
He was retained in Secondary Three for three years. When he finally sat for his Nlevel examination, he failed.
Mr Thorairajan recalls: 'I was very immature then. I hated school. My home environment was poor. My father, a security guard, and I were not on speaking terms. He was home very late each day because of his job. Also, there were times when he would hit me.'
So at 15, he sought solace by joining a gang. His first serious brush with the law was in 2000 when he was involved in a gang clash during which his best friend was killed.
He was jailed for 18 months and caned six times for his act of violence.
Months after his release from prison in 2002, he was fighting again after he caught sight of the rival gang member who had killed his friend. This time he got six years and 12 strokes of the cane.
Jail time turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He studied and went on to pass his O and A levels. He learnt from the religious leader the values of love and forgiveness, and he embraced these fervently. In the A-level examination at the Kaki Bukit Prisons School, he was the top student in his cohort. He also threw himself into the many curricular activities in prison, among which was to be the news anchor in the prison's radio programme, News Behind Bars.
After his A levels, his mother sent applications on his behalf to a few universities in Singapore. He was then still in jail.
He secured a place at SMU this year after four of the university's officials, including Professor David Chan, who was then the interim Dean of the School of Social Sciences, travelled to the prison to interview him.
Mr Alan Goh, SMU's Director of Undergraduate Admissions, says: 'David is a picture of contrast and intrigue. He is cool and calm, almost Zen-like; yet he exudes a palpable sense of fire-in-the-belly with an intense determination to not only turn over a new leaf but to turn many more new leaves from the big tree with the yellow ribbon.
'This higher purpose of giving back to society instead of focusing just on himself marks David as courageous and outstanding ' and he is the sort of talent SMU would always keep a keen eye on.
'We rewarded him with a merit scholarship even when he did not ask for it - to launch him into a new and meaningful second life.'
The scholarship is valued at $5,000 a year and is tenable for the duration of his fouryear study at SMU, subject to good academic performance.
Now that he has got his life in order, he speaks a bit about the relationship with his father.
'I am today on talking terms with him. We still don't say very much but I ask him, "How are you today?" and he asks me questions like: "Have you eaten?"'
'When he leaves for work, he tells my mum, "Okay, I am going."'
'When he first said this, it surprised my mum, as she told me he had never done such a thing before. So, things are improving at home.'
Asked what Christmas means to him, Mr Thorairajan smiles and says: 'Previously, it meant clubbing and drinking but today, when I think of Christmas, I think of love and forgiveness.'.
