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SINGAPORE – As a young man living a life of vice in the 2000s, Mr Sunny Swee would have laughed at the idea of him teaching children and guiding them to the right path.
Today, the 42-year-old runs his own tuition centre and breaks down prejudice against former offenders from parents seeking academic help for their children.
Growing up in a troubled household, Mr Swee did badly in his O levels and started mixing with bad company.
His string of convictions started at the age of 18, when he was sentenced in 2000 to five months in prison for selling illegal VCDs. After his release, he went back to his friends and started peddling drugs.
His mother warned that if he continued to make the wrong decisions, his future would be ruined.
Her advice fell on deaf ears and at 27, Mr Swee was imprisoned for drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 8½ years in Changi Prison, and 10 strokes of the cane.
“I felt like what my mother told me came true. I felt hopeless and for the first time, scared,” he told The Straits Times.
He spent the first two years of his sentence not doing much more than staring at the four walls of his cell. Boredom was killing him, and he decided to enrol in prison school on a whim.
“I just wanted something to help me kill time. I thought time would pass faster if I had something to focus on. Initially, I never had the intention of studying seriously,” he said.
When he did well for his O levels, things changed. He went on to do his A levels in prison school, spurred by a sudden drive to see how far he could push himself.
He said: “The motivation suddenly hit me out of nowhere. That was the first time that I thought that maybe I could have something to look forward to upon my release. Could I make it to university?”
Along the way, helping classmates who were falling behind ignited a passion for teaching. After his A levels, he spent the rest of his sentence teaching mathematics to other inmates.
Upon his release, he secured a place at Nanyang Technological University to study mathematics. After class, he would give free tuition to children from underprivileged families and at-risk youth.
Today, Mr Swee runs a tuition centre with two other former inmates he met in prison school. He started the company in 2024 with funding and business mentoring from the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society, a group that helps former offenders.
The trio provides tuition for three students at the centre, and nine students at private home classes.
When parents look up his name online and see past articles about his convictions, he sees it as a chance to dispel the stigma surrounding former offenders.
He tells them about his journey and how education saved his life.
“The feedback from parents has been quite positive. When they learn about my story, some of them tell me that it would be good to have me advise their kids who are going through a rebellious stage, and encourage them to study.
“Education really helped me change my life. I managed to break out of the cycle of indulging in illegal activity and going to prison.”
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ntre-eases-parents-prejudice-against-convicts
