sent to jail, and out the same day.

I've been wanting to write this post for the past two weeks but I just couldn't find the time. And it's not like I'm damn free now to write it also. Anyway, here goes the story!

If you're wondering how come I was sent to jail, I'm going to suggest that you hold your thoughts before you let your imagination run wild. Haha. I mentioned this to my groupmates in KR blueblood camp and they went, "What did you do??", "Ok let me guess, robbery!". You can imagine other hilarious responses. Well, that was basically my point - to share some exciting, suspense-filled, unthinkable facts about myself.

Anyhow, don't worry, I still have a clean record and I did nothing wrong.

(This is the time you'll go 'CHEY!!', trust me)

I basically went for a visit to the Kaki Bukit Prison School as well as the Changi Prison Complex Cluster A, accompanying some JC2 students for some Home Team orientation programme. (Have you 'chey-ed' yet?) Haha.

And I must say that the entire day has been nothing but more curiosity about the nuts and bolts of the prisons department. Usually, in visits like these or in any other events, when it comes to the time of Q&A, I would have to crack my head a little to recap what the speaker had presented that I wanted to ask about. But not for this prisons visit. The questions came naturally into my head, one after another, as I could not help being so inquisitive about how everything works in prisons. Perhaps, one reason could be because of the fact that this side of our society behind closed gates and barbed wires, is inevitably secluded from the rest of the society, and one hardly has any exposure nor any clue as to what goes on within.

The Prison School tour was interesting in a way that it was simply a school, like any other schools in Singapore. The only significant difference is that the students there are all serving a sentence for a mistake they've committed against the law. We were taken on a tour around the school, by two of the inmates themselves. While they may seem overly polite in their presentation, I thought it was an excellent platform for them to hone their public speaking abilities and confidence before a group of people. We also witnessed for ourselves how efficiently the inmates spend their time inside, from attending GCE O, N, A Levels courses, practising their culinary skills in the kitchen to putting their computing knowledge into useful fields like software design and video editting.

The tour around Cluster A, a name they call the Changi Prison, was equally if not more enriching and meaningful. We were basically brought around to explore the facilities within the 'urban' prison, and I was kinda surprised to see how similar these architecture are to that seen on Prison Break Season 1. Each section within each floor of the prison was essentially like what you see in Prison Break, two floors, a common corridor, a waist-level railing on the second floor and a staircase in the middle leading to the second floor. There was also a yard, where these inmates could have a game of basketball and sepak takraw, or simply just lepak (or chill out). That's also very much like the Prison Break concept, except that this one's indoor. And the guys can really be physically initimidating. Haha.

The highlight of the day was when the inmates put up a surprise performance for us in one of the auditoriums. There was this middle-age guy who basically volunteers his time to train this band of musically-inclined inmates and he does so 'merely to help them realise that all is not lost and to keep the belief burning in them.' They started off with an old-school chinese song, 'Long De Chuan Ren' or 'The followers of the Dragon'. It was very well synchronised, among the guitarists, drummers, singer and the dancers at the background.

It was the next song that blew me away and almost had me moved to tears. It was my favourite song, 'Where is the love?', and I just couldn't believe how well they performed that number. It was probably one of the best versions I've heard, considering the fact that these people aren't professionals in any ways. Perhaps, the most significant part about this song was how relevant the lyrics were, to the predicament of each and every guy that was performing this piece. Where is the love, y'all? Where's the love for fellow human beings, even though they may have erred in the past?

'Whatever happened to the values of humanity;
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality;
Instead of spreading love we spreading animosity;
Lack of understanding leading us away from unity;
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under;
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down;
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under;
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found'

Great day for me. Great experience. Like nothing before.