Tuesday, 26 Jan 2021
WHEN the Year of the Metal Ox rolls in next month, I will not be celebrating it with family and loved ones in Kuala Lumpur.
It will be a first for me. Many first experiences are far from unpleasant but this one, breaking a tradition of nearly six decades, is giving me a dose of the blues.
Because of the pandemic, I knew heading up north this year would require a lot of planning and the blessings of my bosses.
For the last couple of months, I had been bracing myself for extended periods of isolation (two weeks of stay-home notice in Malaysia upon arrival, two weeks of SHN in Singapore when I return), multiple swab tests and a hole in the pocket. An aunt helpfully told me the trip would easily cost me more than RM10,000.
The last time he was sentenced, in 2004, he ended up spending eight years behind bars.
But he managed to find a new lease of life after completing his sentence, and now works to give other former offenders a chance for a fresh start.
The 52-year-old Singaporean runs social enterprise Agape Connecting People, a contact centre which employs those who, like him, have paid their debt to society and are eager to start contributing anew.
It was the chance to work in a call centre during his third stint in jail that gave him the needed wake-up call. I had never worked in a call centre before. When I went there, I was thinking, who knows, maybe this is something that can help me shape my future. If I succeed, I could get a job when I am released, said Mr Anil.