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Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim was hit with an avalanche of criticism from supporters of the Minister of Law and Interior, K Shanmugam, after the latter declared that rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders in society “not a new issue” in the Singapore Parliament.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (February 7), the minister said that for more than two decades, “there have been various discussions in Singapore, which has led to legislation focused on rehabilitation.”
“The measures taken in recent years include improvements in the community sentencing regime and help for high-risk former prisoners through the compulsory post-treatment scheme, among other initiatives,” he explained.
Shanmugam also noted that the government had amended Singapore’s drug laws in 2019 to “remove the criminal stigma from pure drug offenders and focus on treating their habit and rehabilitating them, rather than treating them as criminals.”
Initiatives like the Yellow Ribbon Project, he added, are also the result of the government’s focus on the rehabilitation of ex-convicts.
“A lot of government efforts and public resources have been invested in these, and we have been articulating this approach, for greater public acceptance,” Shanmugam said, referring to a speech he delivered last December at the 6th anniversary celebration of the social enterprise Architects. of Life.
While the stigma of being a former offender can be a setback in reintegration into society, Mr. Shanmugam emphasized that some former offenders “can and do represent a risk to society.”
“That is not new either. The question is: what do you do about it? We have been formulating policies, taking these and other factors into account and saying so, ”he said.
The written parliamentary question that Dr. Lim had posed to Home Secretary K Shanmugam was whether the Government will consider expanding the coverage of the national integration campaign to former offenders of non-violent crimes, in order to allow their criminal records to are removed from the public. records and not having said history reported for employment purposes.
This is with the caveat that ex-offenders have shown good behavior over an extended period of time, noted Dr. Lim.
Seeking clarification from Dr. Lim on what he meant by “non-violent crimes”, Mr. Shanmugam in his written response last Tuesday (February 2) stated that there are “many crimes that are serious but non-violent by nature, such as sexual preparation, indignation of modesty, crime of breach of trust and home theft ”.
Dr. Lim’s suggestion, on the surface, “appears to be that the records of such crimes should be expunged, which in turn will mean that ex-offenders could be employed in roles such as preschool teachers or security officers, without their employers know about their history ”, detailed the Minister.
“The Government operates a framework to rehabilitate and find employment for the majority of criminals, in a safe and transparent manner. And that framework is constantly being refined, “said Mr. Shanmugam, adding that Dr. Lim can submit” a more detailed suggestion “for the Government to consider.
In response, Dr. Lim said in a Facebook post last Friday that his “one-sentence question” was aimed at starting “a conversation about crime and rehabilitation” and “understanding the nuances of the current political stance.” not “propose a comprehensive policy.”
Dr. Lim noted that while there are provisions in the Offenders Registration Act that allow the expungement of criminal records based on certain criteria, the decision rests with the Police Commissioner in other cases.
The Sengkang GRC MP said his recent parliamentary question was inspired by his own experience with some residents trying to get security jobs, such as being a guard in a condominium or a shopping mall, but “were discarded due to glue theft or a petty crime theft, perpetrated in his youth ”.
“There is an obvious risk of allowing a recalcitrant criminal to take jobs where he could pose a renewed danger to society.
“At the same time, there is also the risk that permanent labels on ex-offenders who have remained crime-free may inadvertently promote recidivism or jeopardize their successful reintegration into society,” Dr. Lim emphasized.
Therefore, the purpose of the parliamentary question was not to discuss a comprehensive policy on such matters, but “to ask ourselves if there is room for us to expand the scope of an existing program,” he said.
Addressing Mr. Shanmugam’s point on former sex offenders, Dr. Lim said exceptions to the suggested expansion of the scope of the Yellow Ribbon Project should apply to such former offenders.
Those convicted of such crimes, he said, “should not work with children as suggested by the Minister.”
The same principle applies to people with a history of substance abuse with regards to pharmaceuticals, or former offenders who drive drunk with transportation-related lines of work, said Dr. Lim.
“I am sure that additional conditions, such as these, would be valuable and should be considered by the Ministry,” he concluded.
Netizen Reactions
Shanmugam’s post on Sunday was inundated with comments criticizing Dr. Lim for his parliamentary question.
Danny Ngiam, a grassroots volunteer, said the Sengkang MP should “start with the condos” in his constituency “as they are very supportive.”
Noor Juliana, a member of the Popular Action Party (PAP), said similarly: “Maybe the condominium you live in or those in Sengkang want to hire ex-criminals who were convicted of robbery, sexual abuse, sexual grooming of young people, pedophiles and such ? You know, “non-violent” crimes as he proposed. “
Dr. Lim had previously clarified that persons convicted of sexual offenses “should not work with children as suggested by the Minister”.
The same principle applies to people with a history of substance abuse regarding pharmaceuticals, or ex-offenders who drive drunk with transportation-related lines of work, said Dr. Lim.
S Ramesh Ramamirtham, a former Mediacorp reporter, said Singapore’s internationally acclaimed criminal justice system and prison rehabilitation programs are a testament to “a well-tested system here to help offenders reintegrate into society” .
What Jamus Lim seriously needs now is a talk of encouragement from his brother, the opposition leader or the LTK main mentor [former WP chief Low Thia Khiang] on how not to sound stupid in and out of Parliament, ”he said.
Linda Chiang, a grassroots leader, claimed in response to another commenter’s comments that Dr. Lim had “blatantly claimed credit for the improved Sengkang Punggol LRT project that was the brainchild of Dr. Lam Pin Min.”
Dr. Lam served as Chief Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Health from May 1, 2017 to July 26 of last year. He was part of the PAP Sengkang GRC team that lost to the WP team of which Dr. Lim is a part.
Dr. Lim was also branded by commentators as a member of parliament seeking to ask “populist” questions to win “popular votes” in the upcoming elections.
One commenter said that while the intent behind Dr. Lim’s suggestion is good, implementation could be problematic as “all business owners would want to know the risk they are taking by hiring a potential employee.”
“And it should be the business owners’ responsibility to decide that risk,” they said.
One commenter similarly said that regardless of the criminal record, the employer will decide whether to “give the person a chance.”
One commenter agreed with Mr. Shanmugam’s position against erasing the criminal records of ex-offenders for work purposes, saying that “we would also have to be sensitive to those who had been injured by their criminal actions.”
