Ex-offenders are useless and will never change

Ex-offenders are useless and will never change.

That's what one of his contractors told Mr Mark Ong Kerven, while they were working on a project.

Mr Ong was a guest speaker at this year's presentation ceremony of the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA), which highlights the achievements of young people aged between 14 and 25, including current inmates.

The only problem was the contractor didn't know the man who had hired him was once a gang member and drug addict who was jailed for more than six years when he was younger.

Yesterday, Mr Ong, 32, told about 100 inmates at Tanah Merah Prison (Prison School) that they were not useless and that they could change for the better.

The managing director of his own design house - MLA Design and Construction Engineering - said that only by doing so would former offenders be able to prove people wrong.

After being in and out of reformative centre and prison for 10 years for various offences, Mr Ong moved back into his mother's flat and shared a room with his 22-year-old brother. Having completed his O and A levels in prison, he also enrolled in an undergraduate course in counselling at SIM University as he was inspired by the counsellors he met while in prison.

He then joined a design firm as an executive, coordinating projects and purchases.

Soon, he was promoted to the role of account manager, leading a team of four designers and two sale executives.

But it wasn't smooth sailing initially but after subsequently starting his own design house, which designs and prints advertisements, his company went on to make a net profit of about $50,000 last year.

Mr Ong recalled the chat with the contractor, which took place last year.

They were having coffee and the contractor was complaining about his driver being lazy and often coming to work looking listless.

The contractor even suspected this driver was on drugs.

Mr Ong told the inmates: "I was curious, so I asked my contractor if he had any evidence to confirm his suspicions."

The contractor replied that his driver had gone to jail before and that it was "a done deal" for people like him.

Mr Ong's retort: "Look at my tattoos, you think I was a good guy in the past?

"If you think they can't change, then I'm a walking example to prove that you are wrong."

The Singapore Prison Service began to register young inmates for the NYAA programme in 2000. Since then, over 1,200 young offenders have received the award.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
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