| James Kon |
ONCE they ran against the society, now they want to run towards it – to be a part of it.
On April 30, 2017, Brunei will see some 40 Rakan Seliaan, or former inmates, participating in the Prison Reintegration Run to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Prisons Department at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien.
Prisoners often struggle to find a place in society. Many of them feel rejected by society once they are released. Prejudice, intolerance and stereotypes abound, making them think that they do not stand a chance in the community once they belonged to.
According to academics and criminal experts, society has a responsibility in taking part in the rehabilitation process. Trusting ex-prisoners to turn their lives around can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. There’s still a life after prison, though re-entering society is no easy task, they say. The Prison Reintegration Run is an initiative based on this noble vision.
Details of the first-of-its-kind event were announced at a press conference yesterday by Sarifudin bin Haji Abdul Karim, head of prison officers who is also the chairperson of the run and senior prison counsellor Pengiran Omar bin Pengiran Haji Othman, head of counselling services and the deputy chairperson of the event.
The Prison Reintegration Run, which will be attended by 40 former inmates who have voluntarily registered for the counselling services and supervision of the Prisons Department, is held in hopes of helping the Rakan Seliaan to overcome the social stigma faced by them and to raise community awareness on the need for creating opportunities for ex-prisoners to make self-improvement and encouraging them to positively contribute to nation building.
According to Pengiran Omar, “The objective of the event is to provide a better understanding to the community on its role to help in the integration of Rakan Seliaan back to their family and community.
Sarifudin bin Haji Abdul Karim, head of prison officers who is also the chairperson of the run and senior prison counsellor Pengiran Omar bin Pengiran Haji Othman, head of counselling services and the deputy chairperson of the event in a group photo at the press conference. – JAMES KON
“The run also aims to highlight the responsibility of Rakan Seliaan towards the community and show that they are not isolated and still needed by the society as well as to raise funds for rehabilitation programmes that are currently held or will be carried out for Rakan Seliaan.”
The theme of the Prison Integration Run is ‘Menyurus Jalan Pulang’, loosely translated to ‘Back on the Right Track Home’.
Sarifudin said that there are seven categories in the run, namely Male Open 12km, Female Open 12km, Veteran Male (above 50 years) 5Km, Veteran Female (above 45 years) 5Km, Male Open (49 years and below) 5Km, Female Open (45 years and below) 5Km and Fun Run 3km. Members of the public are welcome to participate in the event.
Each participant will get a free T-shirt, a medal as well as certificate. The Bib number can be used to get discounts at gyms as well as Asma Boy carwash or Rakan Seliaan carwash at Sumbangsih Mulia.
To raise fund, donation cards will be given to all participants that can be handed over to the organiser by April 28.
The fund raised will be used for conducting programmes for Rakan Seliaan as well as for Dana Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah untuk Anak-Anak Yatim (DANA).
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