KUALA LUMPUR: The Ihsan MADANI (Awaited Return) Licensed Release of Prisoners Programme (PBSL) in conjunction with the 2024 Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration is very meaningful to the inmates involved as it also offers a second chance for them to change their ways.
Grateful to meet his two-month-old son earlier than expected, an inmate from the Kluang Prison in JOHOR who only wanted to be known as Amir, 30, thanked the Johor and Malaysian Prisons authorities.
“This is my first offence and I got involved because of my friends. Earlier, seeing my mother who was in tears and my two-month-old eldest son... I am truly repentant,” said Amir, who hails from Batu Pahat.
In PERAK, an inmate who wanted to be known as Long, 27, is grateful to fast for at least a week with his family after being released from the Kamunting Correctional Centre under the PBSL programme today, much earlier than his scheduled July 13 release date.
The eldest of two siblings, who underwent imprisonment for a drug-related offence, said he truly wants to seek the forgiveness of his family and vowed never to repeat the mistake.
Forty-five-year-old Karim, an inmate from the PENANG Remand Prison, said he can’t wait for the opportunity to celebrate Syawal with his family after the court sentenced him to two years in prison for a drug offence.
The former driver, who has six children aged seven to 18, also promised that this would be the first and last time he is behind bars as it taught him the meaning of repentance.
In KEDAH, a woman inmate at the Pokok Sena Prison who wanted to be known only as Anis, 26, said the Aidilfitri celebration this time would never be the same without the presence of her father, who died after suffering a stroke when she was behind bars.
The youngest of nine siblings, who started dabbling in heroin at the age of 13, however, is thankful to have been chosen for the programme, thus, enabling her to celebrate Aidilfitri with her 62-year-old mother.
“This time I am determined to change my life, I want to change completely... perhaps after this, I will help my family members and use this second opportunity given by the prison authorities to take care of my mother, who is not very healthy,” she said.
Another inmate, who only wanted to be identified as Det, 42, said this is the first time he will celebrate Aidilfitri outside a prison, having been arrested several times since 2005.
However, he is sad that he will not get to celebrate it with his loved ones, who have cut ties with him.
He said that because of his arrest for taking and trafficking drugs like morphine, his wife divorced him and he never had the chance to watch his children grow up.
“This time, I am determined to change so that I will have the courage to face my children and family. But, for this Aidilfitri, I do not have the strength to return home to be with my family. If it is meant to be, I will celebrate Aidiladha with them,” he said.
