SUSScribe No. 40 | Dec 2017 | Page 11

I was arrested by the police for drug consumption when I was in Secondary 5. It was a stark day which I remember clearly as it was also my father’s birthday. My family was waiting for me, but I could not contact them as I was locked up in a police station. I can still remember the exact date – 22 June 2002. When I eventually managed to contact my dad in the evening, he had to bail me out. I was sentenced to a year imprisonment at Selarang Park Prison in 2003. I was only 19 years old then. I was incarcerated again after that. This time during my national service (NS) when I fell again to the lure of drugs. I was caught and sentenced to the detention barracks. I was still a rebel after my discharge from the detention barracks. Three months before completing NS, I was caught by the police for drug offences and other criminal activities. This time round, I was sentenced to about four years imprison- ment and two strokes of the cane.. (Read more)