• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Ang Moh say Singapore's prison is extremely harsh and inhumane

lovesamleong

Alfrescian
Loyal
Some time back there was an excellent thread in this forum about prison life by a local inmate.

Here, this ang moh say Singapore's prison is extremely harsh and inhumane:

Singapore's prison extremely harsh and inhumane

In the "newly renovated" Changi prison, the prison that houses almost all the inmates in Singapore, the inmates sleep on hard concrete floor with no proper beds. They are only given a very thin straw mat.

They are locked in a small cell 23 hours a day. They get no outdoor exercises, all their exercises are conducted indoor. They don't get open air for the duration of their sentence. This can be for years!

There are no fans or air conditioning despite the country's extreme heat (30-40 degree celsius in the cells) and humidity, being near the equator.

Inmates are not allowed any personal possessions, like radio, tv, personal clothings etc. They are not even allowed to keep a pen and paper with them.

The inmates basically are allowed zero personal belongings except 3 softcover books. Hardcover books are not allowed, don't ask why, it is just another rule that doesn't make sense and is created to drive the inmates nearer to insanity.

Maybe hardcover books are deemed to be highly dangerous. Imagine it could turn into a highly lethal weapon should it fall into the wrong hands

Telephones are not allowed and they can only write 1 or 2 letters every fortnight.

Inmates are not allowed to keep photographs of their family. They require special permission from their CO should they wish to do so.

Inmates' heads are shoven and they have to behave like soldiers. They must greet the COs when they see them. They must walk in one single file (Not like they walk around much given how claustophic the entire place is. The prison is a tall multi story block and the work locations often just in the vincinity of their cells. Everything is indoors.) and keep their hands at their back when talking to their COs, failing which they are liable to get punished.

Not everyone gets to work. Work is often mundane and repetitive. An example is laundry work. It doesn't inpart any "real" skill.

Some inmates are also caned if they were convicted of certain crimes. Their buttocks bleed and permanent scars are left behind.

It is a terrible state of affairs. The prison system is full of stupid unreasonable rules that just drives inmates crazy. The regime is very inhumane.

Someone should campaign for change. Oh wait, if someone were to campaign for change in the wrong manner, they could be fined or jailed for illegal assembly since even peaceful protests are illegal in Singapore. And you need a police permit to speak in public.

Compared to Singapore, prisons in the US are like heaven.

The prisons in countries like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands and basically every other first world democracy are like 5 stars hotel.

For many crimes, the prison sentences in Singapore are also very much longer compared to other first world democracies. Serious drug trafficking can be a 6 year bid in Australia (3 years with parole, probably served in a minimum security prison) but in Singapore it can be the death penalty. There are no minimum security prisons in Singapore for criminal cases.

I also recall on the newspaper not too long ago, one guy got caught using a fake credit card and was jailed 4 years. The same offence for first time offenders in other first world democracies would normally be probation, fine or house arrest in other countries. Or a 1-2year jail bid for repeat offenders in a minimum security prison.

Adults in Singapore do not get probation except in special circumstances as probation is generally only available to minors. It is either fine or prison for adults. No suspended sentence, no house arrest, no probation(normally). There seems to be a lack of sentencing options.

Even in third world countries like Peru, the prisoners get to watch TV, listen to the radio and they can have their relatives bring them food, cloth for handicraft work, any amount of books they want. I have heard the inmates have even managed to set up a disco in one of their prisons!

Nelson Mandela once said something like this "You can judge a country by not how it treats its upper class but by how it treats its prisoners".

Everyone should email the Prison Service and the Ministry of Home Affairs to demand more humane treatment for the inmates.
 

lovesamleong

Alfrescian
Loyal
there are reports of Singapore inmates being able to attend the Kaki Bukit Prison School or Laselle art classes. The reality is only 200 out of 15000 or so inmates get to attend the prison school. Even when they get to attend prison school, they are often forced to finish what is originally a four year course, (the GCE O levels) in one year.

As of May 2009, only 10 inmates, out of 15000 or so, have the chance to take up the Laselle art classes. The classes only last a total of 45hours.

The bottom line is this, caning inmates, making them sleep on hard floors, locking them in their cells 23/24 hours a day, giving them access to only 3 softcover books each month with no other personal belongings, depriving them of basic leisure acitivites like tv and radio daily, setting unreasonable rules to stress and drive inmates up the wall, is just penal harm. No first world democracy, or any country for that matter, should do such things. It is inhumane.

In Singapore, when the inmates are sick and warded in the prison hospital, they are forced to sleep on hard metal beds. Their legs are chained to the bed frames at night and they are given a lantrine to defecate into should the need arise. It is disgusting to treat sick people like this.

There have been a lot of comments about how inhumane Fuchu in Japan is. Singapore is much worse than Fuchu. Imagine Fuchu without the beds, TV and personal items, pen and paper, and outdoor exercises. Imagine having to endure extremely hot weather all year round, sweating incessantly every minute of the day for the whole year. Just like in Fuchu, there are also the same unreasonable rules that drive inmates up the wall.

To illustrate how unreasonable they can get in Singapore, there is the example of newspapers. In Singapore the prisons censor the daily newspapers, any articles which they don't fancy are cut out.

In the end, you have inmates reading newspapers with lots of holes in them. Anyone who is reasonable will see that this is totally unecessary. The inmates also have to oblige with a long list of rules just like in Fuchu. Inmates have to greet the COs, squat down, keep their hands to their back when talking to the COs..and the list goes on.

Work in Singapore's prison is hard to come back as the number of inmates exceed the number of work opportunities. In the end, many inmates spend months and years staring at their cell walls 23 hours daily.

People want to see recalcitrant and violent offenders doing hard time. But first time, non violent offenders should be given much less harsh sentences and treatment than what is happening now in Singapore.

Like all other countries with basic human rights, a minimum security prison should be set up for these offenders. Inmates should have proper access to leisure, humane treatment, education and rehabilitation.

Singapore prison should really align itself with international standards on human rights and human decency. Years later, future generations will judge.

Will they say that Singapore is a forward and not backwards looking society? Will that say that in Singapore, there are human rights even for the inmates? Or will they shake their heads in disgust?
 

lovesamleong

Alfrescian
Loyal
Conditions of Singapore's prison:

Inmates are often kept in their cells 23 hours daily - inhumane

Inmates are forced to sleep on the hard floor - inhumane

Inmates convicted of minor crimes such as overstaying their work visa by 3 months or vandalism are caned by a thick wooden lash, resulting in blood and permanent scars - inhumane

Inmates are denied basic leisure activities daily such as watching tv and listening to radio - inhumane

Inmates are kept indoors for their entire sentence and are not allowed outdoors to exercise - inhumane

Inmates are not allowed zero personal possessions. Not even photographs of their families are allowed unless special permission is given. They only get 3 softcover books to read a month - inhumane

There are no fans in cells even though temperatures often reach 30-40 degrees celcius and humidity is extremely high. Inmates sweat profusely throughout the entire day - inhumane

Sick inmates in the prison hospital are forced to sleep on hard metal beds with their legs chained to the bed frame. they are given a lantrine to defacate into. - inhumane

Inmates who are suspected of having mental problems are placed in a cell where the lights are switched on for 24hours. This is deliberate sleep depravation. It only aggravates their problems further. The rationale for keeping the lights on is because the COs want to record their every move through the night. Even a monkey would know that you could use infra red night cameras for that! - inhumane
 

andyfisher

Alfrescian
Loyal
what you expect,

you go to prison, not to some holiday camp. knn.

You shld read abt prisons in europe, esp the dutch and british ones. fucking luxury camps.
 

watchman8

Alfrescian
Loyal
Funny that prison terms are very seldom given to reckless or drunk drivers, the real mass murderers on this island.

I hope con hee gets a nice long stay in changi chalet.
 

andyfisher

Alfrescian
Loyal
what did kong hee do to you?

anyway its his wife who should go to jail for her blasphemy against actual music and art. youtube china wine and you can see the disaster that is this pastor. lol

Funny that prison terms are very seldom given to reckless or drunk drivers, the real mass murderers on this island.

I hope con hee gets a nice long stay in changi chalet.
 

watchman8

Alfrescian
Loyal
what did kong hee do to you?

anyway its his wife who should go to jail for her blasphemy against actual music and art. youtube china wine and you can see the disaster that is this pastor. lol
There's no need for every criminal to do something specifically to me or you. If they do something bad to society, I will wish for them to be shipped to changi chalet.
 

halsey02

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Last edited:

The_Hypocrite

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
He should compare with Pinoy, Indon and viet prisons,,compare with Europe for what? also is the western world better and controlling crime? due to their lax policies, crime is getting worse in ang mor land,,,as if the ang mors so perfect like that,,,
 

Narong Wongwan

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Funny that prison terms are very seldom given to reckless or drunk drivers, the real mass murderers on this island.

I hope con hee gets a nice long stay in changi chalet.
there are many but having said that there are quite a few are let off too.......why? connections? probably. Life is not fair.
Also many are sent to jail for funny reasons.......unable to pay fine, income tax etc.....in a nutshell owe govt money....not exactly criminals.
Prison life in sinkieland is about breaking your will.....all the talk about rehab is bullshit.........its just punishment plain and simple. the only thing 'positive' about sinkieland prison is there's no hanky panky.......everything's aboveboard, no chance to chut pattern.
 

Poomer

Alfrescian
Loyal
what you expect,

you go to prison, not to some holiday camp. knn.

You shld read abt prisons in europe, esp the dutch and british ones. fucking luxury camps.

When Pablo escobar, the drug lord surrendered, he built his own prison, with soccer field, jacuzzi, and other luxuries, and hired the prison guards himself.
 

laksaboy

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
there are reports of Singapore inmates being able to attend the Kaki Bukit Prison School or Laselle art classes. The reality is only 200 out of 15000 or so inmates get to attend the prison school. Even when they get to attend prison school, they are often forced to finish what is originally a four year course, (the GCE O levels) in one year.

And those 200 lucky gentlemen also get to participate in a photo op for the Singapore Prison Service, and while they're engaging in their study or craft in the background without revealing their faces, an eager-beaver warden being interviewed in the foreground would be gushing praise on the Yellow Ribbon Project and on 'unlocking the second prison'. :rolleyes:
 

johnny333

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
When Pablo escobar, the drug lord surrendered, he built his own prison, with soccer field, jacuzzi, and other luxuries, and hired the prison guards himself.

No need to look that far. When Tommy Suharto was in jail for murder, it was rumored that he received "special" treatment while in jail. He got out after only 4 years a reformed man:biggrin:
 

Agoraphobic

Alfrescian
Loyal
Went to see the movie "Midnight Express" with some friends way back when it was released. One of our mates was then a released inmate from Changi Prison for armed robbery. His comment then was the movie's prison (in Istanbul) was damned relaxed. Can play basketball, etc. Not long ago, I heard that criminal gangs in North America were running their operations while they were in jail!! Not bad! Must be relatively good life in there.

As for comfort, I don't know about that, never been in jail, never want to be. Taking away one's freedom itself would be something I would likely be unable to live with.

Cheers!
 

halsey02

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
When Pablo escobar, the drug lord surrendered, he built his own prison, with soccer field, jacuzzi, and other luxuries, and hired the prison guards himself.

PAP already built one..it is called SINgapura, includes two CaSINoes, one zoo, one amusement island & plenty of 'prison guards' hired by them...
 
Top