the praying mantis stance crouching tiger, hidden dragon how to ...

MICA (P) 021/02/2010 ISSN 1793-8562 ISSUE 02/JUNE 2010
SPARKS
Igniting Change
THE PRAYING MANTIS STANCE
The Karate Kid … in Singapore
starring Vincent Ng
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Panamanian Kid fits into Singapore
HOW TO KARATE-CHOP ALL TIES
A Client’s perspective
DRUNKEN ROOSTER CHARGE
Grasping a second chance in life
A P U B L I C AT I O N O F S I N G A P O R E A F T E R - C A R E A S S O C I AT I O N
H E L P I N G E X - O F F E N D E R S A N D T H E I R F A M I L I E S G E T B A C K O N T H E I R F E E T

3 Learning to Stay Out of Trouble
4 The Straight & Narrow
6 功夫小子
8 Working with the Local Community
10 Enhancing Aftercare Professionalism
Let’s Make Cookie Dough
11 The Key to Grasping a Second
Chance in Life
12 Fitting In
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MICA (P) 021/02/2010
Singapore After-Care Association,
81 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209408.
Telephone: +65 6294 2350/+65 6294 2763
Fax: +65 6295 0095
Website: www.saca.org.sg
Email: enquiries@saca.org.sg
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I am very excited about June’s
charity �lm premiere − The Karate
Kid. Not only is it my favourite
genre (martial arts) with my
favourite actors (Jackie Chan and
Jaden Smith), the message within
the movie sings the same tune as
our mission. If someone asks, who
your life mentor is, you probably
won’t have anyone to mention. I
remember in my school’s band, I
often saw musicians handling their
instruments with gloves. That is
because the oil form the hands will change the quality of the
bells. If we realise, everything we touch is changed and
everybody we touch is changed.
We do have many mentors in life. I am grateful to my teachers
(other than my parents) for giving me the education that made
me who I am in society today. They changed me. I am grateful
for the friends I have who saw me through tough times and
moulded my character. They changed me. Sometimes, being in
the situation makes us oblivious to what an outsider sees.
Having a mentor prevents you from making a mistake that can
be avoided.
SACA has a mentoring programme. Volunteers from the public
can join our programme to guide ex-offenders in their
reintegration. Minds, spirits and hearts, not just physical can be
touched. Everybody we speak to, rub shoulders with or even
smile at, are changed in some minute way. We leave a piece of
ourselves behind with everyone we meet, and we take a piece
of them with us.
Little changes can make a difference.
Christine Ng
Managing Editor
SPARKS — Igniting Change
MAILBOX
Editor's Note
We appreciate your views! Contribute a story, opinion, feedback or even a commentary. Your entry
may win you a Sandwich Maker, courtesy of AKIRA! Email your contributions to: sparks@saca.org.sg,
subject: Mailbox; or post it to: Singapore After-Care Association, 81 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209408.

Learning to
Stay Out
of Trouble
Latest!
Under the initiative of
Paci�c Agriscience, a
company with
extensive expertise in
agriculture science &
technology, our
student-client
successfully
completed a 6 weeks
internship during his
school holidays.
SACA’s Education
Support Programme
provides funding,
support networks and
workshops to motivate
student-clients who are
enthusiastic about
upgrading their skills
and continuing on their
learning journey.
Age: 33
Length of imprisonment: 8 years
How have you fared since
starting on the Programme?
I decided to further my education which is a
big step forward at my age. Starting so late is
not to my advantage. However, this has also
helped me keep away from company which
might in�uence me to go astray yet again.
What is your relationship with
your case worker like?
She is like a mentor to me. She would make
sure I get everything in place so that I can
concentrate on my studies.
Do you remember the first
time you met her? How was it?
She made me feel comfortable and that I
could con�de in her and that she sincerely
wanted to help me.
What do you think of
mentorship? Is it essential to
the reintegration process?
I think it is a good idea to introduce the
mentorship aspect as part of the Programme.
It is important as clients like me would have
no idea what to do upon release and if there
is no one to guide us we may just rely on
friends who might give bad advice instead.
Mentorship would ensure that we get the
right advice regarding getting back on our
feet.
How would things be different
if you didn’t have a mentor?
I think that I would be left on my own as
nobody would understand what I am really
going through. I would not get the help I
need and in the end I may give up and go
back to my old ways.
My colleagues
trusted me & treated
me with patience &
kindness. They didn’t
judge me because of
my past, I felt
accepted.

The Straight & Narrow
30 OCTOBER 2009 - *Gary �nally saw
blue skies and green grass. The �rst thing he did
was to pick his daughter up from school. Feeling
guilty that he had been absent from her life, how
must she have felt seeing other kids’ fathers waiting
outside the school gate…
For the �rst few months after release, Gary had
dif�culty �nding a job. It was heart wrenching to see
his 80 year old mother bending over washing dishes
at a nearby hawker center to feed him and his
daughter. Gary was desperate, but he vowed to not
abandon his family again. However, Gary did not
even know how to write a resume; worse he didn’t
really have much to write on his resume. Unlike
most people, he has little work experience, no
awards and no quali�cations. Negativity then starts
to set in...
There was also another problem. Gary had no
friends. He didn’t want to revisit old friends simply
because he found himself going back to jail
whenever he was with them. But addicts go back to
old habits if there is nothing to �ll the void…
In prison, everyone was the same. They had the
same clothes, the same haircut, the same slippers
and even the same type of spectacles. But outside
the name of the game is being different, being you.
The longer he stayed unemployed, the stronger the
urge to take shortcuts to an easy life. Trouble is,
these shortcuts usually led him to prison in the past.
Gary took up a job as a bouncer in a night club at
Clarke Quay. It was a practical decision as he
couldn’t stay unemployed. Yet he also knew having
a job in a night spot was not wise for a recovering
addict. He desperately wanted to not repeat the
mistakes made so many times before.
He decided to give resume writing another shot. He
listed down what little quali�cations he had. While
still working as a bouncer (after all, it paid the bills)
he waited patiently to get called for interviews. He
did get some calls and eventually got an offer.
Gary is now holding a sales position at a local gym.
Though he is grateful to his employer for giving him
a chance, he realises the important steps he himself
took to prevent his reoffending. We would like to
share some of them with you…
1
OVERCOME EMOTIONS Gary knows
of friends who reject offers because it
doesn’t pay a lot, or when it is labour intensive
and then complain there are “no jobs”.
“Just because I am handicapped by a tainted
past, society is not going to give me any special
treatment,” Gary says. Jobs aren’t dif�cult to
�nd at all. It is expectations that are set too high
that often cause great disappointment.
Gary conditioned himself and took on the �rst
offer that came his way. He did not want to lose
the opportunity to accumulate whatever
experience he could so that with time, he would
have more to write on his resume.
Life doesn’t stop just because Gary is past his
thirties and doesn’t have a successful career. If
he continues to wallow in self pity, he would
never move forward.

2
HAVE A FOCUS Taking care of his
family is his priority now. He would like his
mum to �nally have life a little easier and also
wants to be a role model for his daughter.
Before he was aimless in life; something a single
parent of a young child could ill afford to do.
3CUT OFF ALL NEGATIVE TIES WITH
THE PAST Revisiting his old haunts only
tempted him on the well trodden path to more
trouble and suffering. During hard times Gary’s
mind often dragged up memories of when he
used to splurge on alcohol and women with the
money he made from dealing drugs. A real
battle royal took place within him to force these
mental images deeper so they didn’t torment
him all the time.
4FIND A MENTOR Gary looks up to a
fellow ex-offender who is now happily
married with a family. He keeps in touch with his
mentor and turns to him for advice and
encouragement when the going gets tough.
Gary hopes to pursue a degree in psychology
and wants to do social work one day. It is his way
of saying “thank you” to those who have given
him a second chance.
*Gary not his real name

By Christine Ng
Jet Li, who took up Singapore citizenship last June ought to know
we’ve our own Prince of Wushu here. Vincent Ng, born and bred
in Singapore was a very active kid. Since kindergarten, he just
wouldn’t sit still. Like a superhero, he discovered he had
extraordinary jumping powers. If then, had he decided to go the
superhero route; he would have been known as The Frog Prince.
Good thing he didn’t.
Vincent started as a sports athlete in Primary school. His seniors
took note of his never-ending energy and cajoled him to join the
lion dance club at a tender age. While helming the Lion’s head,
his teacher discovered his potential for something greater and
took him out of school to train in a proper Wushu school.
There, he met his mentor, Mdm Chua. Just like out of a period
kung-fu �ick Mdm Chua and her husband, the then childless
couple, immediately took a liking to this young boy. They sincerely
wanted to groom him to be the martial artist they thought him
capable of becoming. They trained him without letting up, and
even had him sleep over for early morning regimes.
Even now, the slogan “No Pain, No Gain” is Vincent’s favourite.
He loves feeling his muscles ache; knowing his body is
responding to the punishing regime. Vincent admires Bruce Lee,
perhaps the greatest martial arts icon of all time. To him, Bruce
Lee is a legend who epitomised what being Chinese really meant.
This made the West sit up and take notice of Chinese culture.
The opportunity to compete in the World Wushu championships
has given him a broader perspective of life. Vincent feels that the
present generation is too preoccupied with technology that is
detrimental to a young person’s development. Wushu has helped
him both mentally and physically. His short attention span has
been corrected by the need for focus in Wushu. He also feels that
martial arts have instilled a discipline in him which would have
otherwise been sorely lacking.
Vincent’s martial arts training school “Wu Fang” currently has 800
students all over Singapore. Having received valuable guidance
from his mentor decades ago, he wants to now pass it on. He
�nds mentoring challenging and ful�lling. Wu Fang has
instructors teaching in schools, community centers as well as
country clubs. Vincent remembers a school teacher who,
intrigued by her student’s change in behaviour, found herself
following him into Wu Fang. The boy had been a notorious bully
in school, weak in his studies.

Vincent is a very strict coach, as was his mentor with
him. A student’s fear turns into respect over time
through patient nurturing. Vincent feels one needs to
be living rightfully, in order to be an example. Having
gained many life experiences, the man who makes no
mistakes does not usually make anything.
Vincent advises parents to start their children young in
a hobby or a skill. At Wu Fang, children are motivated,
encouraged and impressed. Games are played with
children to motivate their interest. Then
once-in-a-blue-moon, the seniors demonstrate moves
to remind the young children their aspiration to attain
that level of skill. Finally, encouragement and
admiration is given to the child.
Wushu is a never ending learning journey.
For more information on Wu Fang,
visit www.wufangsingapore.com
It does
not matter how
many times
you fall,
what matters is
how many times
you pick
yourself up...

usetechnology.lovepeople
Working with the
Local Community
The relationship between SACA and GSPL dates back to 2001 when GSPL founder
Marcus Lim first came to our office in Dunlop Street to set up our IT network. From that
point on they introduced SACA to the wonders of modern technology. Today, they
support SACA in web and email hosting and are currently involved in a project to
develop a web application for managing the volunteer and client databases.
GSPL contact info:
Main Line: 6294 0552
Email: support@gspl.com.sg
Address: 200 Jalan Sultan, #11-07 Textile Centre
Singapore 199018

This year marks a decade
of working with Marcus
and the rest at GSPL. I must say
that they offered their services to
us way before CSR was the thing to do.
We continue to be grateful for
their assistance and desire
in wanting to work with
our client group.
Quick Facts:
– Prem Kumar, Director of SACA
GSPL is an IT solution company specializing in web applications
based on open source technology.
They help in online payment systems, Management Information
Systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content
Management System (CMS), web, email and domain hosting.
How corporations can get involved: Businesses work with
SACA to improve the quality of life in various areas. You can
take a pro-active approach in helping to reduce crime by
supporting the successful reintegration of ex-offenders.
One of the many ways to get involved is to help
ex-offenders learn new skills by offering them employment
or training/upgrading opportunities. You can also provide
�nancial or practical resources through our agency. Perhaps
you could also encourage your staff to volunteer as a
mentor or a befriender in our volunteer programmes.

Enhancing
Aftercare Professionalism
PPrisons Department has come a long way in
engaging the community as volunteers. In July 2008,
during a dialogue session with the Senior Parliament
Secretary (SPS), a number of key issues pertaining to
volunteer management and engagement were
raised. On further examination of the state of
volunteer involvement in Prisons, it became more
apparent that there were existing service gaps in the
volunteer management approach.
Prisons value the contributions of
volunteers and envisage a long term
partnership in the rehabilitation
journey. Such partnership is forged
and sustained by having volunteers
who are aligned with the objective of
reducing re-offending, thereby
contributing to a safer homeland.
Volunteers’ expertise needs to be matched with
Prisons’ areas of needs, including emerging needs,
arising from changing demands and expectations
internally and externally.
SACA
appointed agency
to conduct
Prisons Volunteer
Training
It is recognised that the provision of structured
training and development programmes will
not only continually seek to renew volunteers’
skills to stay relevant, but also certify their
achievement and quali�cation upon
completion of the programmes.
Singapore After-Care Asspciation has been
appointed as the agency to conduct training
for all prison volunteers. The
programme will be tiered to
cater to the varying needs and
objectives of volunteering within
prisons.
All volunteers shall undergo the
basic training programmes;
while attendance for the
intermediate and advance levels
of training shall be voluntary and on a needs
basis. These basic programmes shall also be
made available to Prisons’ community partners
who engage prisoners on a regular basis.
Recipe by Noor Haslinda Bte Mohd So’od

The Key to Grasping
a Second Chance in Life
We live in a time where we
need to believe in second chances.
At one point or another, we all need a second
chance. A relationship goes sour, a deal falls
apart, a test is not passed, and a child breaks
your heart. Disappointment can easily become
despair and we wonder,
"Should I try again?
Will I get a second chance?
Do I even want one?"
What are second chances?
Do we really need them?
Do we believe in them?
Yes, we do need them but who is giving us
these second chances? Is it just our own special
ability to say, we have been forgiven, or do we
seek a second chance that is to be given by
someone else.
When Tiger Woods cheated on his partner, he
begged for a second chance at reconciliation.
By Christine Ng
When Edison Chen was involved with the
sex scandal, he needed a second chance
from the public in order to continue his
entertainment career. When a child lies to a
parent, they earn their trust back with
second chances.
I had a friend at 26, who decided there was
no light at the end of the tunnel. He killed
himself by jumping in front of a train.
The vital ingredient in surviving life's
setbacks is to believe. My friend gave up
believing life could get better for him and I
am sorry that I didn't talk to him when life
was hard. This leads me to the second vital
ingredient, talking! Talk about your
problems and your feelings.
I wake up every morning, go to work and do
the house chores. It might be mundane, but
guess what, “I love my life!”
Everyone deserves a second chance. We
need to give ourselves as well as others too.
If we didn't feel we had a second chance,
there would be no point to anything.

Fitting In
by Juan Rierra
Photographed by Dominic Khoo, www.whatisthesight.com
I arrived in Singapore from Panama when I was 14
and I faced some integration dif�culties.
Knowing I am a Westerner, people form these preconceived notions
about me. The promiscuous image of a Westerner is not always
�attering and because of this, it was dif�cult for me to make friends.
The locals just didn’t believe I was sincere, no matter how hard I tried.
Although it wasn’t easy to overcome this, and I never fully
did, I learnt to appreciate those who could see past these
prejudices. These have become true friends and great
colleagues. The stereotypes were an obstacle and as I
learned to overcome it, I gained better interpersonal skills.
These skills have come useful in many aspects of my life.
The second problem that I faced was adapting to an
entirely different environment. When I �rst moved to
Singapore, everything was different from Panama. I missed
my friends, I missed the environment back home, and I
became pessimistic about �tting in here! As time passed, I
learnt to adapt. I used to climb trees in Panama for fun, but
living in Singapore I changed that to watching movies.
I �nally understand that although I might not like sudden
change, that doesn’t mean that change is bad. A different
experience in life will give a different view of things and
that knowledge can be used to help others by sharing with
them your life experiences. I was able to share with people
how I lived in Panama. Through that they realised that the
unhappiness they were facing from not having the latest
gizmo was insigni�cant compared to people who are
�ghting starvation on a daily basis. I was able to help them
realise that life in Singapore is good, with their family and
friends around.
If I had kept dwelling in the past, I would never have been
able to embrace my new life here. I learnt to put away my
past, adapt to my new surroundings and make my life
mean something to me.
Sometimes I wonder if marginalised groups within a
community, ex-offenders for example, actually experience
the same thing; feeling like a “foreigner” trying to blend in
to the “local” culture…