Zahid: Other countries want to learn about Malaysia’s parole system

CYBERJAYA: When Malaysia wanted to introduce the parole system, the agencies concerned studied the system in other countries, including Canada.

But as the nation’s parole system is so successful, the roles are now reversed.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also home minister, said yesterday that Canada, Japan and Poland were among several countries interested in understanding Malaysia’s parole system.

He said the recidivism rate declined from 9.03 per cent to 0.48 per cent over the past 10 years.

“We researched the parole systems in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. We studied them and adapted them for our country.

“Since the parole system was enforced a decade ago, only 2.3 per cent of parolees repeated their offences or failed to fulfil conditions set by the Prisons Department and were jailed again.

“Several countries admire our parole system’s effectiveness and are keen to learn from Malaysia, including Japan and Poland. Even Canada, which was one of the countries we referred to, wants to learn from us,” he said after a recording of the Orang Diparol programme at TV Alhijrah’s Big Studio here.

Zahid said 19,637 inmates had been paroled since the system was introduced in 2008.

He said some prisons had religious or tahfiz centres as part of their rehabilitation programmes, which contributed to the parole system’s success.

He said some parolees were given the chance to further their studies up to the doctorate level.

He said an important element for the success of any parole system was society’s acceptance of former inmates. He urged people to stop stigmatising prisoners and parolees, and give them a second chance at a better life.

The 16-episode Orang Diparol programme will air on TV Alhijrah from April 13. The programme, a collaboration between the Home Ministry and Telekom Malaysia, aims to educate the public about the parole system.