Proposal for Prisons Dept to allow serving inmates to obtain tertiary education
KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has proposed for the Malaysian Prisons Department to provide a platform for inmates to continue their tertiary education while serving their sentence in Sarawak.
He believed that upon acquiring tertiary education, the inmates would be more motivated to pursue their dreams by returning to society and starting their lives anew.
According to Adenan, currently prisons in Malaysia are only providing inmates with certification-level courses — ranging from academic subjects to skills training — as part of their rehabilitation process.
“Maybe there are sections in our community who still have the perception that prison is a place merely to contain inmates. However, it is a fact that the Malaysian Prisons Department is actually an organisation that provides correctional services,” said Adenan, whose text of speech was read by Land Development Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing during the national-level 226th Prisons Day at Padang Merdeka yesterday.
He also said it was the aspiration of the people to see more inmates make their positive return to society — one made possible by the Prisons Department which had transformed their services within and outside the prison walls in line with the changing times.
Those being carried outside the prison walls, Adenan pointed out, comprised mostly awareness programmes to educate the public about staying away from committing crimes.
Touching on the nationallevel Prisons Day, he said it was aimed at giving recognition and appreciation to the prison personnel who had contributed to the nation’s peace and harmony, alongside their counterparts from other enforcement agencies.
On another note, Adenan also commended the state Prisons Department who had succeeded in carrying out programmes for their inmates together with the involvement of the community such as the parole system, the mandatory presence order and ‘halfway house’ services.
“I have been informed that since 2008, a total of 818 inmates have undergone these programmes. Statistics from 2015 to January 2016 have shown that only one among them had relapsed and returned to prison.
(In) representing the Sarawak government and the people, I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the Malaysian Prisons Department who have been carrying out their duties well,” he added.
The state government, Adenan said, would also continue to provide continuous support to the department.
Meanwhile on the nationallevel event, Malaysian Prisons Department director-general Datuk Seri Zulkif li Omar said this year’s theme ‘Spearheading Corrective Service’ was aimed at educating the public about the agenda and roles of the department.
“The theme is apt as the objective of the department is to facilitate (the rehabilitation of) an inmate in Malaysian prisons into a productive person and his return to society.”
He also said the department had seen many changes over the past 226 years, from being a facility merely to carry out punishments into one striving to help inmates make a new beginning.
Meanwhile, the programme also hosted the award of Honorary Ranks (Pangkat Kehormat) to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Social Development Minister Tan Sri William Mawan, Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah and Orang Kota Bharu (OKB) Association chairman Dato Sheikh Ahmad Dusuki Sheikh Mohamad, in recognition of their services and contribution to the department.