Sunday, September 11, 2005



thats the yellow ribbon!

yesterday when i was walking pass lot1, i saw someone holding a can with one hand and holding some yellow ribbons on the other. i knew he was selling the yellow ribbon for the 'yellow ribbon project' yet when i went back at a later time i cannot manage to find that guy. so today i 'deliberately' went to lot1 again to get it. =)

this is a very meaningful project i'll say. when we make mistakes, very often than not we actually hope that we did not commit the mistakes in the first place. knowing that crying over spilt milk is useless, we really wish that whoever we hurt will forgive us, to give us a 2nd chance..

its the same for these inmates. i strongly believe that if we ask them will they want to commit the offences that land them in jail, most if not all will say no. furthermore, they will hope that whoever they have caused hurt to, including the society as a whole, will forgive whatever they had done wrong in the past and give them a second chance when their terms are up.

it seems that our society is still not very forgiving to those who have been to jail before. why? why is our society so unforgiving? these inmates have been in jail for their wrongdoings, and i feel that the law has punished them accordingly. in actual fact, after they were released, they should be regarded as 'reborns', ie they do not owe anything to anyone anymore. why should we look at them in a way as thou they have done us wrong personally? did they do anything to provoke you in the first place? if not what makes you have the right to look at them differently? what makes you think that you have the right to treat them as 2nd class citizens? when they are applying for jobs, their hope for a job will almost vapourise when the prospective employer realise that they have been to jail before. just because they have been to jail doesn't mean that they are criminals now! why can't we just give them a chance to blend into our society once again?

of coz i cannot blame the society for being so cold-blooded without looking at the other side of the story. true enough, there are cases where the ex-inmates become inmates again. its saddening to realise that even when the society is willing to give them chances, they ruin them completely, hence deterring the chances of others who are willing to change.. we should keep in mind that not all are bad eggs, most will like to turn over a new leaf, its just whether we are willing to give them a 2nd chance or not... otherwise, after leaving the prison, they are just entering another prison...


so tie a yellow ribbon today, show them that they have a second chance...

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