At 74, Choo Choy Lian still makes a roughly two hour journey each way to Changi Prison on Sundays after 15 years of volunteering. She says housing, work, money and family rejection can complicate reintegration.
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Create a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: What inspired 74-year-old Choo Choy Lian to begin volunteering with inmates at Changi Prison, what does she do during her weekly visits and. Article summary: Choo Choy Lian has spent 15 years travelling about two hours each way to Changi Prison on Sundays because she does not want to give up on inmates, including those who return to prison. The available excerpts do not estab. Topic tags: general, general web, user generated, government. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, cha
For 15 years, Choo Choy Lian has travelled by public transport from western Singapore to Changi Prison on Sundays, a journey of about two hours each way. Now 74, she continues to support inmates even though some people she has worked with have returned to prison. 1
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Choo volunteers through the Singapore Buddhist Federation. She and another volunteer begin sessions with breathing exercises and meditation, followed by Buddhist guidance. She also listens to inmates, offers counselling and encourages them to reflect on their actions and their effects on loved ones. 1
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Choo has described obstacles that do not disappear when a sentence ends: finding housing and work, managing finances and facing possible rejection by family. She and other federation volunteers also keep in touch with former inmates through chat groups, where they share encouragement. A secondary account reports that some former inmates have gone on to volunteer at Changi Prison themselves. 3
In her experience, some inmates have grown up in unstable homes without enough parental guidance; she has also spoken about greed or fixations as obstacles for others. These are her observations, not an explanation for every person’s path into prison or back into it. 3
Choo’s commitment rests on the belief that turning a life around takes patience, understanding and another chance. Seeing someone return to prison has not persuaded her to give up on them. The available accounts explain why she continues, but do not establish the specific event or person that first inspired her to volunteer. 2
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Her work in retirement extends beyond the prison: a secondary account says she helps at a free traditional Chinese medicine clinic, distributes food to older people and supports seniors who are lonely. She intends to keep visiting Changi for as long as she has the strength. 3
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At 74, Choo Choy Lian still makes a roughly two hour journey each way to Changi Prison on Sundays after 15 years of volunteering.
At 74, Choo Choy Lian still makes a roughly two hour journey each way to Changi Prison on Sundays after 15 years of volunteering. She says housing, work, money and family rejection can complicate reintegration.