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QUARTER of a million dollars.
That's how much ex-offender Seah Hock Thiam has raised to help launch an initiative called Gift of Hope to help former prison inmates reintegrate into society.
At a ceremony on Saturday at Sengkang Square, 50 ex-offenders each received a $50 value pack comprising an ez-link card and vouchers from M1, NTUC and Banquet food court.
The scheme is the brainchild of Iscos (Industrial & Services Co-operative Society Ltd), which also started the well-known Yellow Ribbon Project to help reformed offenders and their families start life afresh in 2004.
Mr Seah, 42, who runs his own metal recycling company called Green World Holdings Group, persuaded 25 friends to each donate $10,000.
He has never forgotten his ex-offender days and has been involved with the Yellow Ribbon Project for the past two years, including giving talks to prison inmates.
The father of five spent nine months behind bars in 1981.
'When I was 15, I used to be part of a gang that got into frequent fights,' he recalled. 'The police caught us and we were sent to Queenstown Remand Prison.'
He used that time to reflect on his life.
'I told myself that I had to be a better person when I came out of prison. No more dealings with gangs,' he said.
After national service, he did a couple of odd jobs before he saved up enough money to start his own business at 22.
Now, his company services trading houses and smelting factories in 12 countries such as Japan, India and China. He sees a business turnover of more than $500 million.
On the Gift Of Hope scheme, he said: 'The $50 may not be a lot but for someone who has just come out of jail with nothing to his name, it is a good gesture of welcoming him back into the community.'
Mr Clinton Galistan, senior manager of Iscos, urges other ex-offenders to follow Mr Seah's example.
'At the end of the day, who better to help these offenders than ex-offenders themselves?' he said.
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