The YouTurn Project

Spearheaded by the NGO Malaysian Care, the YouTurn project aims to give chances and equal opportunities to prisoners and ex-prisoners, a group that's often marginalised. The project hopes to make an impact and inspire people from all levels of society to change their views, perspectives and actions towards this group. We find out more about this group's mission and goals from Sam Lim, the Manager of the Community Development Department at Malaysian Care, and also Samuel* and Ashraf*, two former inmates who are now volunteers with the YouTurn Project. We also hear the stories of Samuel, who served a prison sentence for 28 years before he was released after obtaining a pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Since his release, he has been helping the homeless, drug addicts and ex-prisoners. Then we learn about Ashraf, who served three years in juvenile prison and took his STPM while he was there, without a teacher. These days, when not working on his day-job, he is actively involved in prison-related programmes to bring awareness and inspire change whenever he can.

*names have been changed to protect their privacy

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