Reflection on life: Prison

Recently the topic of Prison keeps popping out in my life.


Last night while having a dinner with my ex-boss, I suggested setting up a business development unit. While the concept of business development unit was nothing new, my concept nearly caused him to choke on the food.

My concept was quite simple. First, hire a business development manager familiar with merger and acquisition matter. Then, hire a team of ex-inmates for this business development unit. Since they had survived prisons, they had nothing to lose, and much to prove.

The fact that they had committed crime is proof enough of their risk-taking spirit. The only factor that landed them in prison is that they took risk the wrong way.

By giving them a chance to work in business development, they would have a chance to prove their worth, and make use of their risk-taking entrepreneur spirit.

A few months before, a senior manager posed a question about my view on hiring convicts for the job. As it happened, we had received job applications from ex-inmates. The problem was not that we were not willing to offer positions to them. The problem was that they did not turn up for interview.

Personally I had nothing against them. I admired their honesty in revealing their history, knowing that many people still could not accept the idea of working with ex-prisoners.

Today, while surfing the Internet, I come across a few websites teaching people on prison survivor.  All these websites are set up for the purpose of sharing prison experience and survivor guide in the form of ebooks. 

These are some of the interesting ones:

1. Survive Jail

This remarkable website is set up by a person with colorful past. He worked five years as a bail bondsman, more than thirteen years as a criminal defense attorney. The most remarkable bit is that he had a history of 270 days in jail.

I find it hard to believe that this is a real life story. It seems very similar to those legal thrillers.

2. White collar prison guide

This website is maintained by an ex-businessman, convicted of white collar crimes. White collar crimes involves money laundering and other financial frauds.

I find the topic of the ebook on Prison Recipes quite interesting. I guess those inmates have better nutritional value than many of us who feed on junk food.

3. How to survive in prison

I like the part where the writer says,

“ I want to survive mentally and physically!
I want the courts to look at my Pre-Sentence Investigation report (PSI) and be lenient
I want to be able to talk to whoever I want without fear of a beating, stabbing or other retribution
I want to do my time in peace and quiet
I want to be able to walk onto the yard and not have to worry about anyone, ever!”

It is hard to imagine anyone going to jail with such a strong and positive mindset.

The best is still to exercise self-control, and do nothing wrong. The society is still rather unforgiving towards those who served their time, and repent.