yeah....Things will only get better

MAY 29 2004
Giving ex-offenders a second chance

Mafoot Simon


THIS is a tale of two men and what stands between them and their painful past. Like any other tale, it has a moral too - that of what we are as a society.

The first man, Lebanese-born Abbas Saad, came here in 1991 and became a soccer superstar, second only to Singapore's own Fandi Ahmad, some say, and helped Singapore to win the coveted Malaysia Cup in 1994.

But in 1995, he was convicted of match-fixing and fined $50,000. He was subsequently banned for life. 'We based our decision on the findings of a Singapore court. He was found guilty. We suspended him from all footballing activities and our decision stands,' the Football Association of Singapore said in 1996.

Abbas revealed last week that he had been talking to Fandi and former footballers V. Sundramoorthy and Kadir Yahya about starting a soccer school here. It pained one to hear him say, implore almost: 'I'm keen. But then, can I start one here? Will I be allowed?'

The second man, businessman C.B. Chan, was convicted of criminal breach of trust in 1984 and fined $5,000. It has blighted his life ever since.

But now the law is being reviewed, to 'completely remove' the criminal records of certain offenders. Which offenders will be eligible remains to be decided. The issue was raised again during last year's Budget debate, for the second time in 10 months, suggesting that the Government is indeed serious about it.

The plan is to allow former criminals applying for jobs to be able to answer 'no' when asked if they have a criminal conviction.

This would make the potential Singapore move more generous than that in Britain and Hong Kong, where criminal records are merely 'rendered spent'. This means, Parliament was told, that 'the record surfaces only for court sentencing purposes, but he would still have been considered to have a prior conviction for employment purposes'.

Singapore, in effect, wants to go 'a step further' by removing the records completely.

That's good news for former offenders looking for jobs. But Abbas and Mr Chan are not looking for jobs. Mr Chan has created jobs for others, and Abbas might produce the future of professional football here.

In their own ways, both are capable of contributing to this country.

But more than a year has passed since we last heard of this move.

The sooner the law is passed, the better it will be for both men.

But the proposed amendments have one obvious kink - the former offenders must have genuinely changed.

Have Abbas and Mr Chan changed? Let's see.

After he left Singapore for Sydney, Abbas returned to his old club, Sydney Olympic. In 2000, he got into the Australian national squad. He later moved on to Sydney United and Northern Spirit.

He has not lost his magical touch on the field.

Here is one account of Abbas when he played for Sydney United against Sydney Olympic.

'Abbas Saad in the 23rd and 36th minutes had proceeded to rip Olympic apart with two great efforts, the first from a pinpoint cross from Jacob Burns, the second from a volley after a clever tap-on by Burns... (The Olympic) mass exit was made complete in the 67th minute when Abbas Saad was found on the end of a Peter Bennett cross to make it 3-0.'

Since his knee operation last year, Abbas has been coaching young children at his soccer school in Sydney.

Also, since the S-League started, Abbas revealed last week, he has sent about 10 Australian players to Singapore as well as Malaysia to play in their respective leagues.

As for Mr Chan, he set up his own company supplying interior wall coverings, carpets, laminate flooring and fabrics, and built a network of 13 branches in the region and beyond, with a group turnover of $38 million last year.

Does this mean that they have genuinely changed?

Now, this is the difficult part. How do we tell if someone has genuinely changed?

Perhaps, when the lawmakers decide to look at the proposed amendments again, they shouldn't insist on 'genuinely'.

Otherwise, it will be genuinely difficult to decide.

Suppose the former offenders who have had their criminal records deleted re-offend and find themselves again in the dock - what then?

The Singapore Psyche, always judgmental, will demand that heads must roll, that someone has to answer for this, that someone must be held responsible.

And when one adds to this the fear of taking responsibility when things go wrong, why should the Government take this bold step to change the way things are? This is, perhaps, the real obstacle that stands in the way of rewriting the past for people like Abbas and Mr Chan.