As we travel in the MRT trains, we see the advertising posters in the interior of its cabin. And very often, we might come across the posters of the Yellow Ribbon Project.
I've learnt in my lectures, communication is symbolic. Similarly, the Yellow Ribbon is symbolic of a very significant purpose. It's about giving the ex-offenders a 2nd chance in life.
It is human nature to err. No one is perfect and everyone make mistakes in some time of their life. These ex-offenders took a wrong turn in life and they have received their punishment by accepting jail-term. All they wish for after their release is to lead a normal life again. I believe there are many who sincerely wish to change. However, they face with many challenges and obstacles.
Very often, ex-convicts are turned away from job opportunities as soon as their past records are revealed. I believe it's so in this case because employers tend to stereotype. They aren't willing to accept or employ ex-offenders as they feel that they might err again. This is a prejudice against this group of people. Employers view them from their perception and jump to conclusion hence the 'biasness' towards ex-offenders. It's similar to the social constructionist perspective. as cognitive customs is all about how we process information and how we jump to conclusions.
I've learnt in my lectures, communication is symbolic. Similarly, the Yellow Ribbon is symbolic of a very significant purpose. It's about giving the ex-offenders a 2nd chance in life.
It is human nature to err. No one is perfect and everyone make mistakes in some time of their life. These ex-offenders took a wrong turn in life and they have received their punishment by accepting jail-term. All they wish for after their release is to lead a normal life again. I believe there are many who sincerely wish to change. However, they face with many challenges and obstacles.
Very often, ex-convicts are turned away from job opportunities as soon as their past records are revealed. I believe it's so in this case because employers tend to stereotype. They aren't willing to accept or employ ex-offenders as they feel that they might err again. This is a prejudice against this group of people. Employers view them from their perception and jump to conclusion hence the 'biasness' towards ex-offenders. It's similar to the social constructionist perspective. as cognitive customs is all about how we process information and how we jump to conclusions.
Whatever reasons it may be for anyone's prejudice, I hope that the Yellow Ribbon Project would change the mindset of these people and support the ex-offenders and their families in leading a normal life again.
"Although they have made a mistake in life, they deserve a second chance. We all make mistakes, we all come out the better for it." President SR Nathan.
This quote from our President basically sums up all that needs to be said about the Yellow Ribbon Project.
"OUR CROSSROADS", YELLO RIBBON JOURNEY EXHIBITION (Fri- Sun, 12-14 September at Marina Square, Central Atrium, 11am - 9pm)
Please support the Yellow Ribbon Project!
19 comments:
stereotype, prejudice and discrimination will always be part of civilisation. even from the earliest known civilisation along the eupharates and tigris rivers, discrimination could be seen through the caste system.
however, the fascination lies in the fact that these "evils" have evolved over time. from racial prejudism(which is still evident now), to gender discrimination(which is also still evident), to the stereotype on ex-convicts and many many more.
which proves one thing, that as long as there is a civilisation, as long as there are people and differences, there definitely will be these "evils" lurking around.
yeah we actually learn our prejudices from the society we live in. it could be our parents or employers or any people around us.
we tend to think twice about employing an ex-convict because that is what we think other people will do. people will not really think about the prejudices or discrimination they hold until they have been in that position themselves, which is quite a sad thing...
After all, business matters and personal matters are different. Interviewers may personally accept the ex-convict but perhaps the company's policy does not allow employment of ex-convicts. Sometimes, its the business strategy that big corps must employ, to avoid risk and in order to survive in the competitive market. We cant blame solely on the interviewer for being bias.
Nicholas brought about a very interesting point. He mentioned about company's policies and I agree with him. Acceptance should come from a small group to a big group.
That's actually the purpose of the Yellow Ribbon Project. On elaborating what I meant by saying small group to a bigger group, it basically just means that acceptance of these ex-offenders should come from their family members first, moving on to friends and people in the society, to a greater scale of business corporations.
Hence I hope that this Project would educate people in our society about this sterotype and prejudice and hopefully eliminate some of these "evils" that Carl (Siewmai) has mentioned.
Hi
Yes, i have seen the posters of the Yellow Ribbon Project. The most recent one on helping ex-offenders remove the labels from their back.
It's true that there are many sterotypes and prejudice in the world today. That's is why the Yellow Ribbon project is around. The government hopes that people in the society can remove this "bias" towards ex-offenders. Be it in a personal view, private organisation or big business companies. It's in the view of allowing ex-offenders to live a second life after their release.
I second the view of quinn and hope that people around will support the Yellow Ribbon Project.
having prejudices is indeed part and parcel of society. there is certainly no way in which we can treat everyone equally without any form of bias as there are bound to be differences among individuals that make up society. what we can do is only to minimize the impact that it has.
now that will depend on how successful the campaign for the cause has been.
I understand and appreciate the efforts of the YRP. But just having one project/organisation to look into this issue about giving ex-convicts a 2nd chance seems inadequate. And therefore, we can't really blame people for not accepting them into the society etc...
Why?
There are many different kinds of criminals. If we were to really look into each individual and classify them according to the crimes they commit, and WHY they commit such crimes, we can actually exercise our judgement more logically and decide if we can give them a chance.
For example, 2 criminals. One is a single parent who stole to feed his/her child, and a serial rapist-cum-murderer. Both are criminals, both served jail term (I believe the serial rapist/murderer will probably get a death sentence but, I think you get my point; just trying to illustrate 2 extreme cases) but the mentality of these ex-convicts, upon release from jail, is very different.
i.e. MOST ex-convicts should be given a 2nd chance, some shld be condemn seriously (jail term is never enough).
So how should we go about educating the public, especially employers, into accepting these people back into the society? Maybe it would be cool if each convict be given a 'testimonial' upon release, which reflects his records and more importantly, his conduct in prison, penned by prison wardens, psychologists and counsellors. Based on this 'testimonial', employers can then (hopefully) use their logical left brain to judge if they should employ this ex-convict and not use their emotional right brain and stereotype them.
It'll take awhile...
Its human nature to be biased and that's why nobody is perfect in life and make certain mistakes which are incorrigible. Whenever we miss a junction while driving we often do a U-Turn, this applies to life too. Why not let them U-Turn back to the correct path when they err?
eh! you did the same topic as me! copy cat... oh wait, you posted first.
on another note, i find it interesting how we have similar thoughts on the subject at hand. this shows that the campaign has been effective. unfortunately i don't get a chance to take the MRT much, but i would like to see what was their MRT print ad.
so, i bring a Yellow Ribbon for you too?
I actually met a man who was an ex-con once. He was standing outside the MRT station selling pens.
He approached be and asked me,
"Excuse me , sir could i have a moment of your time? I would just want to ask you something. Do you believe that Ex-cons should br given a second chance?"
I replied, "Definately"
I could not remember his name but he then told me that he was a ex-convict recently released from prison and that he was arrested for theft. He then told me that now he is working for part of the yellow ribbon project and that he was told to market pens and asked me if i would like to buy one because each time he sells one kinds of gives him a merit point or something .. could not remember.
Did I buy then pens? No. Not because i was not happy that he was in fact trying to sell me the pens, but in truth i was FALT BROKE in my wallet. When i told him that i could tell that he face was super disappointed. After that i just wished him all the best and we parted ways.
That man wanted to make a fresh start after he was released. He was willing to work hard for it. And i can assure you it is NOT easy at all, to sell cheap ballpoint pens to people like that.
Indeed the Yellow Ribbon project is doing its part to spread the message and give ex-convicts a second chance in life. I feel that this is not going to change much of the public mindset. We all know we should not stereotype ex-convicts, but can we really do it full heartedly? We will inevitably still have some trace of stereotypes about them inside of us even though we might not admit it.
Hey Quinn! Yes, it's sad the predicament that these ex-offenders are in, but one could say that they brought it upon themselves by committing the crime in the first place. Having done wrong, one must be man enough to face up and accept his or her punishment and consequences.
That being said, lifelong discrimination for one crime is not fair either, I feel. I'll be willing to accept an ex-convict as long as I feel he/she is sincere enough. But yes, I would require some time to truly discern how genuine and willing the person is to turn towards the light and strive to become a better person. The human character is hard to change - most people only develop in time. It's tough.
The unwillingness to take risk,is a stumbling block to a progressive corporation.As such,the unwillingness to accept ex-offenders mean that a rigid type of stereotyping is going on.The end result is totally a vicious cycle.It will mean lesser opportunity for a company to outgrow it's economical growth by rejecting a newly reformed better person.
It's quite unfair for these ex-offenders that they can rejected by the society. They hae spent lots of their time serving their jail term. They must have learnt their lesson already. So why still be so hard on them upon their release??
Looks like we've got quite a number of supporters around for the Yellow Ribbon Project. Let us all work hand in hand to give these ex-convicts a 2nd chance in life!
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Human beings are not infallible. Yes, ex-convicts deserve a second chance to rebuild their lives. The "Yellow Ribbon" project is a commendable and useful project.
As we move along the line of progress and standard of living, it is also a must for us to co-exist well with our kind,fellow human beings. In retrospect,everyone errs at one or many instances of life,and some ran into direct conflict with the legal system of a particular country. Are we to forever label such "offenders" as condemned eternally or should we as humanitarian citizens of a well developed country,strive to open our hearts to their past mistakes? it is definitely only up to us. By helping one,we help all.
We have to slowly cultivate a common shared belief that the basic goodness of a person cannot be denied just because of mistakes. In fact,those who were sent for reformatry actions are those who are caught,how about those who escaped?It is not fair to pin our biasness against those ex-offenders,although they made some mistakes in life.It make take some times,but onsetting the mindsets of general public will be dependant very much on Mass medias and various educational means.
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