THIS year's Yellow Ribbon Project - a campaign to give former prison inmates a second chance - wants more employers and volunteers to come on board.

The move towards action, not just lip service, comes at a point when awareness is already very high, said Mr Desmond Chin, chief executive of Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises.

Through the campaign, in its fifth year, he hopes 180 more employers will come forward to join its job bank, to offer jobs to ex-offenders.

Jobs not only give the person fresh out of prison 'some sort of sustenance', but also 'enhances self-respect and self-esteem', he explained.

There are about 1,700 employers on this database now.

Other community activities as part of the campaign this year include a ceremony to honour ex-offenders who have stayed crime- and drug-free, a free concert in September, and an art exhibition where the public can adopt art pieces designed by inmates.