Multimedia: Crossroads - Stories from The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place is Singapore's first halfway house for former drug addicts. The Christian home started in 1973 as House of Grace before changing to its current name in 1978.

Today, the 39-year-old home takes in more than just former substance abusers. It now counts among its residents: former gangsters, the mentally ill, wayward youths and even a former sexual offender.

The Hiding Place also has a reputation on the street for being the strictest halfway house in Singapore. Residents are put through a rigorous one-year programme where spiritual and vocational training take centre stage.

By end-April, the Christian home will have to move out of its current Jalan Kayu premises to make way for a new road connecting Yio Chu Kang Road and the Tampines Expressway. It has yet to find a new place to move to.

But its leaders Pastor Philip Chan, 61, and his wife Christina, 65, are not about to give up on their life mission to rehabilitate former offenders. “This problem is beyond me. I'm just taking one step at a time. I'm sure God will provide a way out,” says Pastor Chan.

Photography, Videos and Audio by: Desmond Lim

Produced by: Desmond Lim, Samuel He and Neo Xiaobin

Release date: Apr 21, 2012

Story in print: Apr 21, 2012

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