Halimah reads story of love to female former inmates and their kids at Istana
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President Halimah Yacob reading Together We Grow, a story from Love Beyond The Walls, an anthology of stories written by mothers who were previously incarcerated, during the Garden Tour @ Istana event yesterday.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
When Ms Riahna (not her real name) was in prison in 2019, she wrote a story, titled Together We Grow, to remind her two young children that she loves them.
In the story, the sun and rain - representing her two sons, now aged six and 10 - take care of a seedling and gives it strength. The seedling represents her.
Yesterday, President Halimah Yacob read the story to a group of 28 female former inmates and their children at the Istana.
The visit was the first Garden Tour @ Istana since Covid-19 hit Singapore over a year ago.
The event saw the launch of the book Love Beyond The Walls, an anthology of 10 stories written by mothers who were previously incarcerated. Ms Riahna's story is part of the anthology.
Audio recordings and printed copies of the stories, written by the mothers while they were in prison, were given to their children during an open visit to the prisons in December 2019.
Charity organisation New Life Stories, which works with incarcerated mothers and their children, guided the women in the writing process, collated the stories and published the book.
The book, of which 1,000 hard copies will be printed, is now available for order on Giving.sg. Each copy costs $35, including $5 for postage. The proceeds will go towards supporting the charity's programmes.
New Life Stories executive director Saleemah Ismail hopes that the book will help break down the wall between mothers who were previously jailed and their children.
"This book shares the mothers' expressions of love, which can be used to rebuild the bonds that they have lost with their children and to eventually create new life stories with their families."
Ms Riahna, 27, said that since her release from prison last September after serving a six-year drug-related sentence, she has been working hard to rebuild her relationship with her children.
She takes them to the beach for recreation and is now looking for a stable job to provide for them.
The three of them live with her grandmother, who cared for the children while she was in prison.
Ms Riahna still reads her story to her sons occasionally.
She said that now that they are a bit older, they better understand her message, and particularly enjoy the parts of the story that represent each of them.
She was honoured to have her story read by the President.
"I haven't really done much for my children, and yet I can see that they are really proud of me. Especially my older son - I can see so much pride in his eyes," she said.
Yesterday, the visitors had a tour of the Istana gardens with Madam Halimah and volunteers from the National Parks Board, and got to learn about the plants with their five senses.
Speaking to the media later, Madam Halimah said research has shown that when female prisoners feel that they have family and social support, the likelihood of reoffending is much lower.
"So as a society, we need to continue to add ways to support mothers and children of mothers who are incarcerated," she said.
