LIFE AFTER... BEING JAILED 7 TIMES

Social worker now helps others break free from crime

- Theresa Tan

Mr Rizwan Habib, who stole money as a child to feed his mother's drug habit and spent close to 21 years in jail across seven jail terms, celebrated a series of remarkable milestones in the past year.

The 43-year-old, who took his PSLE, O levels and A levels behind bars, completed his social work degree at the Singapore University of Social Sciences in April.

In May, he started his "dream job" as a social worker with the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society (Iscos), helping ex-offenders to turn their lives around.

He also moved into his first home, a two-room Housing Board flat, in November 2024.

Mr Rizwan, who was once homeless and spent a large part of his life in jail, said: "I never had a place to call home before. It feels surreal."

A TRAUMATIC CHILDHOOD

Mr Rizwan said that when he was about five years old, his father walked out on the family.

His mother was an unemployed drug addict, and as an only child, he had to fend for himself from a young age.

He started stealing and committing other petty crimes at the age of 11 to feed his mother's habit, as it pained him to see her suffering from withdrawal symptoms when she tried to quit drugs. He also stole to support his family.

He said: "My mum and her boyfriend looked to me to find money. And we didn't have food. We had to survive."

He dropped out of school at Primary 2.

They were homeless, and his mother had a host of problems, so sending him to school was not a priority.

He and his mother, together with her boyfriend, lived in a derelict unused temple for a period of time. A nearby well provided them with water, and they used candles and kerosene lamps for light.

Poverty and homelessness aside, what frightened him more as a boy were the snakes he saw around the temple.