Former delinquent fights for a different future

Almost a decade ago at the Singapore Boys' Hostel, caseworker Narasimman Tivasiha Mani met a 16-year-old who wore bravado like armour.

- Wong Kim Hoh

Mr Mohammed Narish training at Spartans Boxing Club in Jurong West on Sept 8.

(ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO)

In his words, Mohammed Narish was a picture of “toxic masculinity”: high walls, hard stare, a “10 out of 10” on the criminal code, revealing nothing and trusting no one.

Today, at 25, he’s almost unrecognisable. The former gang member and drug abuser has cooled his rage into purpose, is about to graduate with a diploma in community engagement, and mentors young people facing adversity at Impart - the nonprofit that once pulled him back from the brink. Set up in 2019, the agency helps teens who are grappling with mental health struggles, financial difficulties, domestic violence and homelessness.

Mr Narish’s turning point? An unlikely bond with his caseworker and near namesake — Mr Narasimman is known as Narash — who refused to let go.

He grew up ping-ponging between two worlds. There was the sanctuary of his late maternal grandmother’s one-room rental flat, from where he went to kindergarten and Tanjong Katong Primary School nearby. Then there was the chaos of his own home.

His mother was a telemarketer. He never knew what his father did, only that he kept an aviary, crammed with exotic birds.

“There were even roosters,” he says.

Mr Narish, who has three siblings and several step-siblings, says he was more helper than child at home. The smallest infractions — a bad report card or coming home late from school — would invite a torrent of abuse, both physical and emotional. He can’t remember when the beatings began, probably before he even started kindergarten.

“Once, my siblings and I were at home and we wanted to watch different movies. So I told my brother that if he put two discs in, the player would play one first, and then the other,” he recalls.