Former DJ fights addiction and now works as anti-drug abuse advocate

SPS programme helps inmates reintegrate into society with community support

- Claudia Tan

Former DJ Kyrul Ashrie Hans Daud was a rising star in 2023 at Malay radio station Ria 89.7FM, but a drug habit ended his career.

He was 31, and partying hard with friends who were regular drug users.

Hans, as he prefers to be known, said he had been abusing drugs for seven years at that point in his life, even smoking methamphetamine, or Ice, every day at the height of his addiction.

"At first, the drug use was just once in a while, but it (eventually) became more frequent — from once every two months, once a month, and then every day," he told The Straits Times.

Hans is now a social media executive at the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (Sana), where he advocates against the abuse of drugs.

He said: "I've seen many different types of people in the Drug Rehabilitation Centre. (Drug addiction) can happen to anyone.

"Addicts may not be aware that they have a problem. But if the people around them can spot the problem, someone's life could be saved."

Hans knows this well. The road to recovery has not been smooth for him, he said.

He was arrested the first time in June 2023, just seven months after he tied the knot. The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) had picked him up for drug consumption.

Hans was released in December 2023, but relapsed when he lost his career and after his marriage ended in September 2024.

Hans was sent to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) a second time that month.