it got me thinking...

Someone I knew wrote an interesting article about her school trip to the prison of Brunei, as well as the Al-Islah place… There she commented on how small and eerie the place was and how sorry she felt for the people in it.

As I was reading her entry, I thought it would only be “RIGHT” if I left something on her blog to tell her I have been around to read it. Hence I commented… Then… it daunted on me… How many of those people who went to prison/al-Islah had visualized themselves to be in it in their adulthood??

Interestingly enough, I don’t think any child would like to go to prison… Mention “POLICEMAN”, “POLICE MOBILE” or anything to do with the law, one usually stand up right, sit up straight and follow the rules regulated by the state! But how does one end oneself in prison…

There are many cases as to why people are in prison… and interestingly enough, our country’s prison is congested with PEOPLE… does that mean our crime rates are on the increase…. But I seem to have this illusion that out state is a peaceful and safe place??? Which is it?? The state of the prison population does not reflect peace!!! What had happened??? Lack of transfer of information to the public???

I wondered what happened to those people in prison that landed themselves there? Most of us in Brunei are fortunate enough to have an education/home/money and security… There are only a few of us that do not seem to have ANYTHING!!! But, it’s the middle class population that ends themselves in prison!!! Does it have to do with upbringing styles? Differential exposure? Environmental factors such as socio-economic factors (demanding or increasing living standards)? Peer pressure? A research should really be done…

For such a small state with relatively smaller population, with lots of commodities given to its people, one would think crime rate is on the low… but it is increasing as the new millennium approaches… What have we done wrong? Crime rates during my grandparents TIME was much lower than it is now… and those were the difficult times!!! What happened to ‘sopan santun’, ‘budi bahasa’, ‘perikemanusiaan’, ‘bertoleransi’, ‘berkomunikasi’ etc… ???

One has to look into oneself and question what he/she had done to himself/herself that landed him/her into trouble, got caught and landed him/her in an overcrowded prison… But, we have to ask ourselves as well… Did we have a chance to do something to help/prevent such things from happening but did not read the signs to offer help or just did not bother to offer help? Each to each’s problems???

I believe the society plays a great role… we need to further investigate our crimes and its backgrounds… We need to do something before it is too late for us and our children…