Correctional Services Bureau Holds Youth Forum, Promoting Spread of Caring Spirit (2019-10-30)

On 30 October, 21students participating in the “MPI Charitable Fellowship Programme” of theMacao Polytechnic Institute – led by the Institute’s Student Affairs Office ActingHead, Ms. Lao Weng Ian – visited the Correctional Services Bureau and took partin a youth forum themed “Rebirth, Youth Connection”, for an exchange with ourmanagement including Deputy Director Loi Kam Wan, Director of Coloane Prison NgIoi On and Director of Youth Correctional Institution Yu Pui Lam on varioustopics related to correctional services and the community support for thesocial reintegration of inmates. Furthermore, the students toured ColoanePrison’s correctional facilities, learning about the daily operation of thePrison and engaging in a heart-to-heart to young inmates who shared personalexperiences of the negative impact and consequences of crimes as an advice tothe visiting students to abide by the law and cherish the time spent withfamily.

During the forum,the students actively asked questions and voiced opinions concerning topicssuch as the rights and treatment of inmates, the employment scheme forpre-release inmates, inmates’ healthcares services and the community support tothe social rehabilitation of inmates. Some students mentioned how the tour hadchanged their previous impression of the Prison and conveyed their recognitionof the Bureau’s efforts to facilitate the social rehabilitation of inmates. Witnessinginmates gain self-confidence from receiving vocational training in workshops,the students also believed that the efforts made had been hugely conducive toinmates’ social reintegration.