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Entrepreneur who overcame drug abuse helps at-risk youth – The Straits Times (9 September 2021)
TLDR: These are the stories of entrepreneurs who got into trouble with the law when they were in their teens.
One started abusing drugs when she was 13 years old and the other joined a gang and committed vehicle theft and robbery.
They were both committed to a youth home, but eventually turned their lives around through their own willpower.
More thoughts: There are many lessons we can learn from the lives of others, especially those who struggled in their youth and learnt from their mistakes. However, since we are a legal resource website, we will focus on the legal points of interest.
The first thing to note is that the woman was sent to the Singapore Girls’ Home when her mother filed for a Beyond Parental Control (BPC) order. BPC orders used to be filed by parents against their children below 16 years old who displayed serious behavioural problems. After a legal revamp, BPC orders became known as Family Guidance Orders, which aims to shift the focus from the child’s behaviour to the provision of extra guidance for both the child and his or her family.
The second point is that the man joined a gang when he was a teenager. Gang membership and activity is in itself illegal in Singapore under the Societies Act. Joining a gang also often leads to other crimes that the gang incites its members to participate in. This is probably how he ended up in the Singapore Boys’ Home.