Every year, more than 10,000 ex-offenders complete their sentences and are released from the various prisons and drug rehabilitation centres (DRCs). After their release, ex-offenders often find themselves literally stepping into a “second prison” of social and psychological stigmatisation.
The Yellow Ribbon Project was conceived to fight this lack of support for their reintegration through rehabilitative and aftercare programmes - which are the supporting mechanisms to facilitate the reintegration of an individual back to the community and his/her family.
Everyone deserves a second chance.
Of their many initiatives, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run is the one signature and hallmark annual activity. The event consists of a 10km road race and 5km fun walk that takes place around the Changi Prison Complex. It seeks to generate public awareness, acceptance and inspire action for the cause of giving ex-offenders a second chance of restarting their lives.
On 15th September 2019, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run kicked off their 11th year running. Representing Bufab, employees of the Kian Soon and PureSys groups participated in the event together with 10,000 other runners. This year, the Yellow Ribbon Fund gathered donations amounting to more than $125,000.
“It was my first time participating in such a run and I was blown away by the support for this event. Participants came from all walks of life. We truly saw no line in race, religion and language as everyone came together in the Singapore spirit to support the event. What a memorable eye-opener.” – Jong Teng Teng, PureSys.
The event’s guest of honour this year had been President Halimah Yacob who helped to launch the run by symbolically unlocking the ‘prison gates’ at the start gantry.
The running route, traditionally designed to be winding and with multiple elevation changes, is symbolic of the sometimes-difficult road of re-acceptance back into society. It’s an event that is more than just about running, as community leaders, reformed ex-offenders and the general public at large come together to show support for the Yellow Ribbon Project.
Here at Kian Soon, we support the great cause and purpose that the Yellow Ribbon Project is providing to the masses. Every year, our staff and managers participate in meaningful events such as these to remind ourselves of the greater movements outside of our usual workspace.
Look out for more of these to come!
To view all the pictures taken at the event, visit our Gallery page!
For more information, publication and marketing related queries, please contact: Kai Xuan, Marketing Lead for Kian Soon Mechanical Components kaixuan.sze@bufab.com
Kian Soon was founded in 1977 and is one of the leading distributors of C parts in South-East Asia. Aside from their head office in Singapore, the company also has subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Kian soon was acquired by Bufab in 2017 and within a year of its joining, the company was awarded an accolade for hitting a record high in Sales Revenue.
Check out Bufab's Article here.
Read more about the award here.
Or for more information on the acquisition, you can click here.