saturdayí at the crossroads THE STRAITS TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 21 2012 PAGE D2 saturdayí at the crossroads THE STRAITS TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 21 2012 PAGE D3

6.52AM TIME TO WAKE UP: The day begins with a shrill school bell ringing at The Hiding Place, ’s pioneer halfway house, run by Pastor Philip Chan, 61, and his wife Christina, 65, who live on site with 30 residents and seven other staff members. The home has to vacate its 18,000 sq m premises on Jalan Kayu by the end of this month to make way for a connecting road between Road and the Expressway. It is still looking for an alternative site.

7.21AM PRAYER TIME: Mr Jason Lim, 35, hunched over his Bible 9.23AM during the mandatory BRAVEHEART: Mrs Christina Chan, affectionately known as “mother” by residents, survived cervical cancer in 1997 morning “quiet time”. He but is now battling heart disease and diabetes. Resident Joseph Chan, 54, recalls how Mrs Chan always puts others came to the home about a before herself: “When we visited her in the hospital after her heart operation, she was so weak she could hardly year ago to seek help for open her eyes. But the first thing she asked was how the residents were doing.” addiction to gambling and drugs.

7.57AM 8.49AM GOING IT ALONE: Former WORDS TO LIVE BY (left): heroin addict Ronnie Koh Co-founder Christina Chan, (above), 53, has his breakfast 65, the home’s no-nonsense Halfway house in the solitary confinement disciplinarian, conducting room. Bible study before residents He stayed at the home for go on their fortnightly home about 18 months before leave. leaving in February, but a relapse made him realise he 10.49AM needed more help to kick the RENEWED CONVICTION: Resident Isaac Phee, 35, holding up a card he received from a friend he knew in prison. Mr needs a new home habit. Phee started on heroin at 15 and was jailed five times, including an eight-year stretch for drug trafficking. He has “Many addicts in prison since spent eight months at the halfway house, after enrolling himself straight out of prison. “Whenever I receive think that going to a halfway letters from my friends in prison, I get reminded of my time in there and I will tell myself not to commit any crime house for help is very to go back in there again.” embarrassing. But I don’t Time is running out for grown its premises, moved to a disused but a mix of Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus think like this any more,” primary school in Sunset Grove, then relo- and Muslims. says Mr Koh, who has been The Hiding Place, cated to an old polyclinic in Jalan Kayu in Pastor Chan’s refusal led to the home imprisoned eight times since which must vacate 1991 when JTC Corporation turned the losing its Institution of a Public Character he was 17. He turned to school site into a new factory. (IPC) status, which meant its donors no Christianity in 1998 while he its premises this month The premises were refurbished and ex- longer enjoyed tax exemptions. was in prison. panded, and the staff count increased He estimates that the home, which over the years from two to nine now. used to get about $800,000 in donations Today, its free programmes help not a year, has lost $200,000 in contribu- just drug offenders but also wayward tions from corporations. STORY & PICTURES youth, the mentally ill, alcoholics and Losing the IPC status also meant that BY DESMOND LIM even a former sexual offender, who all un- The Hiding Place is no longer part of the dergo an initial one-year programme con- Prisons Halfway House Scheme under the sisting mainly of spiritual and vocational Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative training. Enterprises (Score). MORE ONLINE The home has a reputation for being The other eight halfway houses of dif- IT’S not quite the end of the road for Sin- the strictest halfway house around. Resi- ferent religious persuasions under Score For a multimedia gapore’s first halfway house to help drug dents earn fortnightly home leave after get direct referrals from the prisons. offenders just out of jail, but it’s getting they successfully complete nine months But The Hiding Place is not completely slideshow, go to awfully close. of the one-year programme. Mobile out in the cold. Churches and well-wish- www.straitstimes The Hiding Place must vacate its Jalan phones are not allowed. The same applies ers continue their support and the home .com.sg/ttl Kayu premises in West Farmway to smoking, inside or outside the home. has about $3 million in reserves and as- by April 30 so that the bulldozers can Step out of line and the residents get a sets, including a terrace house in the come in. dressing down from Mrs Chan, a former Thomson Road area it uses for storage. This day has been coming since 2008, primary school teacher. The home costs about $50,000 a 9.17AM when Singapore Land Authority (SLA) “She rules this place with an iron fist,” month to run, including rent of $6,965. TAKING THE TEST: Former told The Hiding Place and 13 other ten- says former drug user Satiyan Sankaran, Pastor Chan says the home has a budget heroin addict Eric Tio (left), ants, mostly farms and nurseries, to 58, who has spent about 18 months at The that allows for about $15,000 a month for 30, blowing into a device to move so that a link road can be built be- Hiding Place. rent. “We can afford to pay rent but we detect if he had smoked. tween Yio Chu Kang Road and the Tampi- The home functions on a strictly en- can’t find a suitable place. It will be good Checks are carried out every nes Expressway. forced regimen of Bible study, work, if someone can buy a place and rent it to morning as cigarettes are 11.04AM Five appeals for extensions delayed the counselling, exercise and tuition by volun- us. We want to continue this work,” he strictly prohibited, even on SQUARE MEALS: Former addict Edwin Goh, 38 and now one of the full-time staff, preparing Hokkien mee for lunch. inevitable but time has finally run out for teer tutors for residents taking their O says. home visits. The home does The former restaurant cook first came to The Hiding Place in a wheelchair in 2007 after suffering a spinal infection The Hiding Place and its 30 residents. and N Level examinations. Renting a bungalow is another option not want one addiction believed to have been caused by using contaminated needles to inject heroin. The couple who run it – Pastor Philip The day starts at 6.45am when heavily but Pastor Chan worries that neighbours replaced with another. Chan, 61, and his wife Christina, 65, are tattooed former gang members and oth- might complain about having a halfway all too aware of the crisis they face as ers spend an hour reading the Bible and house in their backyard. their options run out. praying. Group Bible study follows, then He has also been exploring moving to Since 2009, they have made more than area cleaning, followed by house moving the farm area in where 20 enquiries about sites and buildings and packing work, which helps pay for the only neighbours are nurseries and fish across Singapore, to no avail. the upkeep of the home, from 10am to farms. Since last month, he has been in “All were earmarked for commercial, 5pm. In between is an hour-long lunch talks with the Agri-Food and Veterinary residential and educational purposes. No break. More Bible study follows at 8pm, Authority (AVA) about pioneering a farm land parcels are set aside for use as a half- before lights out at 11pm. therapy-based halfway house. way house,” says Pastor Chan. “We focus more on the spiritual than The AVA rejected the idea earlier this The SLA said it is “discussing with rele- work therapy. We believe only religion month but Pastor Chan has lodged an ap- vant agencies to see if there is a suitable can change their lives. If work can do it, peal. state property that can be put to halfway they can do it on their own outside,” says Even if that eventually gets the green house use”. It did not indicate a time- Pastor Chan. light, the couple, who have a 31-year-old frame but said “details of the site, if there The home’s intensely religious focus daughter who works as a cook in a restau- The residents’ personal is one”, will be put up for public tender. has raised problems. In 2009, the Minis- rant at Marina Bay Sands, are both bat- smoke-detecting mouthpieces. The Hiding Place began in a Teachers’ try of Community Development, Youth tling ill health. Estate terrace house in the Upper Thom- and Sports (MCYS) asked Pastor Chan to Mrs Chan, a diabetic and cervical can- son area in 1973 under the name of House remove two lines – “To propagate and to cer survivor, underwent open heart by- of Grace. spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ” and pass surgery in January. She now walks Pastor Chan, a former drug addict, “To maintain a place of worship of the Al- with the help of a walking frame. went there in 1976 to seek help after fail- mighty God” – from the home’s Constitu- Pastor Chan was diagnosed with stage ing more than 10 times to kick the habit tion to make it more inclusive. three rectal cancer in 2006, which is now himself. There, he met Christina, who An MCYS spokesman says that while in remission, and liver cirrhosis in 2008. founded the home with a Singapore Bible halfway houses are permitted to use reli- The situation seems impossible, but College classmate, and he became a Chris- gious principles in their programmes, the indomitable couple are not giving in. tian. They got married in 1980 and ran they should be “inclusive and not aimed During a recent home meeting to dis- the halfway house together. at proselytisation”. cuss the impending move, an anxious resi- It was renamed The Hiding Place in After much deliberation, Pastor Chan dent asked: “What is the worst-case sce- 1978 after a failed collaboration with two refused. “While I understand their limita- nario if we can’t find a new place?” other halfway houses – House of Faith, tions, I hope they can understand our con- The question was met with a brief si- 12.02PM which has closed, and House of Hope, viction. This is our Constitution but in lence before Pastor Chan replied: “We CHECK IN: Residents reporting for routine urine tests at the North Neighbourhood Police Centre. Drug whose leaders went on to start Break- practice, we still embrace all religions will sleep in the open if we have to. There offenders must undergo weekly tests for two years after their release. Former user Isaac Phee, 35, says: “Sometimes through Missions and Helping Hand. and races,” he says, adding that about 90 are no worst-case scenarios with God.” I bump into some old friends there. I try not to be too friendly with them. They would give me their mobile numbers By 1988, The Hiding Place had out- per cent of walk-ins are not Christians [email protected] and I would pretend to memorise them and forget them afterwards.”