At 14, Rizwan Habib was a Primary 2 dropout, orphaned, homeless and caught in a cycle of crime that would eventually see him jailed seven times.
Today, the 44-year-old social worker helps inmates and ex-offenders rebuild lives, a journey that earned him a President’s Challenge Springboard Fellowship on Oct 25.
The programme supports individuals who overcame significant life challenges in rebuilding life. Through this fellowship, Rizwan intends to graduate with a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
In an interview with AsiaOne, he recalled his journey and second chance in life.
‘I don’t think I was a bad kid’
Rizwan was about five when his father cut familial ties. He subsequently witnessed his mother’s struggle with drug addiction, unemployment and homelessness.
By age 11, the only child was stealing and committing petty crimes to feed his mother’s drug habit. This led to his first arrest at the age of 12, and he spent three years at the Singapore Boys’ Home and Reformative Training Centre.
In 1997, Rizwan’s mother passed away from kidney failure.
Yet it was not his mother’s death itself that left the deepest scar. More than grief, he remembers the overwhelming loneliness that followed.
“It was like a sucker punch to the face. I can still recall feeling disoriented and lost. I don’t think I was a bad kid, naughty kid yes, bad kid, I don’t think so,” said Rizwan.
Desperate for a sense of belonging, 14-year-old Rizwan looked for comfort in spaces that offered just that — gangs and negative peer groups.
His mother’s death pushed him to continue his life of crime, leading to a total of seven jail terms between the years of 1995 and 2019 for drug-related and gang-related offences.
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