How Hong Kong’s prisoners are given hope by selfless pen pals and a local radio programme

Every Sunday evening, prisoners across Hong Kong fall silent, earphones in, hoping to hear their letters read out by the host of Devoted to You. Broadcast on RTHK Radio One from 6.20pm to 8pm, the show offers a ray of hope and encouragement to inmates across the city, says former offender So Ha.

So has been locked up three times in as many correctional institutions – Tai Lam Centre for Women, Lo Wu Correctional Institution and Chi Ma Wan Correctional Institution – each time on drug trafficking convictions. The 51-year-old’s last and longest jail sentence was 14 years. It was during this time inside that she converted to Christianity and became determined never to commit a crime again.

So was released in 2013 and now works for NGO The Christian Home of Faith and Grace, which helps in the rehabilitation of female drug users through pastoral care and gospel, as they seek to rebuild their lives. So says the job makes her happy. She is able to draw on her past experience to serve those currently behind bars.

Prisoner rehabilitation is a job for Hong Kong’s community at large

So says she spent most of the HK$100 monthly prison salary she earned from making clothes on envelopes, stamps and paper to write letters to Devoted to You, which gave her an outlet for her feelings of isolation and frustration. The show is a lifeline to the outside world for many lonely inmates in Hong Kong, who are allowed only two visits a month, each lasting for a maximum of 30 minutes.

So says she had little support from her family while she was incarcerated, so writing letters to the radio show and tuning in on Sunday evenings were highlights of her week, and kept her spirits up.

“Every week you would have something to look forward to, hoping your letter would be read out,” So says.

Devoted to You did not set out to be a service for people behind bars when it was launched 17 years ago by Vivian Yip Wan-yi. It was intended to be a programme for anyone to call or email requests to dedicate songs to friends. However, within a few weeks of the show’s first broadcast, Yip received a letter and song request from someone in jail. It touched her and made her realise that her audience included people who often felt isolated and neglected by society. They should have the right to share their requests, too, she thought.