Training schemes help HK prisoners get new start

As the prisoners hammer and drill away at the woodwork site in Tong Fuk Correctional Institution on Lantau Island, they are not just doing a good day's work - they are constructing a brighter future for themselves.

Yesterday saw 13 male prisoners, aged between 22 and 36, graduate from a 95-day Timber Formwork Skill Course and receive a certificate of qualification.

"I'm really happy," said inmate "Ming Chai", 25, who has been in jail for nearly two years for selling drugs.

"I am looking forward to showing my family the certificate so they don't have to worry so much about me."

The training programme was jointly organised by the Correctional Services Department (CSD) and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) to help prisoners get back on their feet when they are released and to enhance their employability.

The course fee, of nearly HKD$10,000 per person, was fully subsidised by the CIC.