Have some old books lying around and you don’t know what to do with them? Well, why not give them away to this book drive for prisoners.
Photo via Malay Mail
The office of Bukit Gasing state assemblyman, Rajiv Rishyakaran is having a book donation drive for prisoners across Malaysia until January 8th, 2021.
According to the Malay Mail, Rajiv launched the initiative recently via Zoom and said that the book drive will help often overlooked prisoners, especially juvenile offenders as they prepare to re-enter society.
In a Facebook post shared by Rajiv, he said that the Book Drive for Prisoners is an effort to motivate and provide inmates with hope for a better life.
Prisoners are often overlooked by the community. The idea of imprisonment is rehabilitate and help them start a new life...
Posted by Rajiv Rishyakaran on Wednesday, December 9, 2020
He told Malay Mail that the idea came about from the non-governmental organisation Pertubuhan Kebajikan Sosial Sivasakthi, which provides inmates with counselling, motivational training, and tutoring.
“The NGO’s chairman told me it would be nice if the prisoners can get more books and I thought ‘Let’s do something about it.’”.
The books collected will be distributed to the Tapah Prison, Taiping Prison, Kamunting Prison, Baru Gajah Prison, Kajang Prison, Melaka Prison, and Sungai Buloh Prison.
He added that many of these inmates will be released in a few years and efforts to help them rehabilitate will have a positive impact on society.
“I’m very happy to support NGOs like this. These volunteers are devoting a lot of their time to rehabilitate prisoners and if this effort can support their rehabilitation, it’s a good initiative.”
Rajiv did not set a target, but he would like to collect as many books as possible.
“Even if we get 10,000 books, it won’t be enough because one prison alone has a few thousand inmates, and we have about seven prisons as our beneficiaries,” he said, adding that this is their first book drive for inmates.
Books in any language are accepted and from all genres, including comics, which Rajiv believes is a good starting point that will provide laughs for the prisoners.
So, if you’re interested to leave some of your old books to be used by these inmates, the books can be dropped off at the Bukit Gasing state assemblyman’s office at 7A Jalan 52/8, PJ New Town, 46200 Petaling Jaya between 10 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday.
Alternatively, you can post the books or drive by the office to avoid parking, by calling 03-79547490 before going over.
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
