Just My Thoughts

Tonight, Indonesia will make one of two statements to the criminal world. The consequence of each of these statements will have impacts on a far wider audience than the two Australian Drug Smugglers facing execution along with seven others from other countries around the world. It will put into stark focus the benefits or not of making an effort to change the man within, when that man has made a mistake.

It seems that from amongst the group facing death tonight, Sukumarin and Chan have made a determined and lasting effort to rehabilitate themselves and then extend their individual talents to help others around them to find a new path.

Amongst the prison population world wide, this changing of ways is rare. Many will find religion just in time to face the parole board, only to loose it again the day their freedom is refused. In the case of Sukumarin and Chan, they had never looked to a day that they might be free, only that they save their lives.

There are few in this world who must reflect on their mortality in the wake of actions taken while young and foolish, however, it is only those who have been there that can truly judge the sincerity of these two men.

I was once of the view that, when committing a crime, one must be prepared to face the consequence. I have more recently had pause to reflect on what my thoughts might be if this were my children facing this ordeal. I have little doubt that I would, especially given the apparent reversal of their ways, tend towards asking that they be spared.

What these men did was wrong on so many levels and it is difficult to reconcile who they are now to the men who destroyed so many lives peddling their drugs, and all for the sake of the high life of women, wine and fast cars. There is no excusing that, but in the light of the good that they are doing with their work in the prison, it would be as great a sin to destroy the opportunity for others to benefit. Rarely, do these opportunities come along. To be a prisoner in most cases, is an opportunity to learn how to be a bigger criminal on release.

As I said before, tonight Indonesia will make one of two statements to the criminal world.

If you work hard to right your wrongs and make yourself a better person, learn to help others and live productively in your society your efforts will be recognised

Or

Society will judge you at your worst no matter what you do to change the man within so you will be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

It is perhaps timely to remember that, each of us, at some point in our lives have made a poor choice. There but by grace this could be any one of our sons there tonight.
President Widodo would do well to ponder the consequence of his actions tonight.


Just my thoughts