Sharmila Sekaran, who is chairman of Voices of the Children, said the group had been working on the diversion and reconciliation programme for some time now, adding that it had proven successful in other nations.
In other countries, in fact, the programme is even used for more serious crimes like rape and murder, she said.
“Beginning with minor offences is a good start. We would like to see it happen.”
She told FMT that such a programme was good because “it is about reconciliation”.
“It’s about finding closure. It’s not about retribution and vengeance, like our current system.”
Sharmila was responding to Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who said yesterday that the government planned to introduce the system next year.
Wan Azizah, who is also deputy prime minister, said children in the programme would also undergo an intervention module specifically prepared for them in accordance with the offence committed and the background of the child.
Sharmila said diversion could take place at any stage of the criminal justice system, with the idea of diverting children from incarceration.
She said this could happen from the minute a child commits an offence and is taken to the police station, until he or she is brought to court and charged.
She also disagreed with the view of some that this was a “soft approach”, akin to “molly-coddling our young people”.
“People might think, ‘They committed an offence, why are they being let off so easily? We must punish them and incarcerate them. That is what they deserve.'”
In her experience, though, such a system only caused these youths to reoffend, she said.
“They will not be cured of the problem.”
She said diversion must go hand in hand with some form of reconciliation.
“They must be made to face the wrongs that they have done. There should also be a way for the victim to confront the perpetrator, to share the effect of what happened to the victim.”
Sharmila told FMT that many people find it difficult to apologise to others.
“It’s actually a very difficult thing for any of us. And that is what we are making these young people do. We are making them go up to the victims or the people they have hurt, look them squarely in the face and say, ‘I’m sorry I did this to you.’ And the perpetrator needs to process that.”
Sharmila added that many young offenders she had spoken to did not understand why they were in jail or why they had to go to rehab school.
She acknowledged that the system would not be foolproof or result in a 100% success rate. However, she underscored the importance of reconciliation in the process.
“Sometimes all that’s needed is for the victim to tell their side of the story. It will give closure to the victim.
“If it is done properly, the healing that happens, we will see the number of people who do not reoffend going up.
“Remember, these are people who will grow up to be adults, and they will end up in the adult prison. But when you run this programme, you are keeping them out of the entire system.”
In order for the programme to succeed, Sharmila said, the welfare system along with the police needed to be strengthened.
“You need people to mediate between the parties. We need the victims to understand why they need to come for this reconciliation and diversion programme.
“We need to get them on board,” she said. “Someone needs to go and explain to them and tell them how they will find closure.
“Someone also needs to sit down with the children to explain what they did, why it was wrong, and why they should not do it.
“We need to make sure they understand this because if they don’t, you are releasing a criminal back into society. That is what people don’t want.”