Dateline returns to SBS with a rare look inside Singapore's Changi prison. Watch the episode premiere on Tuesday 4 March at 9.30pm or stream on SBS On Demand.
Inside a cell at Singapore's Changi prison, there's just enough space for a grown man to lie down.
To sleep, inmates roll out a thin straw mat. But Matthew prefers the bare concrete floor — it's cooler in a place that feels like a hot oven, with no air conditioning or natural airflow in tropical heat.
He shows the few belongings that inmates are allowed to keep: some books and a plastic box in the corner containing a spoon for meals, a toothbrush, soap, and two blankets.
Dateline's rare access marks the first time Australian TV cameras have gone inside this notoriously harsh correctional facility where life is designed to meet the basics of existence and nothing more.
First-time offender Matthew was sentenced to eight years in Changi for selling meth. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
The former schoolteacher was arrested in possession of 93g of methamphetamine — people found in possession of 250g or more of meth face the death penalty in Singapore.
In the past three decades, Singapore has executed over 400 people, most of them on drug-related charges.
"Sometimes I reflect at night that I got eight years, which to me is pretty harsh for a first timer. But when I think about it, I'm like, okay, it's not the death penalty," Matthew said.
Singapore is considered one of the safest countries in the world, but the cost of order is paid for in fear and there are stiff penalties for minor crimes.
The country's penal code is designed to benefit society rather than to reflect the severity of the crime committed.
Inmates are held in individual cells without furniture. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
Facing criticism, Singapore's authorities defend the harsh laws, arguing they serve as a deterrent and help keep drugs out of the country. The government links this stance on drugs to the country's low crime rate.
Singapore's recidivism rate (the rate of released prisoners reoffending and returning to jail) is just 22 per cent — half that of Australia's — and consistently ranks low in global surveys.
Prisoner rehabilitation in Singapore
Changi is a massive prison made up of 13 complexes, a maze of doors and lifts and five layers of security.
Reuben Leong oversees the maximum-security correctional unit in Wing B, which is reserved for those convicted of the most serious and violent crimes, including drug trafficking.
Ruben Leong and his fellow officers of the maximum-security unit at Changi refer to themselves as 'Captains of Lives' and say their role is not just as law enforcement officers but the rehabilitation of inmates. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
About an hour or two a day of yard time, where they can exercise and play sport, is some of the inmates' only contact with the outside world.
At least once a month, all cells are searched for illegal items such as needles or unauthorised medication. Contact with family members is restricted to twice a month. These visits can be face-to-face or via a tele-visit cubicle.
Leong says the 'spartan' conditions are aimed at deterring inmates from reoffending. He and his fellow officers refer to themselves as 'captains of lives' and see themselves not just as law enforcement officers but key players in rehabilitating criminals.
"We're in the business of change," he told Dateline. "You might not succeed on the first try, second try, but I think our hope is that they'll be successfully rehabilitated, reintegrated into society."
Immanuel, 41, has been in and out of prison since he was 16 and says he's been punished by caning seven or eight times. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
Work programs include packing and preparing items such as baby formula for the outside world. They are described as 'a communal way to spend the time' that promotes social behaviour. Some inmates even study to finish their high school equivalency.
Forty-one-year-old inmate Immanuel has been incarcerated ten times but says this will be his last.
Like Matthew, he's in Changi for the possession and trafficking of methamphetamine, as well as violent assault.
In the past, he's been caught with contraband items such as needles and blades in his cell. For that, and other infractions, he's faced the burning lashes of the cane on 'seven or eight' instances.
But to date, no number of canings, hardship or long sentences have deterred him from a life of crime.
He told Dateline that it was only recently, at his father's funeral, that he decided to change:
"I paid my respects wearing handcuffs. I went in front of him with my head bowed. That was the time I thought I need to change my path.
"I've wasted most of my life in prison from the age of 16 until now."
Sisters Sangkari and Angel come to Changi from Kuala Lumpur every week to visit their brother Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who's been awaiting execution for nearly eight years. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
'I want a second chance'
But not all inmates at Changi get a second chance.
There are currently around 50 people awaiting execution, the majority on drug charges.
One of them is Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, who was sentenced to death in 2017 after he was found guilty of trafficking 51g of heroin across the border from Malaysia.
His sisters Sangkari and Angel make a six-hour round trip from Kuala Lumpur every week to visit him. They told Dateline he had been tricked into transporting the drugs, thinking it was 'sex medicine'.
"Singapore needs to give a second chance to first-time committers. They should focus more on the kingpins rather than the drug mules", Sangkari said.
Media are not allowed to speak with death row inmates, but Pranthaman passed on a message through his sisters:
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking 51g of heroin across the border from Malaysia. Source: Supplied
On 20 February, just hours before Pranthaman was set to be hanged, a court ordered a delay in his execution. He would have become the third person put to death for drug-related crimes in Singapore this year.
Changi prison superintendent Chin Soon Theen argues that there is 'strong domestic support' for the death penalty for the most serious offences.
"When we talk about the death penalty, we also need to look at serving the larger interests of society and not just the individual," he said.
But activists and international human rights organisations have long called for the abolition of the death penalty, arguing that death row sentences like Pranthaman's are 'cruel and senseless' and only target the couriers of the drug trade.
Anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han says there's no evidence that capital punishment serves as a deterrence. Source: SBS / Adam Liaw
"They call Singapore's prison officers 'Captains of Lives' but really, they are the ones that will send you to the gallows and to your death.
"I really hope that one day in the future not only will the death penalty be gone from Singapore, but that future generations of Singaporeans will be shocked that we even had it."
Back in Wing B, Matthew is halfway through serving his sentence. He remains positive.
"If I focus on the fact that it's a miserable living condition, then I will be very sad," he said. "But at the onset of my incarceration, I told myself that I'm not going to think like that, I'm going to see the good in everything."
