About four years ago, I posted here that a Japanese co-worker of mine had been busted for pot possession when entering Singapore. He was sentenced to eight years, with eligibility for parole somewhere around five years. We’ve been getting semi-regular updates from him and from his father, and he seemed to be doing ok.
Well, we got another update from his father that he (the co-worker) had filed an appeal to have his sentence extended. Apparently, he’s really managed to get himself together in jail and has never been more focused. He’d always been kind of an aimless screw-up, but now he’s been studying art and literature (and English), and producing a lot of paintings, poetry and fiction. According to him, life inside is pretty calm and worry-free, so basically prison’s been the best thing that could happen to him.
Who’da thunk it.
Unfortunately for him, however, the authorities weren’t interested in making him an even longer-term guest. Request denied.