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Managed to visit the Women’s Prison in Kajang (and sorry, no photos allowed inside the building). Some interesting facts I learnt from the officers there:
1. There’s between 1000 and 2000 prisoners at any one time, but the capacity is about 400 only.
2. Most of the inhabitants are foreigners who commit crimes like overstaying, misusing visa/permit etc. There were nearly 80% of them at the time of the visit.
3. Most prisoners are in for short term (6 months and less) due to the type of the crime committed. Example of crimes: drug use, permit misuse, overstaying, stealing, etc.
4. The locals are allowed to study (MLVK Tahap 1 is being taught, started recently).
5. There are various activities like cooking, cleaning, tailoring, food processing, saloon and spa service ,batik making, handicraft making, etc. to occupy the prisoners’ time. The prison earns about RM7 million in annual sales from the products made by the prisoners.
7. Children up to age of 3 are allowed to accompany their mother in the prison (there’s a nursery). After that, the kids are given to next of kin or sent to welfare homes.
8. Being female, there’s less problem with the prisoners.
9. Those being remanded are also held in this prison while waiting for the case to be mentioned.
10. Overall, the prisoners looked well treated, and nope, I did not visit the cells.
Well, I can’t provide exact numbers and specifics of the place, but I hope the above gives you some idea of the prison.
