A lesson learnt from Sam, who was recently pardoned, was to never give up. For me, it was very emotional to know that his biggest campaigners were the prison wardens themselves.

IT is very rare indeed – probably unheard of – to have prison officials campaigning hard to seek the release of a prisoner but that was precisely what happened.

After years of failed appeals to the Pardons Board, Sam Kian Seng – Number 1000 2901 – who has been in jail for 28 years, walked out of Kajang Prison a free man at 2pm on Monday, July 25.

It was nothing short of a miracle and it reaffirmed my faith in God and the goodness of human beings.

It also refreshed my belief that no one should give up hope, even in the most difficult moments, and this man, Sam Kian Seng, is a living example.

Sam, who was arrested for armed robbery in 1988, was never sent to the gallows because he was not the principal offender. Charged with gun possession, he was found guilty and sentenced to natural life imprisonment and also given six strokes of the rotan.

This is different from a normal life sentence which carries a maximum of 30 years jail but in Sam’s time, a life sentence was 20 years. There is also a one-third remission for good behaviour.

Natural life imprisonment, however, meant that Sam, no matter how well behaved, was doomed to die behind prison walls. His only hope was to get a pardon.

His story has been an extraordinary one. Each time his appeal got rejected by the Pardons Board, it upset the wardens more than Sam himself.

After all, they said they watched over Sam daily and they knew him better than members of the Pardons Board.

The telephone call came to me one day in 2010 from a senior prison official whom I have known for a long time.

He said the media was their last hope and they chose me.

A prison visit to Kajang Prison was arranged and I came face to face with this total stranger who sought my help to get him pardoned.

The prison official showed me a thick dossier of appeal letters from politicians, lawyers, faith-based groups and prison officials – all supporting his case. Some of them have since passed away.

I was told how this long-serving prisoner was able to do what many prison wardens and counsellors could not do – he turned hardcore criminals into church mice, literally.

He counselled the inmates, led daily worship and conducted Bible classes in cells. He also provided information about non-governmental organisations like Malaysian Care and halfway houses to prisoners about to be released.

Every Sunday, more than 60 inmates, including former hardcore criminals, spent their time in worship under his leadership.

In a smattering of Cantonese and English, Sam spoke extensively to me of how he intended to carry on with his counselling work once he was released from jail.

I just let him speak, not interrupting at all, and when he finally stopped, I told him that I would try my best to help him.

I wasn’t even sure when and how I should start. I may know several Sultans, who would chair the Pardons Board in their respective states, but this case was carried out in Kuala Lumpur and that meant it came under the King. For sure, I do not know the King.

But I never forgot Sam. He made sure I didn’t either. He frequently sent out messages, via non-governmental organisations doing work in prison, to enquire about the progress I had made to secure his pardon!

Sam’s pardon by the King is a result of NGOs and individuals working patiently to seek his release and even if at some point some of us thought it would never happen, we knew we mustn’t give up because Sam has not given up on us.

The messages that suddenly cropped up from NGO workers were simply reminders that he was fighting on the inside there.

As many others worked, I finally sought the help of businessman Tan Sri Barry Goh and his assistant, Johan Abdullah, to convey the appeal personally to the King. I also revisited my encounter with Sam in this column on May 24, 2015 (“Hope Within the Prison Walls”) to get the attention of the palace.

We do not know if what we have done has been critical or pivotal, but it doesn’t really matter, and no one is out to claim credit, as what is important is that Sam left a mark on those who met him inside the Kajang Prison.

It has been very impactful, and even emotional, for me because among his biggest campaigners were the Muslim prison wardens, even though Sam’s work was primarily Christian. For these wardens, Sam was just a good man and that his choice of faith wasn’t an issue.

On Monday, when he walked out of Kajang prison at 2pm, the message was conveyed to me by Malaysian Care that Sam was finally out!

It was unbelievable! As the news spread, I called up the prison officials who had alerted me about Sam earlier, and the joy at the other end of the line was emphatic as they expressed their thanks to Allah.

They shared with me about another case – and how exhilarated they were when this person, too, was pardoned for a crime committed when he was a boy. As a minor, he was held “at the pleasure of His Majesty” with no fixed term and sometimes, they get forgotten.

All Sam wanted was his first plate of wantan mee on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, he was still eating wantan mee.

He has bought himself some new clothes and he is learning to use a mobile phone. He kept calling me, wrongly, and kept apologising for that.

He is clearly eager to join in what most of the world is keen on now – starting with creating a Facebook account and discovering the wonders of social media.

His parents died when he was serving his time. He didn’t get to attend the funerals unlike some privileged politicians serving jail sentences.

At 59 years old, the bachelor is now busy catching up on lost time with his brothers and sisters. The news report in The Star on Wednesday was the top read item online and I got plenty of calls from reporters including an international TV station seeking to interview him.

Let Sam have his space. He has plenty to catch up with his family and adjusting to life in the new Malaysia.

There is one lesson for me from Sam which will remain etched in my mind forever – how not to give up hope and to remain steadfast in the belief in God, regardless of our religion.

I remember that interview with Sam and how he pressed his hand against the glass panel separating us to say goodbye, fervent in his belief that he would walk out of prison one day and continue his mission work outside.

When I asked him why he should be optimistic, he looked at me and said: “Sir, even the word hopeless begins with hope.”

We need to stop any kind of religious-political culture from rearing its ugly head in Malaysia. We just need to be bold and say no.

IT’s unbelievable. A friendly hug, which is more sisterly and brotherly in nature, between Malaysian singer Yuna (pic) and Grammy award winner Usher can actually become a controversy.

There was nothing sensual about it but for some people, these holier-than-thou critics, it has become an almost punishable moral crime, but luckily they are only in the minority.

The majority of her fans, who are rational people, have chosen to support her via social media but it must have hurt the US-based Yuna badly.

For one, she wears a headgear and her body is mostly covered up, even though it is well-known that her American friends have often told her it is all right to drop her fashion taste, thinking she is under some form of religious pressure.

But that does not seem to be enough for some critics, who supposedly uphold religious principles, but could in the same breath fire away profanity and curses.

Last week, Yuna, through her Instagram account, wrote: “I’ll show my appreciation whether it’s a handshake, or a hug, to my friends, this is me.”

“They call me ‘perempuan sampah’ and tell me to ‘might as well go naked’. The worst, hurtful & sexist things I’ve ever had thrown to me, were from the lips of the Malays,” Yuna added.

The hugging incident happened spontaneously while they were singing their hit song, Crush, at The Roots Picnic 2016 in Philadelphia, USA, last month.

The video was posted on Instagram and Twitter by Yuna on June 5, and her act was immediately criticised by some bloggers.

Yuna has been reported as saying that “I have some Americans telling me to take my hijab off, and I tell them no. I have some Malays tell me to take my hijab off because ‘from wearing a turban might as well take off your hijab’, I tell them no too.”

Usher could have chosen anyone to duet with him. We are talking about a huge name who has partnered with the likes of Pharrell and Justin Bieber but he has given the privilege to Yuna, who may be a nine-time Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) winner, but isn’t exactly a household name in the United States.

The collaboration has given Yuna international fame and instead of cheering and being proud of our local brand, some of us are kicking her for the most ridiculous things.

What did we expect her to do? Push Usher away, who is simply not used to Muslim etiquette but was merely hugging her without any sinister intentions?

She has signed up with Fader Label and this means she has also started working with Pharrell, whom we all know for giving us monster hits like Happy and Blurred Lines with Robin Thicke.

Her critics clearly can’t see the forest for the trees. Can Malaysians be blamed if some of us are beginning to be concerned with the new kind of intolerant religious-political culture that is taking shape in our country?

Even His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor, in an interview, has expressed his worry that many Malaysians are becoming more Arab than the Arabs, with some female Malaysians refusing to shake his hand.

Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar said in an interview: “If there are some of you who wish to be an Arab and practise Arab culture, and do not wish to follow our Malay customs and traditions, that is up to you. I also welcome you to live in Saudi Arabia.”

And of course, picking on entertainers didn’t end with Yuna. The Islamist party, PAS, threw a tantrum when it heard that Selena Gomez was putting up a concert in Shah Alam tomorrow.

The party, which was only momentarily moderate in the last general election, has gone back to its fanatical ways.

The wing’s dakwah committee chairman Hafez Sabri claimed that the American singer’s “sexy appearance” would tarnish the sanctity of the month of Syawal, which is when Muslims celebrate Hari Raya.

The state religious affairs executive council member Ahmad Yunus Hairi, who is from PAS, then ordered all mosques throughout the state to hold solat hajat (special prayers) to pray for the cancellation.

Obviously, Ahmad Yunus isn’t aware that although he may be the exco member in charge of religious affairs, it is the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) which carries more clout. Jais issued a statement late Friday to say it did not issue any notice or order for mosques to hold special prayers.

Its director Datuk Haris Kasim said any decision to cancel the show will be up to the local authorities, adding “as the people already know, the concert is set to take place on July 25.”

To top it all, the Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah sent out a cheeky Instagram posting, on Friday night, which says “Welcome to my home town @selanagomez!” with a poster of the concert.

If PAS has its way, Malaysia will become another Taliban state. In Kelantan, its members are still dead against the revival of cinemas in that state.

Its youth wing has imposed conditions, such as gender segregation with the need to have the lights switched on while movies are going on.

So, if a husband takes his wife to the cinema, he would have to bring along their marriage certificate to prove they are married and we are not even sure if non-Muslims are exempted.

No wonder the Kelantanese prefer to just go to Golok and of course, bring back all kinds of diseases.

We need to bring back sanity and must be bold enough to stop this kind of religious-political culture, which is completely alien to Malaysia, but justified in the name of religion, as interpreted by PAS.