‘Why can’t I spend time with mum in prison?’ Hong Kong children need to bond with prisoner parents, experts urge
- A young boy’s efforts to understand his mother’s drug problem helped motivate her to stay out of trouble and support others facing similar struggles
- Family visits and ongoing relationships help to strengthen inmates’ resolve to change for the better, experts say
Hongkonger Molly Lam was relaxed as she asked her teenage son Vincent Lee what his day was like when he returned from school.
The 14-year-old was in a playful mood, and his funny anecdotes about schoolmates made her laugh.
The pair have come a long way. There were periods of separation when Lam, 38, went in and out of prison and a rehabilitation centre for drug offences and addiction treatment between 2013 and 2016.
Lee was a toddler when he was left in his grandfather’s care, and wondered about his mother’s disappearances. By the time he started primary school, he wanted to know more.
“I asked my grandfather, but he told me to mind my own business as I was too young. Grandfather also said something like, mum did some bad things,” he recalled.
With help, mother and child were able to reconnect and resume living together after Lam left a rehabilitation centre in 2016.
