The Longest Shortcut

Book excerpt: David was used to taking shortcuts. As a child he was a pathological liar. By the time he was 14, he had started to steal. At age 26, he was convicted of his first crime, taking clients’ funds, and sent to prison. After being released, he was convicted once again for criminal breach of trust and returned to serve his second sentence. Then in his late thirties, he stole close to $800,000 in a bank fraud, landing him in prison once again. There is another side of Anil’s story. He was sexually abused by an uncle when he was 8. He was initiated into sex by a tutor as a teenager. He grew up with an absent father and a mother that was too busy. His life and ambition were based solely on material things. How then did this convict become an icon of resilience at a National Day celebration? What happened to make him a prize-winning social entrepreneur worthy of investment? Why is he trusted to run a call centre in the men and women’s prisons? In The Longest Shortcut, Anil shares not just about this journey of redemption, but also the lessons he has learnt along the way about self-worth, parenting, leadership and hope. “Anil earned the trust of social impact investors and those around him to establish an organisation that has as its mission the giving of meaningful second chances.” — Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration