At 40, Azmi is full of hope for the future and is a pillar of strength for his family of five. Such positivity and mental strength did not come easy to him.
Since the age of 14, Azmi was incarcerated nine times for drug-related offences and rioting. Even though he knew what he was doing was hurting his parents, it did not deter him. Instead, he sunk deeper into his world of drugs.
“It was peer pressure that led me down that path and the way drugs made me feel. It seemed like there was no turning back,” Azmi mused.
“My parents have played a huge part in my recovery throughout the years I was incarcerated. They never failed to visit me, even when my mother was in a wheelchair,” Azmi shared.
He now believes that to truly make amends to his parents, he needs to take proper action and turn his life around instead of making empty promises to them like he did in the past.
During his road to recovery, Azmi was mentored by an ex-drug addict who inspired him to give back to society. Azmi signed up for the ISCOS Motivators’ Programme to share his life experiences to at-risk youths. He also mentors some of them.
“My family members have been motivating me and I do not want the lives of my children to be ruined. I hope that my motivational talks and mentoring sessions are helpful to other youths. I realise now that life is beautiful.”