On Parole

Can a killer change and be trusted?

That may be the case with a convicted murderer who has been paroled after 28 years in jail. As the man responsible for the Body-in-a-Box murder, he was sentenced to death, but had his sentence commuted to life in prison.

His was the first case in Hong Kong where a person was convicted based on forensic evidence. He had killed a 16-year-old girl, mutilated her body and dumped it in a Hitachi television box in Happy Valley. The horror of the crime attracted widespread attention.

He was released for good behaviour during his time in prison. He went to jail without much education, but inside he learned English, read many literary works in Chinese and English, and qualified as an accountant through Hong Kong Open University self-study courses. He taught other inmates English and mathematics as a voluntary teacher. He was considered a model prisoner and became a Christian in 1985.

Now living in a halfway-house, he said his attitude changed while he was imprisoned. He said his priority is to find a job and settle down to a normal life. A prison officer took him about to familiarise him with a Hong Kong that has seen enormous changes since 1975, the year he was jailed.

Learning to use the transportation system (such as the MTR and buses), understanding technology (such as Octopus card and mobile phones), and adjusting to the spread of skyscrapers (the Bank of China was built in 1987) and urban crowds will take time.

But after spending almost three decades in a box of his own, it's doubtful he'll end up putting anyone else in one.

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