AsiaOne Article: Meet the men helping at-risk dads mend broken families.
- ibrahimdawood
- 13 minutes ago
- 5 min read
PUBLISHED ON December 18, 2025 10:00 AM BY Kimi Ang
When it comes to helping ex-offenders get back on their feet, key priorities would include helping them secure a stable income, sharpening their employable skills and paving the way for greater societal acceptance.
Another crucial factor that is often overlooked would be to strengthen the family ties that suffer when fathers are placed behind bars, which may not be easily repaired for years even after a jail sentence is complete. That is why the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) works closely with community partners, such as BapaHebat SG, to conduct family programmes for the inmates, helping them rebuild and strengthen their family ties.
The organisation's name, BapaHebat SG, means 'awesome father' in Malay. Its two founders are Mohamad Ibrahim, 64, who came out of retirement to run the organisation, and Jamsari Ahmad, 59, who works in information technology.
They first started as volunteers for the Bapa Sepanjang Hayat, a fathering movement for the Malay-Muslim community under Centre for Fathering, in 2017. There, they ran fathering programmes and co-developed initiatives specially designed for incarcerated fathers under Cluster B in Changi Prison, with programmes aimed at helping men maintain healthy family ties while serving their sentences.
As they got more involved, they saw how the programmes had greater potential to support families of incarcerated men, and wanted to focus on deepening and lengthening the programme curriculum to spark more meaningful changes.
With that, BapaHebat SG began in 2021 as a ground-up initiative offering longer-term fathering programmes that focus on real change — helping fathers become more involved and develop habits, and behaviours that nurture stronger families.
"Some of the programmes that we do in prisons are as long as one year, because it takes time for people to change," Ibrahim explained.
He further commented that these men "are not like your normal fathers out there; it is not easy for them to change," explaining how they celebrate small wins when participants, while initially indifferent, start to show signs of interest towards the programme's objectives by opening up about their family.
In partnership with SPS, the organisation now co-creates programmes with correctional unit officers from Institution B3, which houses male inmates. Programmes are catered to fathers within the facility as the BapaHebat SG team journeys with them to strengthen their parental role, empowering them with greater confidence and skills as they prepare for reintegration.
How BapaHebat SG supports at-risk fathers as they rebuild
With SPS's support in co-designing the fathering programmes offered, the team has steadily increased their impact in prisons: the number of beneficiaries doubled yearly between 2022 and 2024, serving a total of 163 inmates as of 2024.
"We realised that [most of the beneficiaries] also come from broken families... And if you do not do something about it, [the cycle] is going to continue," Ibrahim said.
He described how BapaHebat SG's fathering programmes worked to break vicious cycles, equipping inmates with the emotional capacity and skills to work on themselves first, before rebuilding familial support and trust.
One of the beneficiaries of the programme was a man who really wanted to reconnect with his son, whom he had been estranged from for over a decade. Initially, he was discouraged as he was only able to converse in Hokkien. After much persuasion from the BapaHebat SG team, he sought the help of a cellmate to deliver an email with no body content, just a subject title of 'Hello'. His emails were left unanswered for months, but Ibrahim told him to keep trying.
"He did that for nearly three months, and then finally, his kid actually responded," said Ibrahim. The man's son eventually showed up for an open visit.
BapaHebat SG's co-founders tap into their expertise in solution-focused coaching to develop and conduct their fathering programmes. Ibrahim is an ICF certified coach, while Jamsari holds a master's in counselling from Swinburne University and a graduate diploma in professional coaching from SUSS.
The programmes, facilitated by the co-founders alongside volunteers, would address the motivations, communication strategies and real-life scenarios, which participants might encounter in their fathering journey. In identifying personalised goals, participants first work to address personal shortcomings and strengthen communication skills before tackling familial relationships.
Some programmes also include family visit sessions, where the team carefully curates each experience to ensure a light, warm and meaningful atmosphere. Participants are encouraged to begin the session with a group rendition of If We Hold On Together by Diana Ross, where the song lyrics convey a heartfelt message of hope, resilience and love to their families.
"We also celebrate all the birthdays they have missed," said Jamsari about the prison visits. These involve curated activities like trust exercises and personal conversations as incarcerated fathers attempt to sustain and rebuild meaningful connections with their family members.
Finding support for social impact causes
The road to finding financial support and resources for their ground-up initiative has not always been easy. Jamsari confessed that there were even times when he felt like giving up as he struggled to balance the social impact work with his full-time job.
Fortunately, BapaHebat SG made some headway with help in the form of funding and resources from The Majurity Trust, a philanthropic organisation that aims to create a Singapore where everyone thrives.
Recently, their partnership with The Majurity Trust also paved the way in stabilising their operations and workflow, as the team was invited to a workspace at The Foundry where they could access more opportunities with like-minded peers and impact-driven organisations.
The collective impact hub was set up by registered charity The Majurity Trust (TMT), in partnership with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office (SGPO), Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and Tote Board. It serves as an incubation space for various social impact organisations to scale their innovations to the benefit of their communities. The opportunity opened up more doors for BapaHebat SG, as they were able to meet, connect with and obtain support from fellow ground-up starters.
For example, they were able to tap on non-profit organisation Better.sg's tech expertise to improve their website's design and functions. This, coupled with the increased exposure, has attracted more interested volunteers to contribute to BapaHebat SG's cause.
To support the inspiring efforts of everyday Singaporeans like Ibrahim and Jamsari of BapaHebat SG, the SGPO was also established to help ground-ups thrive with greater access to strategic government partnerships.
The office serves as a first stop, connecting citizens and ground-ups to government agencies and funding opportunities for their projects to gain momentum, support and scale. If you have an idea for community good and want to realise it, take your first step by exploring SGPO's website, to help shape the Singapore you want to see.
This article is brought to you in partnership with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office (SGPO).
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