IREFERto the letter from reader Paul Anthony Fernandez, “Is Ris the right person to promote safe sex?” (The New Paper, 18 Jan).

Ris Low had bad press for so long that I feel we should give her a break.

There is definitely a life to live after the saga. I do not know her in person, but I had a chance encounter with her when she was working part-time at a clinic at Boon Keng Road.

I was a patient there but I was not sure at the time if it was her. Nevertheless, she came across as a simple-minded and down-to-earth person, not different from other girls her age, except that she seems to have a strong aspiration to succeed.

True, she has been caught for credit-card fraud and isknownto have a poor command of English, as the letter pointed out. But it has been reported that the fraud may be linked to bipolar disorder, which she suffers from. And not having a good command of English is not a crime.

The way I see it, there are many among us whoare still very unforgiving. We often hear about giving people a second chance, but our society does not seem to be ready for that.

I am not sure how successful the Yellow Ribbon Project has been but it definitely still has much work to do.

Our society has evolved but it is still a long, long way from gracefully embracing fellow Singaporeans with criminal records back into our fold.

As for Ris, she has shown us she can still stand up after such a huge setback and, for this, she deserves a second chance.

Reader Rick Tan

This article was first published in The New Paper.