From being behind bars to taking the bar: Former drug offender now goes to law school and also runs 2 businesses

When Jonathan Pang was just 21 years old, he was sent to jail for drug trafficking and voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

While a criminal record doesn't look good on one's resume, Jonathan is proving that it isn't a setback. 

He scored straight As during his A-Level examination, which he took while in prison. 

Now, at the age 29, he's the owner of two businesses — JP Aquatics and Aquatic Dreams.

On top of that, he is a third-year law student at Singapore University of Social Sciences, and he hopes to eventually become a criminal lawyer. 

5 years behind bars 

Jonathan first got involved with drugs when he was studying for his private diploma, he told AsiaOne when we interviewed him at his office. 

"Back when I was in school, most of my friends were consuming drugs. So, it became the norm," he shared. 

He was caught in 2017 after a house raid and sentenced to jail the following year. 

While he was serving his time, a prison officer encouraged him to take the A-Level examinations. 

"He kept asking me to try taking the exams. I actually never really wanted to study and kept dragging it out till my last year in prison in 2021," Jonathan shared. 

With support from Yellow Ribbon Singapore, he got a scholarship that provided him with financial assistance. 

Inmates are allowed to choose either a one- or two-year study programme for the A-Level examinations and he chose the former. 

Despite the shorter timeline, his programme still included mid-year and preliminary examinations. 

But it wasn't all that bad because the private tutors who were brought in to teach the inmates were very helpful, shared Jonathan. 

There were some hiccups here and there because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"I felt quite unlucky because when Covid-19 hit, the private tutors couldn't come in for three months," he recounted. 

However, he was quick to adapt and during that period, he borrowed notes from his seniors so he would not fall behind. 

Surprisingly, Jonathan found prison school a "very good environment" to study in and he could do so for almost 12 hours every day. 

Even after everyone was asleep, he would pore over his notes till the wee hours of the morning. 

"Actually, prison school is really quite fun, I really enjoyed my time there," Jonathan admitted. 

He shared that overall, the conducive environment pushed the inmates to do better and "break out of their comfort zones". 

"Outside of prison, there are so many distractions like our phones. All that sensory overload prevents you from performing as well," Jonathan explained. 

"I think [the lack of distractions] is one of the reasons why I did well for my A-Level examinations." 

It was also during his exam preparations that Jonathan realised he wanted to pursue law after his release. 

He was inspired to do so after hearing several inmates complain about the pro bono lawyers who handled their cases. 

"Their whole impression of lawyers was very bad, and it made me want to make a change," said Jonathan.

And while he did feel happy when he was released from prison after five years, he confessed that a part of him missed the life he had while behind bars. 

"At the point of time when I was studying for my A-Levels in prison, I felt like the smartest guy there. I felt like I was somebody," he shared. 

"But when I came out, I just went all the way back down to the bottom. This is something that I feel a lot of ex-convicts struggle with." 

Starting a side hustle 

Jonathan was released from prison in February 2022. 

For a few months, he spent his time volunteering at People's Action Party's meet-the-people sessions. 

During this period, he also applied to study law at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU). NUS subsequently rejected his application, while SMU did not consider it. 

But not all hope was lost as a lawyer eventually reached out to him and offered "invaluable guidance and advice", which played a major role in him eventually landing a spot at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. He started school in January 2023. 

While Jonathan was elated to be one step closer to fulfilling his dream of becoming a lawyer, he couldn't help but worry about money. 

Though he did have some savings, it was not enough to tide him through all four years of law school. 

So, he decided to become a tutor to earn some extra cash. 

"I was teaching around two to four students but the only way I could be hired was to charge a lower-than-market rate because I only had an A-Level certificate to show," he explained. 

"The salary was really not enough. I only made around $240 per week and I still had to run around Singapore to tutor them. It wasn't sustainable."  

One day, a light bulb went off in his head and Jonathan realised he could sell live aquarium fish. 

It was something he was familiar with and passionate about since he was a child, as he and his late father used to keep fish as a hobby. 

So, at the end of 2023, he started small by reselling fish from his home. He did so via live auctions on his Telegram channel. 

It was a small-scale business with no physical store but three months down the road, demand grew and Jonathan realised he needed more space. 

So in July 2024, he opened JP Aquatics, a small retail shop which specialises in entry-level aquarium fish. 

In February this year, he decided to open Aquatic Dreams, which is located in an industrial area. 

There, unlike in a small retail store, he is allowed to import and export fish. It's also where he houses his more premium fish. 

The grind doesn't stop 

Because Jonathan's classes in university are held at night, he has time in the day to take care of both his businesses. 

But he doesn't stop working when school ends at 10pm and after he gets back home, he studies till around 5am. 

"My days are very stretched, I'm quite burnt out," he admitted. 

To ease the workload, he hired one staff member to help him with fish maintenance, as well as marketing. 

"At first, it was hard for me to delegate the work for my businesses to someone else because these are my babies," he shared. 

"But I realised that the only way for me to grow is to hire others to help me. I cannot be tied down by it." 

One thing he wished he could ask for, is to have more time.

"I feel like there are always not enough hours in the day," Jonathan said. 

Despite his hectic schedule, Jonathan miraculously still manages to find a way to squeeze more things onto his to-do list. 

For example, he has been chosen to be the organiser of the first-ever Tigerfish Competition in Singapore as Tigerfish is his businesses' specialty. 

The event will take place from June 6 to 8 as part of the Aquatic Garden Pet Asia Show at Suntec Convention Hall. 

After completing his law degree, Jonathan said he hopes to become a lawyer while continuing to run both his businesses at the same time. 

"I will still practise law no matter what because over these years, it has become my dream," he said. 

"Becoming a lawyer will be the greatest [source of] happiness for me. I don't know what will happen after that but it's something I really want to do." 

melissateo@asiaone.com

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