The media has highlighted the case of Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi, 18, who almost ended up in jail for two weeks for not attending the national service programme.

But what brought me to tears was that Hafizal comes from a poor family who had quit school at age of 14 to work and feed his family. For some of us, RM600 may be just enough for a dinner or a pair of shoes but that same amount meant 14 days in prison for the poor boy.

I believe that there have been others who have been exempted from the national service programme on the grounds they had to study overseas or such. Why should Hafizal not be given a similar exemption even though he did not apply for it?

I hope the minister in charge of youth affairs would help Hafizal out of this bureaucratic mess by clearing his name of any criminal record.

From an ordinary citizen's point of view, the government has failed to help Hafizal from the day he left the school at the age of 14. Instead of trying to put him in prison, the government should help him to get his life back on track.