Arrested seven times, he finally found himself facing the death penalty. Then God did a miracle.

Much of his childhood is a blur. The fifth of eight children, what Kelvin Tan remembers clearly though was how he got into drugs when he was 15. “My classmate brought me to his kampung (village) and I got to know his friends there. They were from gangs. That was the start of a descent […] The post Arrested seven times, he finally found himself facing the death penalty. Then God did a miracle. appeared first on Salt&Light.

Religion Aug 27, 2025 0 1 Add to Reading List

Arrested seven times, he finally found himself facing the death penalty. Then God did a miracle.

Much of his childhood is a blur. The fifth of eight children, what Kelvin Tan remembers clearly though was how he got into drugs when he was 15.

“My classmate brought me to his kampung (village) and I got to know his friends there. They were from gangs.

(Standing, third from right) Kelvin with his seven siblings and parents.

That was the start of a descent into drugs that would culminate in Kelvin facing the death sentence.

“Among them was a drug addict. A few of us saw him smoking drugs, so we also smoked. After my first puff, I felt dizzy. I was in a daze,” the 65-year-old tells Salt&Light in Mandarin.

He did not think he was addicted until he missed a smoke one day and started to experience withdrawal symptoms.

“I was uncomfortable, I had diarrhoea, runny nose, my whole body felt awful.”

His family knew nothing of it because, by then, Kelvin had stopped coming home, choosing to live at the kampung with friends. He had also stopped going to school. Instead, he joined the gang and picked up work as a welder at a shipyard.

That was the start of a descent into drugs that would culminate in Kelvin facing the death sentence.

Cycle of arrest and addiction

When Kelvin eventually moved back home, there was no hiding his addiction. His parents tried to get him to kick the habit.

Kelvin (right), aged 11, with his younger brother.

“They locked me up to try to help me get out of drugs. It was a difficult time. Everything was in a blur.

“My mum begged me to give it up, but when the drug withdrawals happened, I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t think. In my calmer moments, I did wonder: Why not give up drugs?”

“If you don’t get out of that cycle, you tend to go back to drugs.”

Within three years, Kelvin was arrested. He was 18 and had not only been consuming but also peddling drugs.

“If you don’t sell, it’s hard to get a steady supply of drugs for yourself. So the boss said, ‘Why don’t you also sell and get some money?’”

When one of his customers got arrested, the man ratted Kelvin out. Within a few weeks, he was arrested, too. Although they found no drugs in his possession at the time, the law allowed for him to be detained without a trial because it was a drug-related case. Kelvin spent three and a half years in prison before being put on parole for nine months.

None of that deterred him. When it was all over, he returned to his drug habit.

“When I look back at the time when I took drugs, I was in that cycle. If you don’t get out of that cycle and you don’t have anything to support you and change your thoughts and habits, if you meet problems or struggles or troubles, you tend to go back to drugs instead of other ways to solve your problems.

“I never thought about my future, not till my last arrest.”

“Those people in your circle may help you, but it is not sincere. They may have ulterior motives because you are useful to them.”

Within a year of his release, he would be arrested again. This time he was sentenced to 13 months in prison. In all, Kelvin would be arrested seven times, with prison sentences ranging from three years to, at his last arrest, 17 years.

“In the past, whenever I get arrested, I would cast everything to the back of my mind. I never really thought about why I keep going in and out of prison, never thought about my future, not till my last arrest.”

Many chances squandered

When Kelvin was first incarcerated, his family would visit him in prison. By his third imprisonment, they stopped.

“They were discouraged. During the last few sentences, no one came to see me. That was when I would think: Why do I do this? Why do I never change? I am a burden to others.”

In the imprisonment before his last, his father told his younger brother to visit him to relay a message.

“He told me not to come home.”

“I was at the end of my rope. I had no one to blame.”

In 2003, at age 43, Kelvin was arrested for the seventh time. He had been working at a car polishing company. His colleague was a drug addict and got him hooked on drugs again.

When Kelvin was arrested, he had on him 700 grams of heroin with a purity of 36 grams of the drug. Trafficking 15 grams of heroin is enough to get a person sentenced to death.

“I wasn’t afraid. I was ready to accept the consequences. But I was at the end of my rope. I had no one to blame.”

Because his situation was so dire, his third sister felt moved to visit him. She is a Christian and had hoped that Kelvin would accept Christ. Her attempt at bringing him the Good News was not Kelvin’s first encounter with the Gospel.

After his first arrest, he attended Christian counselling sessions in prison. But he was not interested in the faith.

“I would go there to chat with people.”

Upon his release that time, he lived at a Christian halfway house run by a Pastor. Again, though the opportunities to accept Christ were plentiful, Kelvin was not interested. There would be subsequent stays at various Christian halfway houses, and countless occasions where the Gospel was preached.

“I just didn’t have the inclination.”

Moved by the Spirit

When his older sister visited him while he was in custody, she did not go alone. She took her Pastor with her. When he shared the Gospel with Kelvin, Kelvin agreed to say the Sinner’s Prayer.

“I was already at the end, no way out. I wanted to leave something good for my family because I had only left them a lot of grief. This was the last thing I could do for them.”

After the Pastor led Kelvin in prayer, he led them in the hymn Because He Lives.

“He and my sister sang. In that instance, I cried. I wept. The Holy Spirit moved me. I have never ever cried like that before. It was as if I used my tears to baptise myself.

“The book that gave me the most comfort was the Book of Job.”

“After that, I had unspeakable peace even though I was awaiting my sentence. I had no fear.”

During the hour of yard time he was allowed in prison, instead of moping, Kelvin joined the other inmates in sports and chatted with them.

He was so calm that the judge commented to him: “I don’t know why you are different from all the people on death row.”

There was another thing about Kelvin that changed. The man who never thought about his past or planned his future, the man who had been numbed by drugs suddenly found himself easily moved to tears.

“The Holy Spirit would make me think about my past and reflect on it. And He would move me.”

The man who never had visitors also started receiving them. Two of his sisters who are Christians would bring him the Bible and Christian books to read. In the nine months that he was awaiting his sentence, he fed on the Word of God.

“The book that gave me the most comfort was the Book of Job.”

Saved for a reason

Even though his faith grew, Kelvin never expected to escape the death penalty.

“I thank God He let me experience Him, but there was no hope. I had admitted the drugs were mine. Everything was set.”

The first sign that God would show him mercy was a supernatural sighting.

Even though he had received Christ into his life, Kelvin never expected God to save him from the death penalty.

“Before the trial, I was coming up the escalator and I saw two angels. I knew they were angels because they were white and had wings.”

“It wasn’t like it was in one move He snatched me to safety. There were several pieces.”

Then at the trial, something unexpected happened. Different pieces of evidence started to point to the fact that Kelvin possessed the drugs for personal consumption.

Anyone with more than two grams of heroin is presumed to be trafficking the drug. Those with 15 grams and more of heroin would receive the death penalty.

But Kelvin was able to prove that all 36 grams of heroin in his possession were for his consumption only. So he was spared since the death penalty is only for drug trafficking.

“It was like a jigsaw puzzle. It wasn’t like it was in one move He snatched me to safety. There were several pieces.

“When I look back, I saw it was a miracle that I was saved. I felt God saved me for a reason. If I don’t get used by God, there is no meaning.”

Seek first His kingdom

In the end, Kelvin was sentenced to 17 years in prison and six strokes of the cane for possession and consumption of drugs.

“God opened the door through the sport to share Christ.”

During the entire time behind bars, he was “very fervent” for God. He learnt to play the guitar so he could play for worship and learnt music theory, too. He also led Bible study classes.

“I felt like the sentence went by in a wink.”

Upon his release, he spent two years at Breakthrough Missions Singapore where he sang in the choir, led worship monthly and freely shared his testimony. He later joined counsellors and pastors in prison to minister to inmates.

When he became a private hire driver, he would shared the Gospel with his passengers.

Kelvin would share the Gospel with his passengers whenever the opportunity arose.

He tried to live out his favourite verse: “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

In 2024, Kelvin decided to study to be a table tennis coach. He had learnt the sport in Primary One. When he was 12, a few years before drugs derailed all plans, he had been part of Singapore’s national youth table tennis team.

Young Kelvin (circled) played table tennis at a competitive level.

“In prison, there were different seasons when I was allowed to play table tennis.

“I decided to switch careers because my eyesight and concentration is not the same as before. So it’s not healthy for me to drive for long periods of time.”

Since returning to the sport, Kelvin has had the opportunity to meet friends he had not spoken to in 50 years.

Kelvin is returning to the sport of his youth and hoping to use that as another opportunity to share his faith.

“God opened the door through the sport to share Christ. I have seen many who still don’t know Christ. Some are already very old. They’re still playing but they don’t know Christ.”

He has also reconnected with some friends from his youth. The one who invited him to the kampung where he got his first puff of drugs has since passed away. Kelvin managed to share the Gospel with him before that though his friend did not receive Christ. Another old friend is ill with Parkinson’s Disease.

“I have shared Christ with him. I hope that through my testimony, I can encourage people.”