SD Guthrie Expands Prisoner Reintegration Programme with Over 900 Work Placements

Petaling Jaya, 14 October 2025 – SD Guthrie Berhad (Guthrie) has 948 work placements in its oil palm estates nationwide for parolees. This initiative is the largest prisoner reintegration effort by a Malaysian plantation company since the Malaysian Prisons Department introduced the Corporate Smart Internship (CSI) programme in 2016.

The CSI programme helps parolees and early-release inmates to reintegrate into society by providing them with on-the-job training and placements through collaborations with the private sector. Guthrie’s collaboration with the Malaysian Prisons Department, which began in 2019, supports the reintegration of two groups into society: Inmates Categorised as Parolees (‘Orang di Parol’ or ODP) and ‘Persons Released on Licence’ (‘Orang Bebas Berlesen’ or OBB). The company is targeting to recruit more than 450 individuals from each category, to fill the available work vacancies.

In 2025, 131 parolees joined Guthrie’s workforce under the programme, bringing the total number of parolees on the company’s payroll to 152. Since 2019, Guthrie has successfully recruited 761 parolees, of whom 15 have transitioned to become permanent employees within the company’s upstream operations.

Parolees under this initiative are currently working in 63 Guthrie estates in Perak, Kedah, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Sabah, and Sarawak.

“This programme is about more than providing jobs; it is about rebuilding lives, and restoring hope and dignity, whilst contributing to safer, more inclusive communities,” said Guthrie’s Group Managing Director, Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha. “We are proud to be a part of this initiative which provides ex-inmates with a second chance in life, which I strongly believe is a basic human right of every human being. These individuals should not be defined by their past, but by the future they are working hard to build. Guthrie is proud to help them be part of that future by becoming productive members of society,” he added.

Going beyond short-term employment, Guthrie’s offers structured on-the-job training, mentoring and supervision. Parolees under the programme gain real employment experience while receiving the same benefits as all other Guthrie workers. This includes the minimum wage as stipulated by the National Minimum Wage Order 2022 and other benefits under the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (MAPA)/National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) Collective Bargaining Agreement 2019. These include free housing, water, subsidised electricity, along with fair working hours under the Employment Act and optional paid overtime.

It is anticipated that real work experience and benefits will help to reduce recidivism.

Guthrie remains one of the few plantation companies in Malaysia to implement the programme at scale, reinforcing its leadership in responsible employment practices and its role in national rehabilitation efforts. Guthrie encourages other companies to join this effort, to help build a more inclusive and rehabilitative society. 

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