Instead, Mr Ian Robinson, the home's executive director, asked him to talk to the elderly residents and play games with them. The only painting he did was for a mural in the dining hall.

Akel - not his real name as probationers under 16 years old cannot be identified - had heard that community service meant menial work. So he was surprised when his primary role turned out to be befriending the residents.

'I found that I could cheer and comfort these elderly people,' he said. 'And it made me aware of the needs of my grandparents, with whom I hardly spoke.'

In January last year, he was part of a gang which assaulted and robbed a teenager. He was placed on probation for 1 1/2 years and ordered to do 100 hours of community service.

The Community Service Order (CSO) was first included as a condition of probation in 1996. It allowed judges to send offenders aged 14 years and above to work unpaid at welfare homes for anything between 40 and 240 hours, as punishment for crimes such as drug-taking, shoplifting and rioting.

Initially, offenders carried out menial chores, which some resented.

Probation officers and the staff of participating welfare homes realised that there could be more beneficial results if the youngsters were given other jobs.

Said Mr Robinson: 'The CSO can be a life-changing experience only if the activities allow them to relate to our residents, so we would rather hire people to do the menial tasks.'

A gradual change led to the launch last year of Project Sunshine, which taps offenders' talents, interests and resourcefulness to let them serve the less privileged.

It is hoped that they will develop a sense of empathy when they bring laughter and cheer to the residents of nursing and children's homes.

At the same time, they learn new skills, such as event planning, and acquire social skills when dealing directly with the voluntary welfare organisations to which they are attached.

A 2002 study found that about 85 per cent of probationers completed their CSO programmes, better than a worldwide average of 75 per cent. More impressive is that nine in 10 probationers remained crime-free for three years after completing their CSOs.

It is a statistic few other countries can match, said Mr Robinson, who has 12 years of social work experience in the United States.

Last year, there were 978 new probationers, down from 1,168 in 2004.

There are now 128 agencies in the programme, up from only 10 a decade ago.

They include the Ang Mo Kio Community Library, the Singapore Zoo and Jurong BirdPark, though most are still welfare centres, such as the Metta Welfare Association and Jamiyah Home.

For Akel, serving the residents of Peacehaven helped him realise the importance of behaving properly.

'The residents may be old and sick but they have pride, so I had to be very careful in the way I behaved. I couldn't be my former arrogant and rude self,' said the Secondary 3 dropout, who is now a waiter.

Peacehaven resident Bernard Tan, 58, a former security guard, said he appreciated Akel's visits. He has a grown-up daughter who visits him occasionally.

'Some of us rarely receive visitors, so these young people are very welcome,' said Mr Tan, who suffered a stroke six years ago and is semi-paralysed.

'They are fun to talk to and have interesting opinions - very different from mine. And when they play games, they let me win!'

Another resident, Mr B. Zainal, 60, said: 'I know that they have to come here as part of their probation but after some time, they too seem to enjoy our companionship.

'My children don't visit me, so I treat the CSO visitors as their replacements.'

Staff at the welfare homes find the enthusiasm of the young visitors infectious.

Madam Shafiyah Sarwan, head of the Clementi Training and Development Centre for intellectually disabled people, said: 'The whole mood of the centre changes when they are around. There is laughter and some gentle teasing.'

Many of the young offenders have such a positive experience that they return to visit their welfare organisations even after completing their CSO hours and probation.

The Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports has found that about six in 10 came back after their probation ends.

Susan, now 21, has been back to Peacehaven three times, even though she no longer had to.

'I became quite attached to a resident, whom I had to bribe with biscuits to get her to do things like comb her hair,' she explained.

She was put on probation for 1-1/2 years and ordered to do 100 hours of community work for consuming Erimin-5, a controlled drug, in late 2003.

Madam Shafiyah's centre became a CSO agency two years ago and, initially, the staff had doubts about taking in heavily-tattooed probationers.

To their surprise, the young people turned out to be some of the most committed workers and came back even after their probation had ended.

'The CSO programme makes them realise that there are people more disadvantaged than themselves and this can inspire them to change their ways,' she said.

'That's where the CSO programme really surprised all of us.'

khush@sph.com.sg