In a tale of resilience and redemption, a prisoner known as Murad (not his real name) has been granted a royal pardon by the Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, in conjunction with the latter's birthday yesterday.

Murad’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary. He made history as the first individual under the Prison Department to earn a PhD in Business Administration while serving his sentence.

Detained at the Kajang Prison Drug Rehabilitation Centre at the...