By Tan Weizhen

HE STARTED when he was 16 years old. The lure of easy money saw him burgle as many as 10 flats a night.

Soon, he was making $5,000 to $10,000 a month, a huge sum for the teen at the time.

At 19, he gained notoriety as the 'Spiderman' burglar, was caught and sent to jail for eight years.

Then a glimmer of promise - he sat for his A levels while in prison and managed to gain admission into a university here. But upon his early release in 2004, he fell back into crime when his father could not afford the university tuition fees.

He claimed that depression and desperation made him turn to his old trade.

'I told myself I've caused enough trouble. So I thought, to hell with it, I'll do it again. I didn't know what I was thinking. I was very depressed,' he said.

He was soon arrested. This time, he was sentenced to jail for 10 years and six months, and given 12 strokes of the cane.

His regret at having disappointed his parents surfaces in a new book offering rare, riveting insights into the minds of hardened criminals here.

The collection of 12 true tales features interviews with criminals who are still doing time for offences such as cheating, rape and abuse.

The book, Criminal Intent, which is commissioned by Singapore Prisons, is written by Straits Times senior writer Wong Kim Hoh, who took six months to complete it.

The aim? To let readers know what makes a criminal tick and that crime does not pay.

In the foreword of the book, Director of Prisons Ng Joo Hee said the book is a 'primer on crime and punishment' which will give readers a 'better understanding of the perversions behind the criminal minds and the destructive behaviours' of those interviewed.

Mr Wong, a veteran journalist of 20 years, said it was no 'hard and fast' exercise to interview the prisoners.

Many a time, he found himself having to tease the facts out of them as they were 'quite slippery with the truth'.

'It was not a simple exercise. Either they're economical with the truth because of their shame, or they exaggerate - their crime is still a badge of honour,' he said.

For example, Azlina (not her real name) was particularly unrepentant, he said. The 16-year-old girl is now in a reformative training centre after she coerced a man to rape a 13-year-old girl for bad-mouthing her.

When he failed to 'perform', she forced the victim to give him oral sex.

The older girl told Mr Wong: 'I like to irritate people, I want to push people to see how far I can go. I never get beaten, I beat people up.'

Yet, moments later, the girl, who was fostered out when she was a mere child, said: 'I'm sick and tired of my life. You also need parents to guide you.'

The only common thread Mr Wong could find among the prisoners he spoke to was that human nature was very complex.

'Their motivation is not always easy to pin down. You could say it's greed in some instances. Sometimes their backgrounds and the way they were brought up play a part. Some of them even conveniently blame their parents,' he said.

Criminal Intent, which was launched on Monday, is available at all major bookstores at $14 (before GST).

This article was first published in The Straits Times.