HOW ABOUT A LITTLE PRISON PAMPERING?

       Against a backdrop of razor wire and machine guns, beauty therapists at Malaysia's first "jail spa" quietly tend to their customers under the watchful eye of uniformed wardens.
       Despite the tight security, the innovative Balinese-decorated spa is doing a brisk trade while giving inmates at the country's biggest women's prison a trade they can turn to after their release.
       "I'm not afraid at all, because I have faith that these prisoners are wll trained to serve the customers and our safety is assured here," says Noor Aliza Osman, 45, who's on her second visit to the spa at Kajang Prison.
       "It's comfortable here, the prices are reasonable and I don't have to wait too long to get my hair done, like at other salons," says the mother of four, who's having her hair henna-coloured by 30-year-old prisoner Farah.
       With her hair neatly tied back and dressed in a loose green jacket and trousers, Farah looks like any other beauty therapist, apart from the prisoner identification number sewn onto her uniform.
       "I'm very glad to have this chance and I have regular customers here who've been kind enough to ask me to work for them once I'm released, since they've become familiar with me," she smiles.
       "This is a very good experience. I've learned useful skiils here. I'm considering opening up my own spa if I have enough money when I'm freed."
       Farah - using an assumed name at the request of prison authorities - is an Indonesian who worked as a waitress before overstaying her visa in Malaysia and being sentenced to a year in jail.
       She's among seven prisoners currently working at the spa, who go through four security checkpoints each morning to reach the salon from their cells a few hundred metres away.
       Once at the cosy building, where the scent of aromatic oils floats in the air, they're permitted to mingly freely with their customers, chatting and laughing ad they work a nine-hour shift under close watch by three wardens.
       Only inmates who haven't committed serious or violent offences are considered for a position at the spa. Some 60 per cent of the jail's 1,600 inmates are foreigners, many of them Indonesians convicted on immigration charges.
       The salon has welcomed a steady stream of customers since opening late last year, offering head-to-toe beauty services such as facials, pedicures, foot reflexology and massages at low prices.
       "The response has been overwhelming so far," says the prison's chief inspector, Fauziah Husaini.
       "Many customers were hesitant to come to a prison at the beginning, but this programme can change public perception about prisoners, so they'll be easily accepted in society in future," she says.
       Prisoners working in the spa are paid a small allowance, and the rest of the income generated from the business is used to help fund other rehabilitation programmes, such as bakery and sewing classes.
       "We're basically helping them prepare to adapt to society when they're freed," Fauziah says. "We also hope this programme can lift the veil of secrecy about prison in the eyes of the public.
       "It's all about empowerment and to give these prisoners a sense of confidence - that's how the idea of setting up this spa came about."