MCYS SPEECH NO: 10/2010
DATE OF ISSUE: 11/03/2010
Challenges for Malay/Muslim Community
Sir, like fellow Singaporeans, the Malay/Muslim community continues to grow in confidence and show greater resilience in the face of challenges from within and beyond our shores. We are witnessing an emerging middle class with a wider range of professionals - from traditional areas such as medicine and engineering to new ones such as multimedia and the life sciences. The community produces a good crop of top students who do their schools and nation proud as we see from the number of Anugerah Mendaki recipients which has grown from a handful to a few hundreds. These developments show that our community is responding and adapting well to improve our academic performance and upgrade continuously, thereby seizing the opportunities created by a growing economy.
And it is to the upward bound middle class that we look towards to set the tone and marshal the responses of our community to face the challenges of globalization as raised by Mr Zainul Abidin. The able and bright must step forward to help the community respond to challenges and to be intimately involved in the community's relentless desire to give the best in whatever that we do. With a strong government looking ahead and setting the direction, and with community organizations working hand-in-hand with national agencies to reach out and ensure everyone is on board, we can move closer towards achieving our vision of a Community of Excellence.
Excellence involves consistent effort. So we need to constantly improve our education, increase our knowledge and upgrade our skills. When more of our students increase their competency in subjects like English, Maths and Science, and when our workers constantly upgrade their know-how and skills, and when our professionals gear themselves up for an ever changing economic landscape, the community will be in a stronger position not just to face up to adversities but also to overcome them.
Self-help group Mendaki and our many Malay/Muslim organisations including AMP, Jamiyah, PPIS and 4PM have put in tremendous energy and resources towards ensuring the community's progress. This is a long-haul effort for which there can be no let up. We must ensure that the good work of senior community leaders is continued so that the next generation can also stand tall with fellow Singaporeans and contribute significantly to Singapore's continued well-being and growth.
Cohesiveness
Like fellow communities in Singapore and in cities elsewhere, we will also feel the impact of the income divide. Mr Zaqy has raised a similar concern of keeping the cohesiveness in our community, especially with respect to engaging the middle class and our professionals. The concern of whether an emerging middle class might disassociate itself over time from the larger base is a valid concern observed of minority communities elsewhere. We must avoid this trap. The rising middle class must draw upon our traditions of community cohesiveness and the spirit of unity and reach out to infuse a more progressive outlook in our community.
By all accounts, our able and bright have responded well to this call. Over the last few months after this subject was raised, several of my parliamentary colleagues and I received unsolicited responses from many professionals wanting to do something for our community. The strong feedback from the young and upwardly mobile in our community shows that our efforts to engage them are bearing fruit.
The Community Leaders Forum (CLF) is currently engaging young professionals under a Consultative-Participatory Forward Planning Exercise to have them study the issues, learn from the experiences of older leaders, take ownership of the challenges, and present recommendations at CLF 2010. With this experience and continuous involvement and dedication, over time, our young will be ready to assume leadership positions. 93 young Malay/Muslim professionals from diverse backgrounds are actively engaged in this exercise including several members from various MMOs such as 4PM and Young AMP.
Strong Families are our Foundation
Sir, while we are proud of our achievements, we remain keenly aware of the challenges facing the community. Indeed, the issue of low-income families trapped in multiple problems received a disproportionate amount of public airing late last year. However, this is not a new issue and we are certainly not wringing our hands in despair. Community leaders are aware of this, understand the complexities, and together we launched the Action Plan to Strengthen Malay/Muslim Families in 2007. This plan is a comprehensive strategy that leverages on both national and community resources to help such families move towards normal functioning.
Mendaki is implementing this plan together with several CLF partners. And let me assure Dr Ahmad, Dr Mohd Maliki, Dr Mohd Faishal and Dr Fatimah that our focus has not wavered from strengthening Malay/Muslim families, especially during the economic downturn.
The issues of such low-income families are complex and varied. This is why our key institutions in the community work closely with one another, and collaborate with government agencies as well as MMOs and VWOs, as part of a whole-of-community approach. The CLF has been critical in mobilising this effort. Mendaki, as secretariat for CLF, provides strong foundation support for our CLF partners to serve the many needs of our families, enabling us to offer comprehensive and integrated programmes.
For example, the CLF formed a working committee comprising practitioners and experts from MMOs to develop a core parenting skills manual and to deliver a core parenting skills workshop. The CLF also launched the Strengthening Families Series (SFS) in November last year as part of the Core Parenting Skills Programme aimed at enhancing family resilience. These modules help families to strengthen communication and bond among members and help establish a sense of ambition and aspiration for the family.
In our efforts to assist such families, we also recognize the need to pay special attention to vulnerable groups like those who married as minors and also reconstituted families. Dr Fatimah and Dr Faishal had asked for an update on our efforts for these families.
Sir, on 17 Nov 2008, the House had passed the amendment to the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) to raise the legal age of marriage for Muslim couples from 16 to 18 years of age. From 1 March 2009, anyone who is below 18 and wants to get married is required to obtain a Special Marriage License (SML). Applicants are referred by the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM) to our INSPIRASI hubs for premarital counselling and assessment of the couple's preparedness for marriage. 24 out of 32 applications for these licenses were approved last year after review involving both the couple and their parents.
Run by PPIS-Jurong Family Service Centre and Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP), the INSPIRASI hubs are dedicated to providing intensive support to marriages involving minor couples. In 2009, a total of 323 minor couples attended premarital counselling. Of these, 138 (43%) couples changed their minds about marrying. Even if they proceed with marriage, these couples will be supported in their first 5 years of married life under Club INSPIRASI, a structured programme for minor couples that provides mentoring support, development activities, and other skills that will help in a marriage.
Dr Ahmad had asked about the Muslim Marriage Preparatory Course (MPC). The Course had undergone a major review and revamp in 2008. Now known as 'Bersama Mu', or 'With You', it places greater emphasis on topics like couple communication and financial management. Feedback from couples, operators and the community has been positive. As an extension to Bersama Mu, customized marriage enrichment programmes focusing on enhancing relationships within the family will be rolled out in the first quarter of 2010.
Sir, with these upstream efforts, we have made good progress. There has been a steady decline in the number of Muslim minor marriages. The number of solemnizations involving minors dropped by 18% from 360 in 2008 to 295 in 2009. This was a drop of 45% since 2005. Divorces involving persons who had been minors at the point of marriage have also fallen by 4% from 452 in 2008 to 433 in 2009. Minor divorces have fallen by 32% when compared to the highest record in 2003 when there were 633 minor divorces. Hence, at the macro level, the leading indicators of potential dysfunctionalities such as divorce rates and minor marriages are all coming down steadily. As a community we must be proud of this achievement.
The Syariah Court also goes beyond its role towards a holistic approach of strengthening families. The Marriage Counseling Programme provided by the Court has helped to prevent the break-up of an average 871 marriages per year, which is about 52% of total Syariah Court cases every year.
Children are most hurt when parents divorce. Taking note of this, the Syariah Court has partnered As-Salaam Family Support Centre to implement a customised programme for children whose parents are undergoing divorce. The programme helps children manage their anxiety. Children who are in need of further intervention are referred to relevant agencies for further support.
In collaboration with the Family Development Network of the CLF and As-Salaam PPIS Family Support Centre, and with support from MCYS, the interim centre of Vista Sakinah was set up last year to provide support to reconstituted families. The actual premises for the centre, targeted for completion in the third quarter of 2010, will offer counselling and family enrichment programmes. It aims to reach out to at least 450 step-families by end 2011. MCYS is also in the process of setting up a database as part of efforts to track data on reconstituted families on a longitudinal basis. This is expected to be completed by May 2010.
The community would be please to know that PPIS will be running a new Family Service Centre (FSC) in the Bedok - Chai Chee area to reach out and provide help to the families there. This new FSC is expected to commence operations in the 2nd quarter of 2010 and is a welcome addition to our overall support system for our families. As noted yesterday by Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, a key initiative being piloted in FSCs is the Intensive Case Management framework which aims to provide a structured, intensive and family-centric approach to helping dysfunctional families. These families will receive intensive casework support from dedicated social workers. PPIS-Jurong FSC is currently 1 of 6 FSCs involved in this pilot project. This Intensive Case Management framework will be evaluated after 2 years.
Sir, new voluntary groups have also emerged to assist the vulnerable in our community. A case in point is Casa Raudha Women's Home, a newly set up Voluntary Welfare Organisation with plans to run a crisis shelter for women with young children. Dr Ahmadwould be pleased to know that MCYS is assisting Casa Raudha to establish the shelter. A site in the western part of Singapore has been identified which will co-locate Casa Raudha with the Gift of Love Home. The shelter is expected to commence operations in December 2010.
Sir, the term Casa Raudha also reflects the deep desire to project what was once a period of harmonious co-existence between Christian, Jews and Muslims around 13 centuries ago at the Iberian Peninsula.
Casa is the Spanish word for home and Raudha refers to the heavens in Arabic. This fusion reflects a tradition within Islam of accommodating local culture into its mores and norms. It is this same desire which the late Sheikh Tantawi of Al-Azhar carried with him all his life. He was principled in Islam and a keen advocate of the dialogue between civilisations. He encouraged peaceful and vibrant coexistence of the various faith communities.
At a time when religion is being distorted by some quarters to justify and fan violence, it is to the spirit of the Prophet, the tradition of peaceful Spain, and the actions of contemporary scholars like Tantawi that Muslims continue to look to as our guide on the journey of peaceful co-existence.
Dr Ahmad raised the idea of a campaign to showcase positive profiles of families who were able to overcome their dysfunctional factors. This is a good suggestion. Various ministries and government agencies have also positively profiled people and families who have become self-reliant in their public messaging efforts. An example of this is the Yellow Ribbon Project by MHA.
Response to the Economic Downturn
The economic downturn last year tested the community's resilience and our ability to come together to help one another. Like the rest of Singapore society, the Malay/Muslim community has responded well to this crisis. However, some vulnerable families were adversely affected by the recession, and needed extra help.
Mdm Halimah asked about the efforts to help families affected by the economic downturn. I am glad to say that there was an increase of $1.3 million in the Zakat collection in 2009 to $21.3 million. Out of this, a total of $5.7 million went towards helping the poor and needy. This is an increase of $1.1 million compared to 2008. This means that the community has continued to give and help those in need even during difficult times. 172 out of 210 families under MUIS' Zakat Empowerment Partnership Scheme (EPS) were empowered and no longer need assistance.
Sir, we have also helped our workers to become re-employed. MENDAKI's Job Ready and Job Steady programme reached out to many retrenched workers, including professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), to enhance their chances of securing employment or to remain employable. Over 10,000 workers received re-training and 5,000 workers were assisted in re-employment. A new centre was also set up by MENDAKI SENSE in Woodlands in July 2009 to provide training to those affected by retrenchment.
The education of our children must remain our top priority. Therefore, we focused on providing continued education assistance. Over the past year, Mendaki's Education Trust Fund (ETF) has disbursed $800,000 to 3,780 pre-school, primary and secondary students. This is an increase of $220,000 over the previous year. The disbursement of these funds is pegged to the families' attendance at Programme 'Bijak Belanja', which empowers families to be more financially savvy. Mendaki has also provided fee waivers and tuition subsidies amounting to $380,000 to more than 2000 students. -We intend to continue to expand the scope of the ETF and our education programmes.
This year, the ETF aims to assist at least 1,200 ITE students. In addition to financial aid, a pilot-run programme will identify 60 students to be provided with academic coaching and peer guidance under the ''Academic and Lifeskills Coaching Programme''. Mendaki will also continue to expand the reach and scope of its educational programmes including the ''Tiga M'' programme and the ''Success in PSLE Mathematics'' workshop.
Religious Institutions are our Support Pillars
Sir, let me now turn to our religious institutions - our mosques and madrasahs. The challenge is for our religious education to remain up-to-date and relevant to the needs of the community within a changing global landscape.
Mr Zainudin and Dr Ahmad asked about our plans to further develop our Asatizah and improve the Madrasah system.
MUIS has invested $2.5 million over the last 2 years to provide fully-sponsored training for all Madrasah teachers and staff including those not in the Joint Madrasah System or JMS. As a result, 75% of 248 Madrasah teachers have obtained teaching qualifications through MUIS funding. Another group of 30 teachers is expected to begin their training this year. All Madrasah teachers are expected to obtain teaching qualifications by 2011.
While 5 out of our 6 full-time Madrasahs successfully met the PSLE Benchmark last year, there is potential for improvement. MUIS has already begun preparations for this year's PSLE. For example, Madrasah Irsyad has special programmes to identify and address the students? weak areas. These programmes include remedial and enrichment classes with a Teacher Mentor after school hours and during term break. Parents are also involved in target-setting sessions with their children at the beginning of the year and at mid-year reviews. In addition to motivational workshops, all P6 students also attend coaching sessions by undergraduate mentors.
While MUIS is building capabilities of the Joint Madrasah System (JMS) that now includes Madrasah Irsyad, Madrasah Aljunied, and Madrasah Al-Arabiah, MUIS remains committed to developing and assisting all six full-time Madrasahs. MUIS disbursed $500,000 to all Madrasahs as part of a special grant to assist them in PSLE preparations. The 3 Madrasahs which are not in JMS also received a total of $400,000 in the form of student capitation grants and $800,000 for teacher allowances from 2007 to 2009. MUIS will continue to give financial assistance and support for teacher development and enrichment programmes for students to the 3 Madrasahs and continue to welcome them to be part of the JMS. Madrasahs in the JMS benefit from a consolidated and efficient management structure. Students in the JMS also benefit from a consolidated and streamlined curriculum that is able to offer multiple academic options -namely the religious (ukhrawi), hybrid and academic tracks.
However, we should bear in mind that our Madrasahs are private schools that the community funds to provide for religious scholars and teachers - a need which the secular state cannot fulfil. So, across our madrasahs, students who are heading towards specialised religious qualifications should be our primary focus, and they should receive a greater subsidy so as to better utilise limited community funds.
Dr Ahmad asked how JMS Madrasahs are planning to engage and serve the community. The priority for the JMS Madrasahs is to focus on the education of their students. Some of these students will be future religious leaders who can contribute to our community. Nevertheless, as part of the JMS programme, students will be encouraged to carry out community involvement, including taking part in charity projects and volunteering as facilitators at youth camps organised by Malay/Muslim Organisations. We similarly encouraged other non-JMS madrasahs to do likewise.
Mr Zainuddin asked about our plans to develop our Asatizah and ensure our religious education programmes remain relevant to the community. Besides developing our Madrasahs, MUIS has committed up to $400,000 towards the development and training of our religious leaders. MUIS has established the Asatizah Executive Development Programme (AEDP) to help Asatizah on the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) develop the skills to perform their roles effectively. 330 Asatizah have completed the Executive Development programme. In addition, we are heartened by the Asatizah that have shown continual efforts to upgrade themselves. 13 are currently pursuing their Master's degree and 6 of them are pursuing their PhD.
In 2010, MUIS will also launch the Asatizah Immersion Programme where young religious graduates and mosque religious officers will undergo a 6-month attachment at MUIS to broaden their perspective and build up their competencies in research. This is important as our religious leaders should be exposed to multiple disciplines and perspectives.
MUIS has adapted and introduced innovative religious education programmes to reach out to different segments of the community. For example, our part-time religious education programme has moved away from past didactic methods towards more contemporary methods of learning. Re-aligned as age-specific, learner-centered packages known as Kids aLIVE, Tweens aLIVE, Teens aLIVE and Youth aLIVE, the classes help students apply Islam to their daily lives, including coping with school life, relationship with siblings and parents and even boy-girl relationships. The aLIVE curriculum is also being reviewed to incorporate the best features of modern pedagogy. These changes help to ensure that our religious education programmes remain relevant and contextualised to our community. We want our programmes to be engaging, and to be the preferred source of information on Islam. A well-educated community grounded in our identity, traditions and aspirations as Singaporean Muslims will also help us remain resilient against external negative influences.
Mr Hawazi requested for an update on the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund programme as well as the future of our mosque development. Indeed, the development and upgrading of our mosques is a key focus for the strengthening of our religious infrastructure. I am glad to report that the Al-Mawaddah mosque in Sengkang has been completed in the 2nd quarter of 2009. We have also begun to incorporate environmentally-friendly, energy-conserving features in our mosques. With the Al-Mawaddah mosque, we were able to attain BCA's Greenmark Certification. MUIS intends to improve on this record with future mosques.
We amended the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) in 2008 to allow us to expand the use of funds under Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund (MBMF) for religious education and mosque upgrading. The amount collected after the amendments took effect last year was $14.8 million. This was about $2 million higher than MUIS' projection.
Sir, this speaks well of the spirit of sharing and giving in our community, even in the midst of an economic downturn. Our workers did not think twice about giving to MBMF. I thank them for their generosity and support of this key institution which is a source of pride for the Singapore Muslim Community.
During the second reading of AMLA amendments in 2008, I informed the House that MUIS will work on a plan to upgrade older mosques. Mosques were selected for upgrading based on the urgency of repairs and the need for more prayer space. Given the limited funds available annually, MUIS has carefully prioritised the use of MBMF to co-fund 5 projects under the Mosque Upgrading Programme (MUP) over five years. Following Muhajirin, the other mosques in the time frame are An-Nur, Al-Ansar, Hajjah Rahimahbi and Alkaff Upper Serangoon. The selection was determined after a full building audit for all Phase 1 and 2 MBF mosques and non-MBF mosques that have not been upgraded since 1990.
Under the Mosque Upgrading Programme, selected projects may be granted funding of up to 80% of the costs of upgrading. MUIS will take into account the mosque's available funds, the ability of the mosque and the community to raise the balance of the costs and the scale of redevelopment works when deciding on the quantum of funding for these projects.
Mr Hawazi and Dr Maliki had also raised the issue of overcrowded mosques. As part of the continuing efforts to better manage the available mosque space, MUIS has clustered the 69 existing mosques into zonal clusters, and will be encouraging congregants of mosques that are more crowded to visit other mosques located nearby. Under the Mosque Upgrading Programme (MUP), MUIS has also identified both MBMF and non-MBMF mosques island wide that will be progressively upgraded to increase capacity.
MCYS, together with MND, URA and MUIS, have studied the issue. Based on our assessment, there is particularly high demand for prayer space in Jurong West and Woodlands because they are large towns with a significant Muslim population. In addition, the mosques in these areas also serve Muslim workers from the nearby industrial estates at Tuas and Woodlands, as well as students from the nearby tertiary institutions such as Nanyang Technological University and Republic Polytechnic, during Friday prayers. Unfortunately, there are no other mosques nearby which are able to cope with the spill-over demand. Even after upgrading the existing mosques to increase capacity, there would still be a shortage of space. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the government has decided to reserve land for MUIS to build two additional mosques in Woodlands and Jurong West.
Sir, when the two new mosques are ready, residents in the two estates can expect greater synergy between the existing and new mosques, as well as more integrated infrastructure and programmes.
Sir, allow me now address the House in Malay.
Tuan Pengerusi, tahun lalu saya telah menyentuh tentang pelbagai cabaran yang dihadapi oleh masyarakat Melayu-Islam untuk mengharungi kemelesetan ekonomi. Saya telah menekankan peri pentingnya para pekerja kita berusaha gigih untuk meraih kemahiran atau kelayakan baru, serta memastikan anak-anak kita terus berada di bangku sekolah untuk menimba ilmu walaupun ibu bapa mereka mungkin menghadapi masalah kewangan.
Ringkasnya, usaha-usaha mempertingkat kemahiran, kelayakan dan taraf pendidikan merupakan satu-satunya cara untuk meraih tahap pencapaian yang lebih tinggi, dan seterusnya menikmati taraf kehidupan yang lebih baik. Kita perlu terus memperbaiki diri sama ada ketika ekonomi negara sedang berkembang atau meleset.
Baru-baru ini, pemerintah telah mengumumkan beberapa rancangan untuk mengekalkan dayasaing negara dan memacu ekonomi ke tahap lebih tinggi. Salah satu strategi yang telah dikenalpasti ialah usaha meningkatkan daya penghasilan pekerja. Para pekerja Melayu/Islam, termasuk karyawan, perlu menyertai arus ini untuk memastikan kemahiran dan kelayakan mereka terus relevan dengan keperluan ekonomi negara.
Institusi-institusi utama masyarakat seperti MUIS, Mendaki, ROMM dan SYC akan terus melaksanakan pelbagai program untuk menangani pelbagai cabaran yang kita hadapi serta mempertingkat taraf pencapaian kita - terutama sekali dalam bidang-bidang seperti pendidikan, sosial dan ekonomi. Saya yakin menerusi kerjasama setiap anggota dan pemimpin masyarakat Melayu/Islam, generasi mendatang kita mampu meraih tahap pencapaian yang lebih tinggi.
Tuan Pengerusi selain daripada pencapaian dalam bidang seperti pendidikan; masyarakat Melayu/Islam juga prihatin terhadap keperluan rohani atau keagamaan mereka. Bagi pihaknya, MUIS akan terus meneliti perkembangan dan keperluan masyarakat Islam setempat dan berusaha untuk memastikan semua keperluan masyarakat Malayu/Islam dapat dipenuhi sebaik mungkin.
Masjid merupakan salah satu institusi utama masyarakat Melayu/Islam setempat. Program Pembinaan Masjid yang dilaksanakan memastikan setiap estet perumahan mempunyai sebuah masjid. Masjid terbaru yang siap dibina tahun lalu ialah Masjid Al-Mawaddah di Sengkang. Sebuah lagi masjid baru akan dibina di Punggol menjelang 2013.
Tuan Pengerusi, MUIS akan turut melaksanakan satu program untuk memperbaiki dan mempertingkat masjid-masjid yang kian usang. Langkah ini dijangka dapat memenuhi keperluan jangka panjang bagi ruang ibadah di beberapa estet atau kawasan tertentu. Namun, satu kajian menunjukkan program peningkatan sahaja tidak akan dapat memenuhi keperluan bagi masjid di dua estet perumahan - Woodlands dan Jurong West.
Oleh itu, dua buah masjid baru akan dibina di Woodlands dan Jurong West untuk memenuhi keperluan para penduduk Islam di kedua-dua estet itu. MUIS akan mengumumkan butir-butir lanjut kelak. Apabila siap kelak, para penduduk boleh menjangkakan integrasi dan sinergi daripada kedua-dua masjid baru ini yang terletak dalam sebuah estet yang sama. Saya yakin rancangan ini akan membantu mengurangkan kesesakan yang dialami kini di masjid-masjid di Woodlands dan Jurong West; terutama sekali pada hari Jumaat dan hari-hari cuti umum.
Tuan Pengerusi, masyarakat Melayu/Islam boleh berbangga kerana sikapnya yang progresif. Kita sentiasa mencari jalan untuk meningkatkan pencapaian; dan tidak teragak-agak untuk menangani sebarang isu atau cabaran. Sikap ini telah membantu kita memperbaiki taraf pendidikan kita dan menangani cabaran-cabaran sosial yang kita hadapi. Perjalanan kita ke arah sebuah visi sebuah masyarakat cemerlang mungkin masih lagi jauh. Namun, kita boleh menarik nafas lega kerana berada di landasan atau laluan yang betul. Masyarakat Melayu/Islam boleh meneruskan perjalanan ke arah visi itu dengan penuh keyakinan.
In conclusion, Sir. I thank MPs for the questions and suggestions. The community continues to progress in many areas - be it education, skills or quality of life. We benefit from the Singapore system and complement it with community self-help. However, there are pressing issues that affect the poor and needy in our community. These issues will require continued focus and it will take to achieve results. At the same time, our professional class must also lead in preparing for an ever changing economic landscape. The Community Leaders Forum has given shape and substance to our collective efforts to deal with the issues. If we can keep our growing middle class engaged and willing to lead the rest, we are assured of a strong community and the community will continue to rise towards our vision of a Community of Excellence.