A Sense of Community

1.                  May I take this opportunity to wish everyone present Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

2.                  When I read that an old acquaintance, Isa Kamari, had been awarded the Cultural Medallion for 2007, I felt very happy for him.  He has done himself, his family, the arts sector, and our community proud. He joins an illustrious group of Malay/Muslims – Ahmad bin Ja’afar, Nadiputra, Cikgu Muhammad Ariff, Som Said and Abdul Ghani b Abdul Hamid – all of whom have brought pride to our community and Singapore with their remarkable contributions to the arts regionally and globally. I congratulate Isa for winning the award. I understand he is now in Shanghai taking part in the Singapore Season.

3.                  Reading the Straits Times write-up on him winning the award, I could sense that we are witnessing an interesting development in the community. Here we have someone who has gone through English-stream schooling, graduating, and carrying on a successful career as an architect.  At the same time he also pursues with equal passion his interest as a Malay writer after work.  And his body of work has been judged to be worthy of the highest Arts award in the land. If he is a reflection of how our community will ride the wave of the future, we are a community of great promise indeed. And that is why we recognize our young talent with the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award.  What our community can offer has changed, and changed for the better. This is the result of the many years of effort that we have put in to build up a strong and resilient community.

4.                  The progress that we are making year after year indicates that we are on the right track and the changes that we have put in place are on the way to bearing fruit. It is no longer a novelty to hear Malay/Muslim students doing well in key national examinations and in the tertiary institutions. But there are those that I believe deserve special mention. Ms Nurshahidah Roslie, is the 2007 recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal for ITE Students. Her achievement is unique because she could have gone to a polytechnic after ‘O’ levels, but instead she decided to go to ITE, as she felt that the ITE course gave her a first-class foundation in the science of sports management.  She then topped the Sports Management Course and also became the top all-round ITE student winning the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal. She is currently pursuing a diploma in Sports and Exercise Sciences at Republic Polytechnic, where she hopes to learn more on the business aspect of sports in order to design peak performance programmes for athletes in the future. I congratulate her on her sense of mission and wish her every success in her future endeavours.

5.                  Indeed, our students are excelling at every level because parents have realized the value of education in bringing the individual, the family and our community forward. Parents are showing strong commitment towards their children’s education. Even among low-income parents, we have come across many that are committed to giving their best to their children. For example, Mdm Zubaidah Ahmad, who has three daughters, attended the Maju Minda Matematika (Tiga M) workshops – a series of mediated learning workshops for parents with pre-school and primary school going children.  She attended Tiga M to help her youngest daughter who is in K2 establish a strong foundation in mathematics.  She is also a member of Keluarga AKRAB – our family excellence circles.  Madam Zubaidah may only have had Secondary 2 education, but she is determined that her daughters must do better and go further.  Indeed her eldest daughter, Yusnizar bte Yusman, received this year’s Anugerah Mendaki in the polytechnic category.  Yusnizar is currently pursuing a 4 year NTU-NIE degree programme. 

6.                  Singapore has a world-class education system.  If our community wants to benefit from this, we must continue to adopt an open, positive attitude towards learning and education just like Madam Zubaidah.  It is not difficult for our students to excel, given the right support and motivation from parents.  Our families must continue to take up every opportunity that Singapore’s education system offers.

7.                  Our workers are taking pride in their professions and the value they bring to society.  Take the example of Mr Salehudin Hashim.    In his 18 year career with SBS transit, Mr Salehudin has been awarded several service excellence awards by his company.  This year, the Bus Captain received the Excellent Service Award, a national level award from SPRING Singapore.  What makes Mr Salehudin special? When faced with commuters who avoid paying bus fares, Mr Salehudin did not scold or warn them.  Instead, he paid for the passengers’ fare.  Once, when a primary school student did not have enough money to pay for the ride, Mr Salehudin not only paid for the child's bus fare, but he also gave her $2 for her return trip.  When the child's mother offered to return the money the next day, Mr Salehudin declined.  He believes that if one does a good deed to a fellow man, he will be remembered forever. I applaud Mr Salehudin’s contribution to his company and his sterling strength of character that makes us feel proud.

8.                  Our community is also doing well at the organizational level. Our organizations have come together convincingly, for the first time in our recent history, to tackle the key challenges facing our community. Through the Community Leaders Forum (CLF), as many as 16 organisations have joined hands to run many much needed programmes such as educational seminars, youth-related activities, drop-in centres for our teenagers and their parents, and more recently the first ever shelter for unwed mothers in our community. These are laudable developments that show the sense of community among our community leaders.

9.                  Our mosques have been re-structured to allow for better outreach to the various segments of our community. Today, our mosques are important nodes for our young and families to re-connect back to the wider community. This recent Ramadan has seen a surge in outreach activities conducted by our youth to bring the blessings of Islam beyond our community. Family-friendly activities were conducted at our mosques not just to attract families but to allow families to contribute back to the community. I was heartened to read of a Malaysian journalist complimenting Masjid Assyafaah on its outreach programmes after visiting the mosque.

10.             I am optimistic about the future of our community. The achievements of Mr Isa Kamari, Ms Nurshahidah Roslie, Madam Zubaidah and Mr. Salehudin, show that across the community, every one of us is making the effort to excel in our areas of interest and expertise. These successes are not just about an individual making the mark, but positive proof that our community can produce individuals that excel at every level. While challenges remain, we must come together and ride on our sense of community to bring the community even further.

11.             We must strengthen our institutions and organizations so that together they become strong pillars for our progress. The CLF structure is an excellent way to strengthen and synergize our institutions so that we can do more for our community. Our mosques are now coming together in a cluster formation to share services and expertise, again to the benefit of our community.

12.             Let me now share with the community our plans for another set of important institutions within our community – the six full-time madrasahs. 

13.             Our madrasahs have a long and proud tradition. Over the decades, they have produced well-known and outstanding asatizah and ulamas both in Singapore and the region. These asatizahs and ulamas have contributed immensely to the religious life and spiritual well-being of the local Muslim community and beyond. For example, Madrasah Aljunied has strong links with Al-Azhar University of Egypt and has produced many eminent religious teachers and leaders. Some of our madrasahs have also contributed to the growing numbers of Malay/Muslim professionals. For example, Madrasah Al-Maarif – an all girls’ school - has consistently produced students who have gone on to excel not just in the religious sector but also in areas such as medicine, life sciences and social sciences.  

14.             The madrasah community has not remained at a standstill. Over the past few years, the madrasahs - together with MUIS - have introduced several key initiatives to continue to improve and uplift the madrasahs. Capacity building has been a major focus area. More than 190 madrasah teachers and principals have gone for training conducted by local and foreign training institutions like Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) and Edith-Cowan University in Australia. They are now better equipped to teach our madrasah students, as well as run and manage the madrasahs.

15.             Apart from building the capacity of our teachers, MUIS also spearheaded an effort to revise the ukhrawi or religious curriculum for our madrasah students at the primary and secondary levels. The Curriculum Development Project, which was started in 2001, introduced a more flexible and relevant religious curriculum. These changes have helped our students to achieve a better balance between the demands of the religious curriculum and the academic curriculum. To help madrasah students who need more attention and support for the learning of academic subjects, madrasahs have collaborated with Mendaki to offer these students enrichment programmes in Mathematics and Science.

16.             To date, MUIS, through the support of our community, has spent some $21 million on teacher training, student development, curriculum development and a host of financial grants.

17.             These efforts thus far are a testimony of our commitment to help maintain and further develop the proud tradition that we have here in Singapore. But we can do more if we want to make our madrasahs institutions of excellence that we can all be proud of into the future. Let me share with you our vision of our madrasah system.

18.             Today, all 6 full-time madrasahs in Singapore offer primary and secondary classes. Half of the madrasahs also offer pre-university classes. Our madrasahs have cooperated with one another and with MUIS in many areas. Nevertheless, in delivering education to students, they operate quite independently of one another. To develop our madrasah system further so as to realize greater benefits for our students, we need a creative leap. To do this, we need to create a synergy among the madrasahs in order to reap the benefits of scale.

19.             Over the last few months, madrasah leaders and MUIS have discussed the future of the madrasah system. They resolved to bring our madrasahs to the next stage of their development and develop further this institution. As a result of this discussion, I am happy to announce that MUIS together with three madrasahs – Al-Irsyad, Aljunied and Al-Arabiah – have agreed to collaborate within the framework of the Joint Madrasah System. The madrasahs have agreed to work closely together to further improve education standards and specialise in their areas of strength, while still retaining the individual identity and character of each madrasah. 

20.             Madrasah Al-Irsyad will specialise in primary education. Madrasah Aljunied and Al-Arabiah will specialise in secondary madrasah education. Under such a model, Irsyad will stop taking in secondary students and serve as the feeder school for Aljunied and Arabiah. Both Aljunied and Arabiah will stop taking in primary students to focus their attention on secondary education. 

21.             At the secondary level, Aljunied will focus on the religious curriculum, offering more intensive religious education for our students who are interested to pursue Islamic education at higher levels. Through Aljunied’s tie-up with Al-Azhar University, it will continue to prepare our future religious elite for religious tertiary education.  Aljunied will also offer a hybrid curriculum, providing equal emphasis on both religious and academic subjects. Students who are more inclined to study academic subjects within a madrasah setting can enroll in Al-Arabiah, which will provide greater emphasis to its academic curriculum. Through specialisation, the madrasahs can better focus their limited resources on their areas of strength, and function more efficiently and effectively. 

22.             This is a bold and progressive step taken by our three madrasahs. Their voluntary commitment towards specializing in specific areas will mutually benefit our madrasah students. Students will enjoy an education system that is flexible enough to cater to their different aptitudes and abilities. They will have more options in terms of the educational pathways that they can pursue, so that they can enter the post-secondary institution of their choice with ease. They will also be exposed to the huge range of opportunities that are available in Singapore.

23.             The 3 madrasahs will also benefit, through greater optimization of their resources. They can share their human resource, finance and info-communication systems.  This will allow the madrasahs to focus on their core function – to educate students and produce our future religious leaders and asatizah. MUIS strongly supports this Joint Madrasah System and will allocate appropriate funding, recruit professionally trained teachers as well as qualified management teams, and provide administrative systems.

24.             In fact, given their commitment towards providing excellent religious education beyond the primary level, Madrasah Aljunied has started discussions with a premier Islamic university on a diploma programme in Islamic studies to be offered through an Islamic college here in Singapore. I support this development and urge them to work with MUIS on this idea.

25.             The Joint Madrasah System will be phased in gradually from 2009. In any effort at integrating different systems, there will be challenges. We need to sort these out rationally with the view that ultimately what really matters is how our students will benefit from this effort. With the commitment of the participating madrasahs and the involvement of MUIS, and support of the community, we are confident that the Joint Madrasah System will offer the best that we can give to our students in the madrasahs. It is my hope that over time the other 3 madrasahs consider joining this system.

26.             The new initiatives and changes that will be introduced in the madrasahs will help to improve our religious schools, both for long term and short term challenges.  In the short term, all primary six students in madrasahs will need to take the PSLE in 2008 under the Compulsory Education Act.  The Compulsory Education Act introduced in 2003 requires all Singapore citizens to receive 6 years of compulsory schooling up to primary six. Children attending madrasahs will have to take the PSLE Exams at Primary Six from 2008.

27.             Under the Compulsory Education Act, madrasahs will not be able to take in new Primary 1 Singapore Citizen students if they do not meet the PSLE benchmark.  Clearly, it will be disruptive to the madrasah if it is prevented from taking in a new Primary 1 intake every time if does not meet the PSLE benchmark.  The madrasah may also be penalized for an unexpected result in any one year. 

28.             Hence, the Ministry of Education, in consultation with MUIS, has decided that primary madrasahs will be allowed a three-year period over which they must clear the benchmark at least twice, in order to be permitted to enroll new P1 intake for the following three-year block.  This will be the Primary 1 Intake Criteria for all madrasahs from 2008 onwards. A primary madrasah that is not able to meet the benchmark over a three-year block will have its potential P1 intake channelled to other primary madrasahs that have met the benchmark.  However, once the madrasah meets the benchmark twice in a 3-year block, it will be able to enroll its P1 students in the following 3-year block.  

29.             To help our madrasahs meet the PSLE requirement, I am pleased to announce that MUIS will provide a special PSLE Ready Package worth $700,000 to help madrasahs prepare their students for PSLE. With the PSLE Ready Package, madrasahs can provide more learning support or enrichment programmes in the PSLE subjects for students. It will also provide more training for the academic subject teachers and fund a teacher mentor scheme, where qualified teachers with experience teaching in national schools will provide coaching and guidance to our madrasah teachers. Such transfer of skills and experience will be invaluable for the madrasahs and will definitely benefit both teachers and students.

30.             We are optimistic that with MUIS’ support – both the ongoing efforts to improve madrasah standards, as well as the latest PSLE Ready Package - and coupled with the diligent and untiring efforts of the madrasahs to prepare their students for PSLE, the madrasahs can succeed in meeting the PSLE benchmark.

31.             The Government has also confirmed its commitment to allow up to 400 students to enroll for madrasah education at P1 each year as a whole, even if a madrasah cannot meet the P1 Intake Criteria. 

32.             The madrasahs were bequeathed to us by early pioneers who were heartfelt in wanting our community to progress.  If we apply their sense of progressiveness as we look forward, I am confident we will develop a strong madrasah system that future generations will be proud of.

33.             We have many things to be proud of. We have dealt with many challenges successfully.  Our continued success is the best response to those that cast doubt or aspersions on our faith and community. We must continue to meet our challenges rationally and decisively and put in upstream efforts that prevent such issues from recurring. Many of our families are doing well. As leaders and families who have succeeded, we will help families with multiple issues break out of a vicious cycle, so that we progress together as a community.  Our mosques are at the forefront of engaging the wider community to create greater understanding of our faith and enhancing our common ground as Singaporeans. Our madrasahs are repositioning themselves for the future.  Our leaders have not shied away from difficult social problems or pretended they do not exist. We have taken the proverbial bull by the horns and proven what we are worth.   If we continue to proceed with the same strong sense of community, together with enhanced knowledge and combined resources, the future of our community is bright.

34. Thank you.

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