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The Malay population in Singapore is 720,000, which is 15% of the Singaporean population (2018)[
Although many Malays in Singapore are generally of mixed descent, they are still recognised and considered as the indigenous people of Singapore by the Singapore Constitution, Part XIII, General Provisions, Minorities and special position of Malays, section 152:
The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_Singaporeans#Status_of_Malays_in_Singapore
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Malay-Muslim community continues to be a model for success, says Masagos, citing strong Pisa showing
By NABILAH AWANG
Published21 DECEMBER, 2019UPDATED 21 DECEMBER, 2019
SINGAPORE — For the first time, Malay students outperformed their peers from around the world in mathematics in the recent Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) test, Mr Masagos Zulkifli revealed in an annual sit-down media interview on Malay-Muslim affairs on Tuesday (Dec 17).
Highlighting this as an example of how the Malay community has progressed over the years, the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs also noted that Malay students are comparable to their international peers in reading and science.
Singaporean students came second out of 79 countries in the 2018 Pisa test — an international scorecard for education systems worldwide — conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) once every three years.
“In terms of resilience, the Malay-Muslim community has shown that eight in 10 of them believe that they can achieve success,” said Mr Masagos, who is also Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.
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Early this year, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), self-help group Mendaki and the Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (Mesra) formed an alliance — called M3 — to help overcome challenges within the community.
Mr Masagos said this collaboration allowed the organisations to tap each other’s resources, network and programmes, when rolling out initiatives in eight towns island-wide with the highest concentration of Malay-Muslims —Tampines, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Bedok, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong, Marsiling-Yew Tee, Nee Soon and Woodlands.
Read also: Greater support for religious teachers, returning graduates of foreign Islamic universities
He added that M3’s focus this year is on three areas — supporting marriage, parenthood and early childhood development; supporting vulnerable individuals and their families; and empowering and mentoring of youth.
He also noted that these initiatives have garnered much support from the community.
For example, the 10-week programme called KelasMateMatika at various community centres in Singapore to teach preschoolers basic mathematical concepts has quadrupled in reach, from 300 when it was called Maju Minda Matematika, or Tiga M, to 1,200 now.
Read also: Former diplomat warns Muslim millennials not to rely on online channels in search for identity
The Family and Inmates Through-care Assistance Haven (Fitrah) programme to help rehabilitate and reintegrate ex-offenders into society has also brought in about 320 volunteers, while the marital first responders programme where volunteers are trained to provide basic marriage advice and help, has garnered about 130.
There is also a focus on youth mentoring to address the spectrum of their needs and provide guidance to those at risk. This has brought in about 500 mentors so far.
Asked if the initiatives rolled out this year had been successful, Mr Masagos said 2019 was its experimentation year.
Read also: Under one roof: Three Malay-Muslim institutions to be housed at Wisma Geylang Serai
“The real outcome we want is to move the needle. We want to reach out in a targeted manner to those who really need it.”
MODEL FOR A COMMUNITY OF SUCCESS
Mr Masagos described the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore as a model for how minorities can thrive within a society, pointing to its continued success over the decades.
Calling it a “community of success”, he attributed this to three unique characteristics — character, competence and commitment to citizenry.
The first characteristic is a result of guidance from religious leaders and the gotong-royong spirit — a Malay expression that describes a community coming together to do communal work.
He highlighted that the madrasah system has produced at least 2,500 asatizahs, or religious teachers, who have been registered under the asatizah recognition scheme.
“Because they are very rooted in the teachings of Islam in Singapore, when they come back, they are able to contextualise and guide our religious needs,” he said.
Mr Masagos also noted that in the last year, more than 1,400 members of the community from various backgrounds have stepped up to volunteer their time, expertise and resources to participate in M3 programmes.
He added that this characteristic has shaped the way Malay-Muslim community contribute and commit to citizenry.
This can be seen through the recent Pisa test results and the commitment of Malay-Muslim organisations like Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association (Pergas) and Mendaki to religious harmony in the country.
“We contribute from the point of building competencies that are valued in our country. That competency is to achieve the best education possible,” he said.
He pointed out that the number of Mendaki excellence award recipients who attained first class honours this year has increased 10-fold, from seven to 70, in 10 years.
He added that Muis is also working towards contextualising Islam to fit the needs of Muslims in Singapore and inoculate the community against extreme views that can be found all over the world.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2020
During the interview, Mr Masagos revealed M3 initiatives that will be rolled out next year include Ciptasama (which means create together) that aims to engage Malay-Muslims in co-creating and contributing to policy shifts.
Another is a youth mentoring office set up by Mendaki in an effort to develop an ecosystem of well-trained mentors to youths and a strong mentoring culture in the community.
He added that there will be a forum to bring together all M3 stakeholders including volunteers and organisational partners to share best practices found in the eight towns in February next year.
The inaugural batch of asatizahs who have to go through the one-year postgraduate certificate in Islam in contemporary societies (PCICS) will also start next year.
The PCICS will include content that deepens returning graduates’ understanding of Singapore’s geopolitical and socioreligious context and provide information on how Islam can be practised effectively in Singapore’s multiracial and multireligious society.
When TODAY asked if this will delay the careers of asatizahs, Mr Masagos said: “It is important for us to expose them in a very rigorous way the context of Islam and society in Singapore.”
“We will make sure that as much as possible, it does not disrupt or prevent them from teaching.”
Asked if he can share hints about the number of Malay candidates in the upcoming General Election, Mr Masagos chuckled and said: “I always think we have more than enough. We want to make sure we have choices. Many of them are on the ground, invisibly, I hope.”
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Pisa score puts a shine on progress of Muslim community in Singapore, says minister
- SINGAPORE
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Monday, 23 Dec 2019
SINGAPORE (ANN): Malay students in Singapore have achieved a historic first by outperforming the average international student in mathematics, the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results show.
As for reading and science, the students’ scores are on a par with their counterparts in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes the United States, the United Kingdom and China.
The laudable maths score was disclosed by Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli in an interview with the local media on the progress made by the Malay/Muslim community this year. It was held on Dec 17 at the Environment Building along Scotts Road.
Masagos, who is also the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, said: “This is the first time the Malay community has surpassed the OECD average.”
He made the point when he was setting out the various successes of the Muslim community, particularly how it was excelling in three key areas: competence, character and citizenry.
The maths feat was used to illuminate competence.
Overall, however, Singapore students were second to China in the Pisa study, which covers maths, science and reading. Done every three years, the study tests how well students apply knowledge and skills as well as solve problems.
On citizenry, Masagos noted that while many Muslim minorities around the world struggle to be both good Muslims and good citizens,”we don’t find that in Singapore”.
He cited how in June (2019), Singapore mosques and Malay/Muslim organisations like Mendaki signed a commitment to safeguard religious harmony in the wake of growing inter-ethnic tensions across the globe. A total of 250 religious organisations in Singapore had pledged to build strong bonds across religions.
“As diverse as we are, we know that diversity is something that works, especially in Singapore,” he said.
On character, he held up the high volunteerism rate in the community.
In the past year, more than 1,400 Muslims, including professionals such as lawyers and accountants, have volunteered in various M3 initiatives.
M3 is a collaboration among three institutions to improve how they help uplift the less well-off in their community. The trio are: the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), self-help group Mendaki and the People’s Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (Mesra).
The M3 initiatives are categorised under three areas of focus.
The first, led by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development and Education Faishal Ibrahim, aims to provide support for marriage, parenthood and early childhood development.
Its initiatives have been well-received, said Masagos.
One of them is the Marital First Responders programme, which has trained 128 mosque leaders as well as religious and community leaders to provide basic marriage support to couples. It was launched in March.
Another is the Bersamamu marriage preparation course in which the person solemnising the union engages and journeys with a couple through the first two years of marriage.
Since its launch in July, more than 2,500 couples have completed the course.
The second focus area lends a hand to vulnerable people and their families.
Led by Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin, more than 320 volunteers, including religious counsellors, have been recruited to support inmates and former inmates under the Family and Inmates Through-care Assistance Haven (Fitrah) initiative.
The third is dedicated to empowering youth.
MP Rahayu Mahzam is building a network of mentors under a structured programme “to address the whole spectrum of youth needs, from the lowest end where youths need mentoring because they are at risk… to the very highest end for people who can do better because they have a network of professionals they can rely on,” Masagos said.
More than 500 mentors have been recruited to mentor youths aged 14 to 16, and more than 100 of these teens have been identified for pilot projects.
Praising the youths’ achievements, he noted that the number of students who got the Anugerah Mendaki award for attaining First Class Honours has increased 10-fold, from seven to 70 in the last 10 years.
But in uplifting the community, the important role of community institutions is paramount, said Masagos.
He dug into history to make his point, quoting founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s opening speech at the 1982 Mendaki Congress.
The late Lee had said government-run schemes on its own cannot achieve the results of Mendaki, a “voluntary, spontaneous effort by Malay/Muslims to help themselves”.
He added: “You (Mendaki) can better succeed because you will be more effective with the Malay/Muslim parents than the government school teachers and principals. You can reach them through their hearts, not simply their minds.”
In 2020, M3 will launch Ciptasama@M3, an initiative that aims to include the community in co-creating policy changes with the Government.
Also, the findings on how Muis can better develop religious teachers professionally will be released by the Committee on Future Asatizah (Cofa) next year.
The committee is led by Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman.
Mr Masagos said that in future, the M3 agencies will work with community stakeholders to reach out directly to eligible children and families.
“Right now, we are scaling up the programmes. The next stage must be targeting,” he said.
“The real outcome we want, is to move the needle. That means not only to do programmes and be effective for those who come to the programme, but to reach out in a targeted manner to those who really need the programme – and make a difference.”
He added: “If you look at the areas where we have been successful, they really are important building blocks upon which we can do even better.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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