MALAY/MUSLIM DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES AND TEENAGE PREGNANCIES

MALAY/MUSLIM DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES AND TEENAGE PREGNANCIES

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(Steps to mitigate): **

20.

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports what steps the Government is taking to mitigate the problem of Malay/Muslim dysfunctional families and teenage pregnancies.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Like Mr Chiam, we are concerned about the impact of Malay/Muslim dysfunctional families and teenage pregnancies on the affected individuals, families and future generations. As PM said at Mendaki's 25th Anniversary Dinner and Awards Presentation, the community needs to make a major effort to focus on the problem and work out practical and effective solutions. It is hard for the Government to actively intervene without being misunderstood, or without triggering a defensive reaction.

The Malay/Muslim community, led by the Community Leaders Forum (CLF) and Mendaki, have recognised the problems, and taken a two-pronged approach in response:

• Firstly, assistance programmes targeted directly at vulnerable and dysfunctional families.

• Secondly, broad-based programmes that aim to prevent teenage pregnancies, strengthen marriages, and help needy families to break out of poverty.

The Government's approach is to work with the community and support their efforts.

Dysfunctional families

Young couples (below 21 years) face a higher possibility of dysfunctionality as they are twice as likely to divorce. Targeted programmes such as INSPIRASI hubs have been set up to help such couples make informed decisions about marrying young and support those who marry. They are run by the Young Women Muslim Association and the Association of Muslim Professionals, with MCYS funding support. Couples who face marital problems can seek counselling from Syariah Court and its partners in the community. These measures complement the Government's nation-wide schemes such as the Healthy Start Programme, which aims to help at-risk children in dysfunctional families through case work and support for pre-school.

Some of the key broad-based programmes include MUIS' Empowerment Partnership Scheme to help families out of poverty and be self-reliant. The scheme provides financial assistance, as well as skills upgrading and counselling. The CLF has also initiated social enterprise projects to help more women to be economically active. The projects are supported by the ComCare Enterprise Fund. Low-income families who need more support can turn to the Family Excellence Circles formed by Mendaki. These Circles are support groups that help families with their children's learning. Low-income families can also benefit from the Home Ownership Plus Education (HOPE) scheme, which provides up to

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$100,000 for each family, to help them keep the family size manageable, so that they can better focus their resources on their children and break out of poverty.

Teenage pregnancies

The CLF has also initiated several targeted programmes to address teenage sexuality. Troubled youths who need someone to talk to can call the NURteensLINE or visit the NUR Drop-in Centres. Both projects are funded by the ComCare Social Support Projects Fund. The Pertapis sheltered home on the other hand helps unmarried pregnant teenagers make better choices for themselves and their babies. Parents who need help to enhance their parent-teenager communication can benefit from the Dari Hati Ke Hati interactive workshops by CLF.

The CLF has also been leading efforts for greater public awareness on teenage sexuality. It launched the "It's Sexier to Say 'No'!" initiative to create awareness on the rising trend in teenage sexuality. This has been complemented by the popular TV series Hanyut and SEKSa by MCYS and MediaCorp TV Suria. The TV programmes have helped parents to connect with their children on important issues, including teenage sexuality.

In addition, the CLF initiated the (a) Youth-In-Action and Youth-In-Action Plus and (b) Max-Out Programme to help keep students in school and help out-of-school youths be gainfully employed. Through Projek Menggapai Sinaran , a partnership between MCYS and the Singapore Malay Teachers Union, in-school youths are given guidance on sexuality and other challenges.

Our mosques have also developed programmes that reach out to youth and address sexuality education. One example is the programme called aL.I.V.E (Learning Islamic Values Everyday). MUIS is working to strengthen this further.

Although there are significant efforts on-going, the community recognises the need to do more. The existing programmes are relatively new and need to be sustained to show results. Mendaki and CLF will mobilise more partners to come forward, and also facilitate the development of more creative and effective ways to address the issues. These will be discussed at the coming Community Leaders Forum towards the end of this year. The Government will continue to support these efforts.