MENDAKI (Response from Muslim Community)

Mr Yeo Toon Chia asked the Acting Minister for Social Affairs what has been the response from the Malay community, in particular from residents in Ang Mo Kio constituency, to Mendaki, and what progress has been made in its programmes to date.

The Acting Minister for Social Affairs (Dr Ahmad Mattar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am pleased to inform the House that the response to MENDAKI from the Muslim community has been very encouraging. The Muslim community in Ang Mo Kio is no exception.

The enthusiasm of the Muslim community was evident at the 13 dialogue sessions which members of the MENDAKI Council have so far held with the residents of different localities. The questions posed, and the suggestions made, at these sessions prove that Muslims are now more conscious than ever of the importance of education.

MENDAKI has, I believe, succeeded in putting the message across to Muslims that the improvement in the educational attainment of Muslim children depends no less on parents as on the children themselves. Before MENDAKI launched its tuition classes, it held six briefing sessions for parents of the children who would be attending these classes. More than 500 parents attended these sessions, at which MENDAKI officials explained what they, the parents, could do to complement the work of MENDAKI.

In all, MENDAKI has so far opened nine Tuition Centres. There are 79 Primary 6 classes, 93 Secondary 4 classes and 8 Pre-University classes with an enrolment of 1,126, 966 and 99 respectively.

In Ang Mo Kio constituency, 200 Primary 6 students, 140 Secondary 4 students and

40 Pre-University students are now attending tuition classes in Mayflower Secondary School. Most of the teachers come from the Ang Mo Kio area itself. These classes are managed by the Al Muttaqin Mosque Management Committee.

Mr Speaker, Sir, MENDAKI would not have succeeded as well as it has but for its representative character. The Council of MENDAKI consists of representatives of 11 different Muslim organisations in addition to all Muslim Members of Parliament. The Muslim community of Singapore is an ethnically diverse community. The Council of Mendaki is conscious that its responsibility is to uplift the educational standard of all Muslim children and not of Malay children alone.

May I, Mr Speaker, Sir, in conclusion remind the House that MENDAKI is not an organ of the Ministry of Social Affairs. It is a voluntary effort on the part of the Muslim community. In my capacity as Chairman of the Council of MENDAKI, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support it has received from the non-Muslims of Singapore.

Mr Yeo Toon Chia (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, would the Minister care to comment on an allegation made by an opposition political party that MENDAKI was initiated by the Government with the intention of using it as a tool to show the Malay community that the Government was helping them in education?

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, the opposition political party referred to by the hon. Member for Ang Mo Kio is the Pertubohan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapore (PKMS). As I have stated in my concluding remark, Sir, MENDAKI is not an organ of the Ministry of Social Affairs. It is a voluntary effort on the part of the Muslim community. So since MENDAKI is not an organ of the Ministry of Social Affairs, it cannot be an organ of the Government, Even if MENDAKI was initiated by the Government, so what? If it is to profit the Muslim Singaporeans, why not? Let us take the Mosque Building Fund, Sir, as an example. Had it not been for the Government's efforts to set up the Fund through the CPF, the Muslim Religious Council (MUIS) could not have built ultramodern, multi-purpose mosques at the rate of one a year. This is a fact, Sir, and it is not something we need be apologetic about. MUIS has built six mosques under Phase I of its Mosque Building Programme, and it will be building nine more between now and the end of the decade.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I can still vividly recall the Prime Minister's speech at the opening of the MENDAKI Congress in May last year. His words are still ringing in my ears. The Prime Minister said, Sir:

'it is in the interest of all to have Malay Singaporeans better-educated and better-qualified and to increase their contribution to Singapore's development.'

For the benefit of this House and with your indulgence, Sir, I shall briefly describe how MENDAKI was formed. As a group of individuals, Sir, and more importantly, as Muslims, we, the Muslim Members of this House, have been very concerned with the poor achievements of Muslim Singaporeans, in particular the Malays in their educational performances. So what prompted us to form MENDAKI, you may ask, Sir? The answer is: the Report of the Census of Singapore Population, 1980. This Report revealed that there were only 679 Malays with University qualifications in Singapore in 1980 compared to about 31,000 Chinese and 3,500 Indians. The Report further revealed, Sir, that of the total number of Malays aged five years and above in 1980, about 65% of them did not possess GCE 'O' level qualifications. Of these, 42% did not even pass the PSLE.

So with these facts and figures staring in the eyes, Sir, the Muslim Members of this House got together one day to consider what best could be done to improve the situation, Following this, two meetings were held with leaders of seven leading Muslim organizations in Singapore which have been active in the field of secular education. It was agreed at these meetings, Sir, that we should put our heads together to see what could be done to improve the educational performances of Muslim students. Hence MENDAKI was formed on 10th October 1981. Subsequently four other leading Muslim organizations active in the field of religious education were included on MENDAKI. This, in a nutshell, is a brief account of events leading to the formation of MENDAKI.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok (Deka): Could the Minister tell the House whether the PKMS has, like the Alumni of Chung Cheng High School, contributed anything to MENDAKI.

Dr Ahmad Mattar: Mr Speaker, Sir, nothing.