MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi Minister for Community Development

1. MCD will foster a cohesive, compassionate and robust society, strengthening families and promoting maximum community participation. It will work closely with civic, community and self-help groups and voluntary welfare organisations to raise the level and variety of community support services.

Enhancing Social Cohesion - Community Development Councils

2. We have established two Community Development Councils (CDCs) in March 1997. We will set up more Community Development Councils (CDCs) to foster community bonding. CDCs will give communities more say in developing and managing educational, recreational, child care and senior citizens' facilities, and disbursing financial help to those in need. The CDCs will involve successful Singaporeans in looking after their communities, especially the less successful members, and strengthen the bonds that bind us together.

3. The People's Association will review the structures and activities of its grassroots organisations, and upgrade facilities in Residents' Committees, Community Centres and Community Clubs.

4. The Feedback Unit will reach out to more Singaporeans to obtain varied and representative feedback. It will also inform and explain to opinion makers and grassroots leaders the rationale and details of government policies.

A More Compassionate Society

5. In partnership with the CDCs and other voluntary organisations, the Ministry will provide social services for the needy and disadvantaged. It will reach out to families in distress, low-income families, the elderly, the disabled and children in need.

6. The Ministry will work with the National Council of Social Service, voluntary welfare organisations and self-help groups to strengthen the network of community social services. Government will continue to provide grants to help fund the activities of these voluntary groups.

Strengthening Families

7. We will continue to promote and strengthen traditional family values and adopt a family approach to problem solving. The Family Life and Parent Education Programme will foster closer family bonds and encourage families to spend meaningful time together.

8. We will build more Child Care Centres for pre-school children. We will fund Before-and-After-School Care centres to help working parents. These centres will keep otherwise unsupervised school-age children away from undesirable influences and enable more parents to combine work with family responsibilities.

9. We will continue to help low-income families through schemes like the Small Families Improvement Scheme, Rent and Utilities Assistance Scheme and Centre-Based Financial Assistance Scheme for Child Care. The focus will be to help children in these families break out of the poverty trap.

Senior Citizens

10. Senior citizens should continue to play active and valued roles in the community. Senior citizens clubs, Befriender Service and RC-based Mutual Help Groups will keep elderly people socially active, relieve their loneliness and provide mutual help, particularly in times of illness and distress.

11. We will encourage Singaporeans to prepare early for retirement, and to remain socially and physically active as they become senior citizens. We will promote positive attitudes towards ageing and filial responsibility. Respect for elders should be an integral value in our gracious society.

12. We will encourage families to keep elderly members living with them. Those who are frail and cannot be left at home when their family members are at work can attend social day centres which will provide supervision and opportunities for socialising.

13. Together with HDB, we will continue to implement the Project to Improve Living Conditions of the Elderly. We will set up more senior activity centres to care for the elderly living in selected 1-room rental flats, and build sheltered homes for the aged. Voluntary welfare organisations will provide support to the residents. Thus elderly who are frail, destitute or unable to live with their families can stay together and maintain their links with the community.

A Fit and Robust Society

14. To foster a healthy and fit population and improve the quality of life, we will provide a wide range of sports programmes for all age groups. We will develop one-stop, integrated sports and recreational complexes in HDB estates. In the Sports For Life Programme, we will set up 15 Regional Sports and Fitness Centres at existing sports complexes. This will bring sports and fitness facilities that cater to the whole family closer to the community.

Youth Participation

15. Younger Singaporeans are better educated, more qualified and hold better jobs. They bring dynamism, fresh ideas and a can-do attitude to bear on the tasks they undertake.

16. The National Youth Council will work with voluntary groups and the private sector to maximise the potential of young Singaporeans, foster social cohesion and national identity, and maximise their contributions to society.

MUIS

17. The Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) will work with the community and other Malay/Muslim organisations to strengthen religious values and family units. MUIS will achieve this through mosques and other Muslim organisations to make the best use of resources.

Self-help Groups

18. Community self-help groups will continue to focus on raising educational levels for students and workers' training. They have given the communities confidence, and the less able members hope that they too will be helped to improve and catch up. Every community has made significant gains. Self-help groups have also worked hard at preventive programmes for youths. They will consolidate and expand these programmes over the next few years. They will also create more opportunities to share programmes and facilities for the common good.