EARLY MARRIAGES

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Acting Minister for Community Development and Sports what further measures the Ministry will take (i) to alleviate the sense of loneliness and alienation faced by senior citizens; and (ii) to allow them to remain economically active.

Assoc. Prof. Yaacob Ibrahim: The social integration of our seniors is a key principle underpinning our national policy on ageing. Our desired outcome is for every Singaporean to grow old gracefully, stay active and continue to enjoy the support of families and friends in the community.

There are already a number of programmes and services, carried out by various agencies, to support older Singaporeans who are more vulnerable, for example those who live alone or without family support. One example is the befriending programme, where a volunteer is assigned to an elderly and visits him/her on a regular basis. Another is the mutual help scheme where 10-15 seniors are grouped informally, pursue activities of common interest and members keep an eye on the well-being of one another. For seniors who live in selected one room rental flats or studio apartments, my Ministry has set up senior activity centres or Neighbourhood Links to help integrate them in community life. We will be setting up more Neighbourhood Links over the next four years to cover more housing estates.

Older persons need social contact and meaningful roles to keep them alert, active and integrated in the community. The programmes and courses run by the People's Association Senior Citizens' Clubs and Retirees' Clubs have contributed towards enhancing the well-being of their participants.

My Ministry has also set up a $1 million a year Active Seniors Programme to support projects that help our seniors to play a more active role in the community. I have recently launched the inaugural series of projects which are expected to involve more than 2,000 seniors. We hope these initiatives will encourage more seniors to become active in the community. This in turn will enable them to be fully integrated into our society.

The continual employment of our senior workers remains a key challenge to the Government. About a year ago, the Ministry of Community Development and Sports piloted the first Golden Manpower Centre at the Central Singapore CDC. The Centre sources for employment opportunities in the community for their residents, including senior citizens and works towards changing the mindsets of employers towards older workers. With this initial experience, the CDC is now in better position to reach out to our senior citizens. We will look into sharing the Centre's experience more widely with other CDCs and employment agencies, so as to strengthen our efforts to find suitable employment for our seniors.

The Ministry of Manpower has also implemented the People-for-Jobs Traineeship Programme to help older job seekers who are prepared to make a career switch across sectors. The programme provides financial support to companies to put in place traineeship arrangements to better induct and increase the comfort level of older workers taking on a new job in a new working environment. MOM also actively promotes training and skills upgrading of older workers under the Skills Redevelopment Programme. The National Skills Recognition System which will be set up in more industries, will also provide modular courses to make skills upgrading easier for older workers.

Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman asked the Acting Minister for Community Development and Sports (a) what is the extent of the problem of early marriages; and (b) what programmes are and will be in place to address this trend.

Assoc. Prof. Yaacob Ibrahim: Of the 22,561 registered marriages in 2000, 18,550 were civil and 4,011 were Muslim marriages. For non-Muslims, 1% of grooms and 4% of brides married when they were below 21 years of age. The corresponding percentages for Muslim grooms and brides were higher - 4% and 16% respectively. Marriages involving 1 teenage partner have been declining since 1980.

In 2000,13% of female divorcees and 2% of male divorcees were under 20 years old when they married. The corresponding figures for Muslims were 22% of female divorcees and 5% of male divorcees.

The main reason for teenage marriages is pre-marital pregnancy. They are usually forced to choose marriage to save their families from embarrassment. Marriage for such couples is often the start of more problems for themselves, their children and families.

Underaged couples granted the Special Marriage Licence under the Women's Charter are required to attend a workshop to prepare themselves for marriage and parenthood. Their parents are advised to support the couple in their new responsibilities. For young Malay/ Muslim couples, the Registrar for Muslim Marriages refers them to similar marriage preparation workshops.

In February this year, the Registry of Muslim Marriages launched the Strong Relationship for Resilient Community Programme, which targets Muslim teenagers. A series of preventive education programmes will be launched by the second half of this year. For example, the No Apologies: The Truth About Life, Love & Sex Programme will help youths make informed life choices. Parents will be taught skills to guide their teenagers in the area of sexuality. The various community partners of MCDS will conduct these programmes.

In the meantime, my Ministry will continue to reach out to teenagers through a variety of activities. Some of these include roadshows in secondary schools, programmes in the media on dating, values and responsible sexual behaviour, dialogue sessions with teenagers, and positive messaging via sports. Marriage is a personal choice. But we hope that parents and the community can play an active role in advising our young on the right choices to make with respect to marriage and the starting of a family.