Collaborations With Muhammadiyah Association on the Date Your Loved Ones Today! Event - Opening Remarks by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development

1.    Thank you to all our partners and volunteers. We are very fortunate to have all of you joining us in this effort.

2.    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) cannot succeed in this fight against drugs alone. Drug taking, drug addiction and drug trafficking can happen in our homes, in our neighbourhoods, where people live, play and work.

3.    So, we need everyone to play a part. Every individual can play a part – not only to spread the anti-drug message, but also to build resilience. We want to develop that resilience in people to say “No” to drugs.

4.    For us, as Muslims, it is very clear that dadah itu haram.

5.    From my perspective, I have worked a lot with inmates in prisons. I just visited them a few days ago, to break fast with them. I see the effects that drugs had on them, their family, and the society. That is why we are very determined to go upstream and avoid the situation of people taking drugs.

6.    This outreach effort started in 2018 with 6,000 packets of dates distributed. This year, we are working to distribute 50,000 packets of dates for Ramadan. This shows how much we have grown.

7.    Nevertheless, we know that the syndicates and drug traffickers are still active. Hence, we must work harder to disrupt their operations. We know that they do it because they want money from our people.

8.    However, in so doing, they destroy lives of our people. We want to stop that from happening. We want our people, especially young people like yourselves, to have good, healthy lives. We want you to have a good life ahead – to have a good education, strong families, and good values that we can develop in Singapore.

9.    In this beloved month of Ramadan, I want to thank all of you for coming down to partner us to spread the message. Like what Ustaz Muhammad Azri said, spread the message with compassion, with care.

10.   We do this not because we want to stop something healthy in your life but because we care for you, and want to prevent you from being trapped in the cycle of drug addiction, which can bring so much destruction and disruption in the lives of people.

11.   On behalf of MHA and CNB, I would like to thank Muhammadiyah Association and all the different organisations in the network, and of you here today, for working with us. Let us continue to do the simplest thing – to share this anti-drug message with your family members. Dadah itu haram.

12.   Thank you.