Malay/Muslim Organisations Rehabilitation Network Forum 2024 – Speech by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development

Commissioner of Prisons, Yong Lee,

Deputy Director of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), Chern Hong,

Home Team colleagues,

Members of the Malay/Muslim Organisation (MMO) Rehabilitation Network,

Ladies and gentlemen,

1. A very good afternoon to all of you. I am so happy to see so many of you here today. Thank you for taking the time to join us.

MMO Rehabilitation Network Forum

2. This is the third edition of the MMO Rehabilitation Network Forum, since the Network was formalised in November 2021.

3. The Forum provides a platform for Network members to come together and share information and ideas.

(a) First, this helps to build capabilities so that we are better equipped to meet the needs of the inmates, ex-offenders and families under our care.

(b) Second, it also facilitates new collaborations that leverage our individual strengths, to provide even better support for our beneficiaries.

Progress

4. At the inaugural MMO Rehabilitation Network Conference in January this year, Minister Shanmugam commended the effectiveness of the Network as a platform for member organisations to collaborate, in order to uplift our community.

5. I am very heartened with the progress we have made. Firstly, you can see from members of our Network, that there are more cross-referrals among members and more co-delivery of programmes. We also see more M³@Towns coming on board to extend volunteering opportunities and prosocial activities to ex-offenders and their families.

6. I am also very encouraged by the strong and growing support from the mosques. All the mosques have pledged support for the rehabilitation cause, and we have 27 mosques providing dedicated support to inmates in prison. This is a very high figure from where we started from, and I would sincerely like to thank MUIS and all the mosques for their very strong support.

7. For many of these mosques, their full-time mosque religious officers, or MROs, volunteer with FITRAH as religious counsellors, to provide faith-based counselling to inmates in prison. Today, about 30% of FITRAH’s religious counsellors are MROs.

8. This is a significant contribution from the mosques. Besides imparting religious knowledge, the MROs motivate inmates to contribute back to the society wherever they can and to continue to seek religious support after they are released, and also connect the families to other helping hands in the community.

9. Many of the inmates and ex-offenders shared with me that they get inspired by the knowledge the religious counsellors share. They also shared how they can really have a process, and can get guidance, knowledge, support on how they can give back to the society.

10. This sends a strong message to the inmates that the mosques are behind them in their rehabilitation journey.

Areas for Growth

11. Back in June, I visited Puan A at her home. She is a mother of four young children and her husband was recently incarcerated for drug abuse, unfortunately, not for the first time.

12. MUIS, FITRAH, Mendaki, the Indian Muslim Social Service Association (IMSSA), and New Life Stories, came together to support Puan A and her family.

13. MUIS and IMSSA provided financial and food assistance, while Mendaki and New Life Stories supported the children through tuition and other programmes.

14. FITRAH befrienders provided emotional support to Puan A and her children. They leveraged their close relationship with other community stakeholders to help the family receive further care and support, including from the Singapore Children’s Society.

15. When I saw this and found out what is being done, I realised that this is the power of partnerships and of being part of a network. It allows us to pool resources, share expertise, and problem-solve together.

16. I am reminded of the Malay proverb: “ Sekepal menjadi gunung, setitik menjadi laut. ” It means that a lump will become a mountain, a drop will become a sea. Individually, each of us are minuscule, but together, we can make a big impact in the lives of our beneficiaries.

17. We have done well as a community to help inmates, ex-offenders and their families. The 2-year recidivism rate for the Malay offender population has come down to 26% for the latest release cohort of 2021, from 35% for the 2011 release cohort.

18. This is a very significant improvement – almost one percentage point every year. I do not think that any of us would have dared to imagine such progress 10 years ago.

It is the result of the strong and collective commitment of all of us - in the public, private and people sectors - to this cause.

19. So we must sustain our efforts because there are still many areas where we can improve, and need to find solutions. For example,

(a) Firstly, how can we support even better the families of ex-offenders, so that they better support the latter’s desistance journey, like Puan A’s husband?

(b) Second, for those who have offended but do not have a supportive family to help them get back on their feet, what can we do as a community?

(c) Thirdly, how can we build a nurturing environment for our children, and keep them away from offending?

The Next Lap

20. I am happy to announce that our Network will look into these areas over the next two years in our next lap.

21. Three project groups have been formed and will be co-led by members of the Network and Home Team officers.

Group 1

22. Group 1 will be co-led by CEO of PPIS, Ms Aidaroyani Adam; Executive Director of New Life Stories, Ms Saleemah Ismail; and Ms Salina Samion from the Singapore Prison Service (SPS). May I invite the group leads to stand up.

23. This group’s focus is on strengthening support for the families. Strong and stable families are key to sustaining an ex-offender’s desistance journey, and also to preventing inter-generational offending.

24. Group 1 will look to better understand the needs of the families, map out the existing processes and support structures, and propose improvements.

Group 2

25. Group 2 will be co-led by the Secretary of PERGAS, Ustazah Dr Siti Nur ‘Alaniah and Mr Mohamed Nizaar from SPS. Group 2 leads, would you please stand up.

26. Group 2’s focus is on strengthening support for inmates and ex-offenders with poor or no family support, especially drug offenders.

27. Such individuals are at greater risk of re-offending. We need to better understand their needs, and explore other sources of social support for them, to strengthen their determination to stay on the straight.

Group 3

28. Group 3 will be led by Executive Director of 4PM, Mr Didicazli; Secretary of IMSSA, Ms Irfana Banu; Mr Rudy Dzulkarnaen from Police; and Mr Muhammad Rizal from CNB. Group 3 leads, would you please stand up.

29. Group 3 will look into upstream measures to prevent offending among our youths. The group will review existing efforts and suggest other ways we can reduce delinquency in our community.

30. I would like to thank 4PM, IMSSA, New Life Stories, PERGAS and PPIS for stepping up to co-lead the projects with my Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) colleagues.

31. My appreciation also to Network members, including AMP, Bapa Sepanjang Hayat, Mendaki and MCS for agreeing to be part of the next lap projects.

32. I am confident that with the leadership and experience of the co-leads, together with the strong support from MMO members, we will see meaningful and impactful recommendations.

Conclusion

33. I encourage other MMOs to come forward and join these project groups, so that we can also benefit from your expertise and resources.

34. I am really inspired by this. We have come together and strengthened our cohesiveness, and we have been able to work and discuss issues together, towards a common cause that binds us. We are not just resting on what we have already achieved. We want to do more. These three projects show that we want action, we want to help, and we want to find new ways to help. To me, this is an example of a wonderful and great community with a heart, working very hard to help yourselves, and others so that our future generation will be better than what we are today.

35. So I feel very encouraged and very inspired. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the different Home Team departments for working very hard within the community. We cannot do it alone; we have to work together.  My colleagues have reached out to the community to see how we can navigate this, and bring people together, so that we can help our inmates, ex-offenders and their families.

36. I feel we can succeed and become stronger as a community only if we work together. “ Bersatu kita teguh, bercerai kita roboh ”.

37. Once again, thank you to the Network members and all my colleagues here for working very hard and for taking time to attend the Forum today. I wish you a fruitful afternoon ahead.

38. Thank you.