Transcript of Media Doorstop by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development on HGEF Pelita Hati Event 2023

1.   Over the years, we have been working very closely with community partners to see how we can strengthen the rehabilitation and reintegration efforts and journey of offenders.

2.   I'm happy to share that we have been getting a lot of support from community partners and the number of community partners have gone up – this includes the mosques that have been positively supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration journey. So, with all this work being done, I am very hopeful that we are able to help offenders and their families better.

3.   Today, I am happy to announce that we have seen a decrease in the two-year recidivism rate of Malay offenders. The two-year recidivism rate for Malay offenders from the 2019 release cohort was 26.0%. For the cohort released in 2020, the two-year recidivism rate has gone down to 24.7%.

4.   This is a very encouraging sign and improvement, and all this is due to the collective efforts by the government agencies as well as the community partners, including the mosques.

5.   Today's event by Harun Ghani Education Fund (HGEF) together with Ba’Alwie Mosque is an example of how community partners, including the mosques, come together to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Singapore Prison Service to support the families who are out here, while their loved ones are in the prison or in the Drug Rehabilitation Centre, to see how we can navigate this journey with them. Over time, we feel the community support has increased, and we will do more to help in this process.

6.   We also provide opportunities for the offenders and inmates to have a chance to connect with their family. Today, we gave inmates the chance to write a letter to their loved ones, and I'm happy that their loved ones really appreciated this. We will continue to galvanise the community to work together with government agencies.

7.   We are very confident that when we are able to work together, strengthen the ecosystem and provide support for the offenders and their families, we will be able to give them the opportunity to stay longer outside with their families and loved ones and at the same time have more meaningful opportunities in their lives.