Speaker of Parliament

Associate Prof Yaacob Ibrahim

Chairman, Board of Directors

Yayasan Mendaki

Mr Kenneth Tan

CEO Mediacorp Radio

Mr Rozlan Giri

CEO Yayasan Mendaki

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am happy to be here this morning to join all of you in celebrating Mendaki’s 20^th anniversary.

It has been 20 years since Mendaki was formed in 1982. Over the last two decades, Mendaki has worked hard, together with students, parents, and the whole Malay/Muslim community, and brought about significant progress in all fields – education, housing, the economy, the labour force.

Twenty years ago, in 1982, only one quarter of Malay/Muslim students passed English at GCE 'O' level. Now, the figure has increased by threefold, to almost three quarters (70%). In mathematics, Malay/Muslim students have also doubled their percentage passes over the last twenty years for both PSLE and GCE 'O' level examinations.

The average monthly income has more than doubled. (From $896 in 1980 to $2040 in 2000). The proportion of the Malays/Muslim holding professional, technical and managerial positions has more than tripled. (From 6.8% in 1980 to 23.4% in the year 2000). There is a growing Malay middle class. The proportion of Malays living in HDB 4-room and private properties have increased by more than 8 times. (From 8.3% in 1980 to 65% in year 2000.)

During the twenty years, Mendaki as an organisation, has also grown and matured. Mendaki used to have only 900 (883) students attending its tuition programmes. Now, the number is close to 100,000. Mendaki offers a comprehensive range of enrichment, parenting, motivational and life long learning programmes, for both children and adults.

The Malay/Muslim community can justly be proud of Mendaki’s success. This success is the result of their own efforts. But it is also the result of the Government pursuing the approach of community self-help, and upholding the principle of meritocracy.

Community self-help has worked. It has encouraged those who have done well to help lift up others in their own community, so that more can succeed as they themselves have done. The Government will continue pursuing this approach to uplift the less successful in our various communities. This will strengthen the sense of self-worth of the respective communities in Singapore. At the same time, we will assist the self-help groups to get together to share resources and ideas, to do joint projects, and to avoid becoming isolated enclaves.

Because of the principle of meritocracy, Singaporeans of all races and religions enjoy full and equal opportunities. Advancement is strictly by merit, whether in education, in careers, or in the government. Meritocracy is especially critical for the minority communities. Without it, they would have no safeguard that their rights will be assured, and that they will not be discriminated against. Because of our meritocratic system, the Malay/Muslim community has made the effort and upgraded itself, and the results reflect their achievements in many fields. Malay/Muslim graduates, professionals, businessmen and civil servants can be proud of what they have achieved, and can stand tall, confident that they are equal to their peers of other races.

Looking ahead, Singapore faces serious challenges. Externally, we are meeting increasing competition from the region, especially from China. Internally, we must strengthen racial and religious harmony, guard against threats to this harmony from extremist and terrorist groups, and enhance the national identity and sense of belonging of all Singaporeans.

How will we do this? In many ways. Economically, we will encourage Singaporeans and Singapore companies to venture abroad. We will make a living by marketing our products and services to the world. Socially, we must ensure that all communities progress together with the nation, and collectively share the fruits of our success. We will gradually bring the different communities closer together, whether at work, in housing estates, or at play. For our young, we must continue to inculcate in them an appreciation for diversity of people and cultures.

All these will affect the work of Mendaki significantly. As Singapore becomes more cosmopolitan, Mendaki can play a role to help Malay/Muslim students to appreciate other cultures and communities, and to think beyond Singapore. With globalisation, income gaps will widen, in Singapore and also within the Malay/Muslim community. We must make extra efforts to help those who are lagging behind. Those who do well must show greater concern for their community, to contribute not just money but also time and effort, through Mendaki and other channels. At the same time, Mendaki has to continue its critical task of upgrading educational achievement, so that more Malay/Muslim students can make it to junior colleges, polytechnics and universities. All this makes Mendaki’s work even more challenging and complex.

I am therefore happy that Mendaki is changing its mission from just wanting to ‘Make a Difference’, to ‘Quest for Excellence’. Mendaki intends to do more in research, and in sharing knowledge, ideas, and expertise with Malay/Muslim organisations and other stakeholders within the community. Mendaki wants to help the community organisations to perform better. The key is to help them understand better the environment they are operating in, and what the underlying problems and needs are, so that they can make their programmes more relevant and effective.

In June this year, Mendaki announced a new organisation structure, and a new method of operation. Mendaki will actively partner CDCs and VWOs to reach out to disadvantaged families. Special emphasis will be placed on disadvantaged families with young children, to help them level up at an early stage. Mendaki plans to reach about 35,000 such families in the next 2-3 years. These efforts will help to accelerate the growth of the Community’s middle class and talent pool.

Mendaki will also work at raising the mathematics grades of Malay/Muslim students. Although Malay/Muslim students have made significant progress in Mathematics, the pass rates are still lower than the national average. The percentage passes for Malay/Muslim students have in fact been falling over the last three years. This is why Mendaki’s Mathematics Carnival is the centrepiece for today’s celebration. It is a reminder of the importance of Mathematics in our daily lives, and why students must master Mathematics, no matter what jobs they aim to take up later.

The most important achievement for Mendaki over the years is to change the mindset of Malay/Muslim students – to make more students desire to work hard, and excel. The challenges ahead are tough. But it is through tough challenges that Mendaki will rise to the occasion and demonstrate your determination to succeed.