Engaging Hearts and Minds Seminar 2019

This presentation will examine the academic literature surrounding multi-stressed families especially what researchers internationally have uncovered as crucial for their support. It will also examine barriers that these families face in using social services and discuss considerations for service design.

Materials:

Dr Mathew - Supporting Multi-Stressed Families Are Services Reaching Them.pdf

This presentation will discuss some concepts such as tawakkal (trust in God’s plan), redha (submitting to God’s plan) etc. which are related to self-sustenance and independence which may influence and even shape the minds of some Muslims and contributing to their reluctance in searching for and receiving financial or social assistance. Beyond that, it seeks to bring forth critical reflections on some attitudes such as acceptance, empathy etc which are expounded within the Islamic tradition to help ensure that religion can be an enabler in the last mile delivery of social services to those in need and how socio-religious institutions and actors such as religious teachers can more effectively collaborate with social service practitioners in this endeavour.

Ustaz Irwan Hadi - Religion and Culture as a Resource to Support Multi-stressed Families.pdf

This sharing will cover the basis for KidSTART, the key KidSTART components, insights learned from working with parents of young children, practitioners and partners, as well as considerations for programme effectiveness and sustainability.

Ms Jane Lee - KidSTARTS Partnering Parents_Shaping Lives Why it Matters.pdf

Research has shown that family support is an important factor that helps prevent re-offending. The sharing will bring the audience through the overall rehabilitation approach, and specifically how SPS has designed its model in partnership with the community to better assist and involve families in the rehabilitation of offenders.

MENDAKI extends its reach to the Singapore Malay/Muslim community through their satellite centres. There are seven MENDAKI satellite centres and two joint-centres which are strategically located at the heart of their target population in the heartlands where the majority of the underprivileged and underserved reside amongst the Malay/Muslim community. This is further strengthened by the presence of the Youth Spaces within the three ITE campuses.

The sharing will cover the idea behind the conceptualisation of MENDAKI@Heartlands and the service framework that has the Malay/Muslim community at its heart.

EHMS 2019 Presentation ym_final.pdf

About Our Speakers

Dr Mathew Mathews is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS). He has led or been an investigator in over 40 research projects mostly related to societal cohesion and family issues. On the family, he has researched attitudes and behaviour related to marriage and parenthood, single parenthood, three generational structures and older persons in families. He has also worked on several projects related to low income families including a longitudinal project led by A/P Irene Ng on families placed under the Work Support Programme. Mathews’ research on the Malay-Muslim community include a study on the Family Excellence Circles by MENDAKI and an evaluation of the Empowerment Partnership Scheme by MUIS.

Mathews serves as a research advisor to the Ministry of Social and Family Development and various government and VWO committees including the Families for Life Council and the VWOs-Charities Capability Fund Panel.

Ustaz Irwan Hadi is Deputy Director, Religious Policy and Regulations, Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. He oversees religious policy research at the Office of the Mufti and the administration of the Asatizah Recognition Scheme. In the course of his duty, he provides advice and writes on socio-religious policies relating to the Muslim community and Islamic law matters including issues related to families, gender, wealth disposition and planned giving etc. He also serves as the Secretary of the Fatwa (Legal) Committee and has been a Board member of the Islamic Scholars and Teachers Association of Singapore (PERGAS) since 2012.

Jane Lee is the Deputy Director (Programmes and Operations Branch) of the Child Development Department that oversees KidSTARTat the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA). Jane was closely involved in the conceptualisation and implementation of KidSTART, an upstream early childhood development pilot programme. She now leads the implementation of the KidSTART components, working in partnership with other service providers to support families.

Jane is passionate about issues related to the needy, particularly effective programmes that address their needs. Prior to KidSTART, Jane was with MSF working on policies relating to ComCare, poverty reduction and the review and development of social assistance schemes and programmes. She has also had 10 years’ experience working in New Zealand on social policies and health promotion and community development programmes with Government and local authority agencies.

Ms Haslindah Shonib is a Correctional Rehabilitation Specialist in Singapore Prison Service. Currently serving as an Assistant Director in Community Corrections Command, Haslindah oversees the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates serving their sentences in the community. With close to 20 years’ experience in the social service sector and 6 in the correctional setting, Haslindah has a wealth of knowledge to share in her work with the clients, their families as well as community agencies.

Norshima is the Director of Communications, Community and Family Engagement Departments. She oversees MENDAKI’s seven satellite centres and two-joint centres which engage Malay/Muslim families at the heartlands in a closer-to-the-ground approach. The department reaches out to the Malay/Muslim community on the ground to support their development through education or connect families with national assistance programmes. As Director, she plays a major role in MENDAKI’s collaborations with other Malay/Muslim bodies like the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) and the Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (MESRA) to engage the Malay/Muslim community and in the setting up a combined office at Wisma Geylang Serai.

Norshima joined MENDAKI in 2010 to challenge herself further in the Communications industry. She helmed the Communications Department first as the Assistant Director and through the years, she has expanded her portfolio and is now the Director of Communications and Community & Family Engagement Departments. Under her leadership, the organisation has embarked on successful campaign projects such as “Raikan Ilmu” or “Celebrate Knowledge” in which the focus is to encourage the pursuit of lifelong education.

About our Moderator

Associate Professor Suzaina Kadir is the Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS. Her research and teaching interests include ethnicity, religion and public policy, with special focus on Muslim politics in Southeast Asia, and the management of political Islam and multi-ethnicity in Singapore. She is also a revered educator for her innovative pedagogies, and has received the NUS's Teaching Excellence and LKYSPP's Teaching Excellence Awards in 2010 and 2017.

Associate Professor Suzaina Kadir has served in various ministerial committees and she has also served as a board member for the Media Development Authority (MDA) and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). She is a recipient of two National Day Awards: the 2016 Public Service and Commendation Medals.

About our Panellist

Ms Hanna Taufiq Siraj is currently the Assistant Director of MUIS Academy and SIC Development where she oversees the development of research and thought leadership programmes on the role of Islam in the modern world. She received the MUIS Postgraduate Scholarship in 2007 to do her MSc in International Studies at the National University of Singapore. Prior to that she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia where she won the Al-Mawardi Award for Best Political Science Student. She is actively involved in community and student initiatives organized by Yayasan Mendaki, MENDAKI Club and Muslim Converts Association of Singapore. Hanna also regularly conducts talks and workshops on leadership to local and international women's organisations.

Hanna has sat on the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, was a member of the Media Development Authority of Singapore’s Films Consultative Panel and an Associate Member of the Fatwa Committee. She writes and researches on religion in the public sphere, critical theory and moral philosophy.