Opening Address by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development, at the Asian Family Conference 2024

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore

His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1. Good morning.
2. I would like to begin by welcoming all local and overseas speakers and delegates to the Asian Family Conference 2024. We are delighted to have you here, to share ideas and exchange insights on strengthening families in Asia and beyond.
3. Yesterday, ASEAN Member States came together to discuss the key role of Governments in supporting families. We had a good discussion, and we are glad to be joined by an even wider swathe of society from the people and private sector today.

   
   Importance of families

4. Families are important in many societies. When I meet my counterparts from many parts of the world, this resonates most – we all agree that families are the bedrock of our societies. In the last few years,
   • In ASEAN, our regional organisation, we affirmed the importance of family across different platforms.
     1. In 2021, we issued the Bandar Seri Begawan Declaration.
     2. Just last year, under Indonesia’s leadership, we affirmed the family as an essential institution and resolved to strengthen family development and women’s development through the ASEAN Declaration on Gender Equality and Family Development.
   • I’m glad to learn that the Arab Social Ministers recently signed the Doha Pledge to affirm and strengthen families in Arab states.
   • Just last week, Qatar hosted an international conference on families in conjunction with the 30^th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family, and some of the attendees are here with us today.
5. Given the centrality of families in our societies, many see the need to work with and through the family, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, from gender equality to good health and well-being.
6. It is timely therefore for us to gather here at the Asian Family Conference to address the important topic of building strong and resilient families in Asia.

   
   Key elements of MSF’s approach

7. This morning, I would like to share how the Singapore Government is pivoting our social policies and programmes on a few elements, to build up families in our context. They are family-centred, a proactive approach, strengths-based, and whole-of-society. Allow me to elaborate.

   
   Family-centred

8. First, family-centred. We see families as the key unit in society, rather than just individuals. Because families have far-reaching impact on our lives, be it family values and dynamics, or family circumstances, we have refocused our policies, programmes, and agencies to adopt a family lens to shift outcomes.
9. By working together with families, we can collectively achieve better outcomes for all. Research has consistently supported that children with involved parents, regardless of socioeconomic background, have better outcomes in school – from better attendance and academic achievements, to better social skills and ability to adapt[1].

10.  This finding has been replicated in other contexts.

    • A Singapore study found that probationers^[2] with high family supervision are three and a half times more likely to complete their probation orders than those without.
    • Studies have revealed that mental health treatments that involved family members was also found to be more effective than individual-oriented treatments^[3].
    11. These underscore that when families are actively involved in the process, including in these cases, in learning, rehabilitation, and recovery, there are more positive outcomes.  
    
    12. This is why, although MSF is the Ministry that oversees families in Singapore, many Government agencies adopt the family lens when designing policies, from child and maternal health initiatives, to housing and retirement adequacy policies.

• The private sector or businesses also support families, recognising that their employees are too part of families, and flexible work arrangements are now becoming more widespread.
• This is how we support families as they navigate the ups and downs across different life stages.

13. We are working to be even more family-oriented and family-centred.

• • Today, families that are facing stresses can go to Family Service Centres in the community. Families facing multiple issues and with complex needs receive support from other social service agencies on top of Family Service Centres.
  • Moving forward, Singapore’s vision is for families to receive family services through a single touchpoint. This way, we can address the needs of different family members in a holistic and more coordinated manner, to achieve better outcomes for the entire family.
  • Since June this year, our Family Services Landscape Review Committee, comprising social service sector representatives, has been working to make this vision a reality.

    
    A proactive approach

    14. Second, proactive. The Government has made significant investments in affordable education, healthcare, and housing over decades – because these are the fundamentals and create a strong base for families.

    15. Beyond these basic public goods, we have also poured billions of dollars in early childhood education or preschools, in the last decade, to give every child a good start in life, regardless of family background.  

  • For those who we identify to be more vulnerable, we are not only proactive, we go upstream. Because we are convinced that investments early on reap better outcomes than reacting down-the-line. Through a programme called KidSTART, we reach out to parents as early as during the mother’s pregnancy and kickstart the families’ efforts to create a conducive home environment for children to learn and grow in, even before they enter preschool.

    
    16. Notwithstanding these efforts, stresses on families will still arise. When they do, we deal with issues directly, rather than wait until they snowball. We find that this provides us with a much better chance of success.

    17. I will be frank. Being proactive is not easy. Nor cheap. Not all families are willing to come on board as the benefits are usually experienced further in the future. From a Government’s perspective, being proactive is hard work. It requires us to systematically analyse and unpack issues, to not just address the presenting issues, but to think ahead and make longer-term plans, and deliver on long-term solutions. But we think that it is essential.

    18. Rather than our social policies and social services operating solely as an emergency fire brigade, we want to create the enabling conditions so that fewer fires start in the first place. To help families build on strong foundations to thrive and become stronger.

    Strengths-based

  19. Which brings me to strengths-based, the concept that families have existing strengths that can be harnessed and grown, regardless of their circumstances.
  20. Family resilience is a key concept in the literature on strengths-based approaches. It looks at how families adapt to challenges, recognising that families are resourceful and have the capacity to recover and bounce back stronger.
  • Last year, 85.9% of families surveyed in Singapore reported moderate to high family resilience scores. The survey findings motivate us to see how we can, as a society, further enhance family resilience.
  21. Our approach to families has been shifting towards this approach. Rather than focusing on problems and what is wrong, we are seeking out what makes families strong.  
  
  22. For example, Singapore’s Safe and Strong Families programme, for children with child protection concerns, adopts strengths-based assessment tools to ensure children can remain safe in their families. Using the Family Strengths and Needs Assessment tool, professionals identify strengths in the family, which can be harnessed when working to preserve the care of the children within their families and reunify children with their families.
  
  23. We are delighted to have Professor Froma Walsh with us here today to speak about this topic of family resilience and look forward to drawing lessons that will inform how we can build resilient families.
  
  24. There is a unique philosophy in Singaporean society. We believe in self-reliance and in the agency of families. That families do have the ability and the desire to make their lives better. We are finding that when we build on the strengths of families, and journey with them towards their aspirations, there is greater opportunity for better outcomes.

  
  Whole-of-society

  25. Family-centred, proactive, strengths-based. Underlying these various principles is how we go at it together whole-of-society. The Government, the community, social sector professionals, academics, researchers, and even businesses.
  
  26. Over the course of this conference, different actors in society will take centre stage as they share their experiences and insights on how they contribute to the ecosystem to strengthen and support families.
• In fact, even our Family Justice System are aligned to these principles. Chief Justice will be sharing about the transformation of the Family Justice System to support the resolution of family disputes in a way that enables familial ties to be preserved tomorrow morning.  
  
  Our collective approach
  27. We do not see these various principles as discrete elements. Rather, they intertwine and reinforce one another, providing families with the best chance of success.
  
  28. ComLink+, a recent programme, illustrates this well.
  • A programme for lower-income families with children, ComLink+ adopts a family-centred approach and sees the family as a unit, recognising that issues impacting one family member will also impact another.
  • We are proactive. Instead of waiting for families to only seek out support when they face intractable issues, we actively reach out, knock on doors, and work out issues with the families, linking them up with community resources and support schemes early.
  • A family coach is assigned to each family, building on their strengths at their pace, to build stability and self-reliance, as we try to enable social mobility.
  • There is collaboration across sectors to uplift these families. Volunteers from corporates and the community are befrienders. Today, we have over 1,600 active befrienders and about 400 programmes and activities developed with corporates and community partners. It is a whole-of-society effort.
  • Through ComLink+, we are supporting about 10,000 families across Singapore.
  29. Our hope is that these guiding principles are shared by all partners that work to support and strengthen families.  Operating as a compass to show the way forward as we build together a Singapore Made for Families.

  
  Other countries are like-minded about family-focused approaches

  30. I would like to acknowledge that many countries in ASEAN are actively working to develop family-centred policies. While the lens of family has always been a key and natural facet of our societies, it is now becoming more apparent and intentional. These include:
  • Thailand’s 5 x 5 strategy;
  • Malaysia’s National Social Policy 2030 which seeks to uplift the welfare of families;
  • Philippines’s unique conditional cash transfer programme, 4Ps which improves child health and education and strengthens familial relationships between husband and wife, and parent and child; and
  • Indonesia also recently established a Ministry of Population and Family Development.

    
    Importance of research

  31. I will make one last point, and that is on research. Even as we are clear that we need to take a family-focused lens, I believe we need to form a body of knowledge to help us apply this in context, in our respective societies. Both the basic theories as well as applied research. How can we do this?

   

  32. First, across our societies, we need to continually monitor the state of families, and conduct research to analyse outcomes of our various programs. With indicators and research studies, we will be more well-informed and this will help us continually improve our approach to families. Second, there is opportunity to learn from one another and sharpen our thinking on family-centred policies and practice. Rather than going at it alone, we are enriched and supported by the insights of others.

  
  Collaboration on Understanding the State of ASEAN Families

  33. I’m pleased therefore to share that ASEAN Member States have endorsed and will be embarking on a collaboration to better understand the state of ASEAN Families. This collaboration will see our countries come together to develop and further knowledge on families in the region.
  
  34. In addition to enabling the exchange of ideas, the ASEAN Collaboration will systematically bring together family-centred research to form a body of knowledge, one that will support us in developing family-centred policies and refining practice in our Asian contexts.
  
  35. Under the collaboration, ASEAN Member States will share data on families, and work together towards producing a cross-country survey on the state of families in ASEAN, with the aim of presenting an ASEAN Report on Families.
  
  36. Through the collaboration, we encourage academic institutions and researchers in our countries to develop family-centred research and plan to develop a repository to house this research. We aim to engage local entities in our respective countries to support Governments in this effort.
  
  37. The representatives of the ASEAN Member States and I are glad to affirm our commitment to the work on the ASEAN Collaboration through the Joint Statement we issued yesterday. We look forward to the fruit that will be borne from this collaboration.
  
  38. At this juncture, I would like to recognise the Singapore University of Social Sciences, who is our local research partner for the ASEAN Collaboration. SUSS has been a longstanding partner of MSF and we are glad to deepen our relationship.
  
  39. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Stephen Riady Foundation for their generous support of this regional initiative. The Foundation’s donation of $1 million sows the seeds for a strong knowledge base and will contribute to the strengthening of families across our societies.
  
  40. We hope that this effort will inspire our partners across the sectors to have a keen eye on the state of families as they themselves work and operate in society, and for practitioners and academics to embark on research that will strengthen our understanding of families, to inform better approaches.

  
  Conclusion

  41. Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude. Once again, we are so glad to have you here at the Asian Family Conference to learn alongside us on how we can build strong and resilient families.
  
  42. We have an exciting programme lined-up, with presentations from academics, practitioners and policymakers. Beyond the formal programme, the conference is a good opportunity to exchange views and test ideas. The years of experience, and the amount of insight in this room is immense.
  
  43. I wish everyone a fruitful and enjoyable conference ahead.