Committee of Supply – Head X (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth)

The Chairman: Head X, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin.

1.21 pm

SG60 and Beyond

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir): Mr Chairman, I move, "That the total sum to be allocated for Head X of the Estimates be reduced by $100."

To kick off the Committee of Supply (COS) debate for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) this year, I want to take reference from the fact that 2025 marks the 60th year of Singapore's nation-building. This year marks SG60 and, on reflection, I believe all in this House will agree that it has been quite an exhilarating and extraordinary journey.

However, while part of SG60 is to look back and commemorate on our common history and how far we have come, more importantly, it is a time for us to reflect on our shared values and poise ourselves for the road ahead towards a collective future.

Our external environment is increasingly volatile and uncertain. As a small and open nation, the jostling between international powers will have major geopolitical and geoeconomic implications for Singapore and even test us on our nation's social cohesion.

Domestically, we must continue to be true to our core values, building a caring and inclusive, multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious society. We want to build a society that is fair, just and able to afford equal opportunities to all Singaporeans to pursue their dreams and aspirations, whatever they may be.

We must acknowledge, however, that Singapore, as a society, is rapidly evolving. Domestic demographics are shifting. We have a rapidly ageing population and a low birth rate. Technological disruptions have drastically changed our way of life and traditional notions of jobs and the workplace. We must include our youths in these challenging conversations of Singapore in the future as they are the next generation that will inherit Singapore and its policies of today.

After 60 years of nation-building, if you ask anyone what they take away from Singapore in 2025, you will probably get many different answers. There will be those who herald our beautiful, green and clean city. Others may applaud our efficiency and governance. Many will certainly rave about our diverse array of delicious food.

But on this, I must agree with Minister Chan Chun Sing in his hour-long interview with Mothership, it is the "gumption" of Singaporeans that set us apart from everyone else: the "can do, never say die" spirit; the stoic, unbending belief that we will succeed, even with our backs against the wall. This "gumption" is what got us where we are today. And it is this "gumption" that we must preserve if we are to celebrate SG100 together.

For this to happen, building a strong sense of national unity and identity is crucial. We must ensure that we continue forging and harnessing the unity in purpose and belief in our vibrant and diverse society to keep the flame of our "gumption" burning bright. To this end, MCCY plays a vital role in the community building of our society.

I, therefore, invite the Minister to share with us MCCY's plans and strategies on how they will expand opportunities in community building as well as the arts, heritage and sports, to build a vibrant and cohesive home that empowers all Singaporeans to excel and achieve their diverse dreams and aspirations. Importantly, how these strategies can help to forge a strong sense of national identity as we build a future together towards SG100.

Question proposed.

The Chairman: Mr Sharael Taha, you can take your two cuts together.

Rally Community Assets

Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol): Mr Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Chairman, various M³ initiatives complement national programmes by strengthening last-mile delivery and customising programmes to be closer to beneficiaries. Volunteers play a crucial role by contributing their skills, knowledge and resources to add value to various initiatives.

At M³@Pasir Ris-Punggol, the Mari Membaca programme adapts NLB's reading initiative for families with young children, especially in rental blocks. The Jom Sihat programme adapts HPB and MOH programmes to promote healthy lifestyles and health screenings in the community. The Our Learning Journey Visit Programme provides opportunities for youth to understand job roles and industry skills to guide them in career development.

The M³ fundraising effort for Gaza, Aid for Gaza, successfully united residents, collecting over $166,000 in just one week. In fact, the Qaryah group at Block 757 Pasir Ris collected $3,000 in just one night. And tonight, M³@Pasir Ris-Punggol volunteers will also be at the Geylang Serai bazaar to encourage more donations by giving out handmade tokens of appreciation.

It is evident that M³@Towns can mobilise the community to support various efforts in health, welfare assistance and guidance for children from less privileged backgrounds. To what extent is the Government working with M³@Towns to optimise community assets, workforce and volunteers to maximise the impact of M³ programmes across various areas?

Update on Malay/Muslim Community Health

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The M³ Community Health Focus was introduced in 2023 to encourage the Malay/Muslim community to take ownership of their health and adopt healthy lifestyles. Good health enables individuals to play active roles in their families and community. Can the Minister provide an update on the health outcomes of the Malay/Muslim community and how Focus Area 3, in promoting community health, has contributed to this improvement?

The Chairman: Ms Mariam Jaafar, you can take your three cuts together.

Five Years of M³

Ms Mariam Jaafar (Sembawang): Mr Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] M³ celebrated its fifth anniversary last year. MUIS, MENDAKI and Mesra have doubled the impact of their community efforts through close collaboration. During the COS debates in 2021, I shared that many in the Malay community did not know what M³ was.

Thankfully, people are becoming increasingly familiar with the name M³, aware of M³ programmes, and an increasing number of people are coming forward to get involved with M³. Could the Minister share how M³ has laid the foundation for the Malay/Muslim community to become a "Community of Success" and how we can continue to build this momentum for the future?

Rallying Community Assets

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Volunteers play a vital role in M³ programmes, serving either as ad hoc volunteers for specific events or through long-term commitments, such as mentoring our youths.

At the recent launch of the fifth edition of the PEER mentoring programme for secondary school students at M³@Woodlands, I was delighted to meet Umar again. Umar was a mentee in the first edition of this programme and is now the first mentee to return as a mentor after completing his “A” levels. Having benefited from this programme, he wants to give back by contributing to the community.

Such conduct should be encouraged. Volunteers should also be empowered with community engagement and leadership skills. How have we mobilised community assets, including our programme beneficiaries, as volunteers?

1.30 pm

Community Health

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Over the past few years, several M³@Towns have stepped up their efforts to encourage the Malay/Muslim community to take care of their health and practice an active and healthy lifestyle.

At M³, we have established the Woodlands Health Club, a programme for various exercise interest groups, including Jalan Kakis, Trekking, Zumba A Go Go, Piloxing, Kampung Cycle, Football, and soon, we will be starting Yoga and Gym Buddies. I met an 83-year-old resident at the Zumba A Go Go class, thus proving that age is not a barrier to staying active.

These interest groups also frequently participate in programmes that provide health education and health screenings. For us at M³, these efforts are highly encouraging. Could the Minister provide an update on the overall community health outcomes?

Mr Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal, your three cuts together.

Update on Focus Area 5

Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Chairman. In Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Focus Area 5 (FA5) of M³ on Community Health aims to empower our community to take ownership of their health and adopt a sustainable healthy lifestyle. Can the Minister share what significant improvements we have seen as a result of this FA5? Has there been a reduced risk of chronic diseases, increase in physical activity, or positive changes in eating habits?

Besides awareness, long-term behavioral changes require community support. How does the Government collaborate with mosques, grassroots groups and health professionals to ensure these efforts have a lasting impact? What are the plans to extend these efforts to harder-to-reach groups, such as the elderly and low-income families?

Beyond that, mental health is also important. Many acknowledge that mental health is something they need to address. What are the special programmes under M³ that support emotional resilience and mental well-being?

Project Dian

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, strong families are the bedrock of a resilient society. Project Dian, which was first introduced in 2021, plays an important role in supporting low-income Malay/Muslim families living in rental flats through targeted assistance and community guidance. With its expansion to more M³@Towns in 2023, it is timely to assess its impact and future direction. Can the Government share any update on how Project Dian has improved the well-being of the families involved? Has there been an increase in employment opportunities, financial stability or community support for these families?

Long-term progress requires continuous engagement. How does the Government ensure that these families continue to receive the best and holistic support, including financial literacy and parenting guidance, even after they exit the programme?

Furthermore, with the rising costs of living, are there plans to further expand Project Dian to all other M³@Towns or to enhance the types of assistance provided?

Role of Asatizah

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, asatizah not only play a role as religious educators but also provide guidance on social and community matters. Due to the challenges of modern life, many in our community now rely on asatizah, not only for religious knowledge but also for guidance in dealing with social and personal issues. How does the Government support asatizah and further empower their role to carry out their duties more effectively? Are there efforts to provide them with professional training in areas, such as mental health, family counselling and community leadership?

Furthermore, what steps are being taken to ensure that religious institutions and authorities like MUIS continue to provide ongoing support and development to the asatizah, so that they remain relevant and able to meet the community’s needs?

Finally, how does the Government plan to further empower the role of asatizah in guiding the community, not only in religious aspects but also in building a more resilient, progressive and united community?

Progress of Malay/Muslim Community

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Chairman, in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Sir, I would like to seek clarification and elaboration on four matters concerning the Malay/Muslim community in Singapore. These matters are: (i) the construction and management of mosques; (ii) Warees Halal Limited; (iii) the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS); and (iv) full-time madrasahs.

Sir, the Muslim community, especially those living in Tampines North and western Pasir Ris areas, like myself, warmly welcome the recent announcement on the resumption of plans and efforts to build a mosque in the Tampines North HDB estate. I would like to seek clarification on why the decision to build this mosque was delayed for nine years even though the announcement was first made in 2015, five years before the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

Secondly, with the increasing number of HDB blocks under the BTO scheme in existing estates as well as the development of new HDB estates, I would like to ask the Minister, what are the factors considered by MUIS in its decision to add a second mosque in existing HDB housing estates like Tampines, and the construction of mosques in new HDB housing estates, such as Tengah and upcoming HDB estates like Bayshore.

Sir, I will next touch on the administration of mosques. My first question: how many mosques are currently under the management of Executive Chairmen (MEC) and how many are under the management of non-Executive Chairmen?

During the 2012 Committee of Supply debates, in replying to my query, the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs at that time said that MUIS bears or pays 20% of the Executive Chairman's monthly salary and the remainder is paid by the mosque. My question is, has this percentage remained constant or has it changed? And if possible, can the Minister share what is the monthly income of the Mosque Executive Chairman (MEC)?

Sir, the second matter pertains to Warees Halal Limited. The website of Warees Halal Limited states that it is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, as a subsidiary of MUIS Group whose focus is on providing Halal services and not on generating profits. My questions are as follows: (i) what are the annual revenue, expenses and net income of Warees Halal between 2020 to 2024; and (ii) what are Warees Halal’s plans to meet the increasing demand for halal services in the medium term?

Sir, the next matter is regarding the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS). I would like to ask the following: (i) how many asatizah are registered under the ARS to date; (ii) what is the total number based on gender, that is, Ustaz and Ustazah; (iii) what is the number of cases where the accreditation was withdrawn or cancelled since this scheme was established, and if there are any, what are the reasons for the cancellation of accreditation; and (iv) how many asatizah under ARS currently are from the Sunni and Syiah schools of thought?

Sir, the last matter is about full-time madrasahs. Before I continue, I would like to declare that I have a child studying in a full-time madrasah in Singapore. Sir, my question is, what is the annual Primary 1 intake for full-time madrasahs for 2022, 2023 and 2024; and my second question is how many Primary 1 registration applications were received on those years?

The Chairman: Mr Sharael Taha, your two cuts together.

Plans to Build New Mosques

Mr Sharael Taha: Thank you, Chairman. In Malay, please,

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Chairman, in response to a Parliamentary Question in 2023 regarding plans to build new mosques following cost increases due to COVID-19, it was stated that these plans needed to be reassessed due to the pandemic's impact on construction costs.

Now, with construction costs stabilising and a growing population in Tampines and Pasir Ris due to new BTO developments, I am pleased to hear that the construction of the mosque in Tampines North will proceed. This is highly anticipated by residents of Tampines, Pasir Ris and Punggol.

Can the construction be expedited before 2027? How can we ensure it is easily accessible via public transport, pedestrian paths and cycling routes? Can the Management Boards of the Istighfar Mosque, Ghufran Mosque, and Al-Islah Mosque be involved so their experience can be utilised in the new mosque's design, including implementing sustainable design for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability?

Encouraging to Invest in Youths

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Our youths have made significant progress, with more pursuing post-secondary education. As they are the future of our nation, we must continue to invest in and empower them to reach their full potential. Guidance and mentorship are crucial in helping them complete their studies and explore opportunities in growing industries.

At M³@Pasir Ris-Punggol, the mentorship programme run by working youth volunteers has successfully guided at-risk youths, helping them pass examinations and continue their education. The Learning Journey programme takes youths to companies across various industries to broaden their mindset towards career opportunities in growing industries. In our annual HashTech programme, volunteers from the technology industry mentor youths in dashboarding, data analytics and generative AI, helping them build skills and develop skills portfolios through hackathons.

We have established 13 Professional Networks, including engineering, technology, law and healthcare. Can the Minister share the outcomes of these efforts and how we can encourage more professionals and companies to support our youth development?

The Chairman: Mr Taha, that will be the last time I give you so much allowance. Ms Nadia, you can take your two cuts together.

Supporting Our Youths' Aspirations

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio): Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Mr Chairman, I am heartened to see the increasing number of opportunities, programmes and initiatives specifically implemented to support our Malay/Muslim youths. Indeed, many have contributed to help our youths overcome challenges and develop their careers.

I refer to the various mentoring programmes that are tailored to help our youths realise their dreams. These include the #amPowered programme organised by Mendaki, Mara Mentoring by Mendaki Club and Cool-Yah Conversations under M³. Malay/Muslim organisations also organise many activities to support our youths.

Given the many mentoring programmes that help Malay/Muslim youths build professional networks and explore new industries, I would like to ask, firstly, what are the success and participation rates for these programmes; how have these mentoring programmes helped our youths explore new industries and employment opportunities; and is the programmes’ effectiveness being tracked? What efforts are being taken to encourage more professionals and organisations to contribute their time in supporting and shaping the next generation?

Our Malay/Muslim organisations play an important role in our community. Now, almost all Malay/Muslim organisations are led by a new generation of leaders. For our Malay/Muslim youths, such organisations provide opportunities for them to step forward, learn from more experienced community leaders, gain new perspectives beyond the classroom and serve our community and nation.

Hence, how can we empower our Malay/Muslim youths who wish to contribute to society and train themselves to become future leaders? Has there been any effort to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of these programmes? Could the Minister share how inclusive the Tunas initiative is in reaching out to various groups of our Malay/Muslim youths in terms of gender, age, and educational background?

Uplifting Young Couples and Families

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We must continue our efforts to support and strengthen our young Malay/Muslim couples and families. Strong and stable families are the foundation that ensures future generations succeed. Some young couples may need support in dealing with fertility challenges or issues they face in their new roles as wives or husbands, or as parents who simply wish to do their best for their children. Currently, there are various measures and public policies implemented to support our couples and young parents. With the various initiatives introduced by the Government, could the Minister share how these public policies benefit young Malay/Muslim families, especially for parents who have irregular working hours?

Next, the latest developments of the “Bersamamu” programme. Early childhood education plays an important role in supporting children's mental development and character formation. Therefore, may I ask the Minister to share more about the effectiveness of programmes like KelasMateMatika run by Mendaki? What new programmes are being planned to support our children and young families? And finally, are there efforts to encourage more young parents to participate in these programmes?

1.45 pm

KelasMateMatika - Early Childhood Development

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): (In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Research has shown the important role that early childhood education plays in supporting a child’s development for the long-term. The KelasMateMatika programme for preschoolers is an initiative that seeks to strengthen a child’s basic numeracy skills, while equipping parents with the skills and confidence to facilitate their child’s learning and development.

This initiative is part of the M³ collaboration, which has helped enhance our community's preparedness. More than 10,000 parents and children have benefited from KMM. In 2023, I celebrated the success and achievements of this programme's two decades together with Mendaki at Temasek Polytechnic, with around 450 parents and children who had completed the KMM programme. The KMM's long-term impact aligns with MENDAKI's broader goal of improving educational achievement in our community, thus enabling better social mobility.

Can the Minister share on KMM’s engagement and outreach efforts thus far, and how it has been beneficial for children as well as parents in preparing their children for primary school?

Support for Students on Education

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Mr Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The Malay/Muslim community has made visible progress in raising its educational level as a whole.

The global landscape is evolving swiftly. Rapid technological change and constant geopolitical headwinds means new skillsets are required to take on leadership roles across the private, public and people sectors, which is one of the three key pillars defining the Malay/Muslim Community of Success.

How are we supporting Malay/Muslim students amid changes in the education and global economic landscape? One specific focus area is how we are reviewing the syllabus and teaching methodologies at our madrasahs, which offers an alternative pathway to the national education system that most Singapore students go through. Education can vary greatly from madrasah to madrasah. For example, it was reported that Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah was the only madrasah to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma in Singapore.

(In English): Mr Chairman, please allow me to continue in English.

Another area that I am interested in is how our Malay-Muslim self-help groups, like MENDAKI, can play a greater role in amplifying primary and secondary school education. KelasMateMatika is a successful and well-cited example of how MENDAKI has successfully supported educational efforts at the early childhood stage. My question to the Minister is, what about beyond that stage? How can we empower our Malay/Muslim students to thrive in new learning environments?

The Chairman: The next Member is not here. Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman, you can take your two cuts together.

Support for Malay/Muslim Workers

Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman (Marine Parade): Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] The economic landscape is rapidly evolving, with technological advancements, automation and industry shifts transforming the nature of jobs and required skill sets. Emerging sectors such as green technology, digital services and advanced manufacturing present new opportunities, but also require workers to reskill and adapt to remain relevant.

For Malay/Muslim workers, particularly those in vulnerable sectors like traditional retail, F&B and administrative support, there is a growing need to build resilience and equip them with future-ready skills to ensure sustainable career progression. The Government has introduced various initiatives, such as SkillsFuture, Career Conversion Programmes and sector-specific upskilling schemes, to help workers transition into higher-value industries and digital-driven roles.

Could the Minister share insights on how we are ensuring accessibility and effectiveness of these reskilling initiatives for Malay/Muslim workers?

Additionally, how can we further strengthen community partnerships, mentorship networks and career guidance programmes to help workers navigate industry changes and seize new economic opportunities?

Progress Updates on Singapore College of Islamic Studies

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Last year, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Singapore Islamic College (SCIS), marking a significant milestone in our efforts to develop a future-ready pipeline of asatizah. In Singapore’s diverse and multicultural context, it is crucial that our religious leaders are well-equipped to provide guidance to the Muslim community; guidance that is firmly rooted in Islamic scholarship, yet highly attuned to the complexities of their lives.

I would like to ask the Minister how is MUIS shaping various aspects of SCIS, particularly its curriculum? Specifically, how will the curriculum be designed to ensure that our future asatizah are not only well-versed in traditional Islamic sciences but are also trained to apply their knowledge to contemporary issues, whether it be ethical dilemmas in science and technology, the evolving role of faith in an increasingly secular world or the integration of religious values within a multicultural society like ours?

Beyond local relevance, another key consideration is global engagement. We know that Singapore has long played a role as a bridge between the East and West, and our asatizah should be similarly prepared to contribute meaningfully to global Islamic discourse.

How will SCIS ensure that its graduates are equipped with the intellectual agility, linguistic proficiency and cross-cultural competencies needed to engage with scholars, policy-makers and communities beyond our shores? Will there be international partnerships, exchange programmes or collaborative research opportunities that allow our asatizah to gain exposure to diverse schools of thought and global best practices?

SCIS has the potential to be more than just an institution for religious education. It can be a model for how Islamic scholarship can thrive in a modern, cosmopolitan setting, serving the needs of the local Muslim community and the broader global ummah.

The Chairman: Next Member is not here. Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

Sustaining Community Needs via Wakaf Masyarakat Singapura

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Wakaf plays an important role in the Muslim community. Our pioneers have contributed wakaf assets, thus ensuring sustainable financing for mosques, madrasahs and the community. Now, the Wakaf Masyarakat Singapura (WMS) can potentially grow wakaf contributions and enable the community to contribute collectively to charity for the long-term. Hence, the sustainability of WMS relies on the community’s contributions.

Therefore, as the Chairman of the Islamic Legacy Planning Workgroup, I worked with asatizah, professionals and community partners to raise awareness about the importance of legacy planning since last August's Wakaf Month. In just five months, we reached out to over 2,000 participants in physical events and nearly 340,000 online impressions, approximately 50% of all Muslims in Singapore. We will continue these efforts.

However, Islamic legacy planning principles and instruments may be difficult to navigate by some segments of the community. As we make preparations before departing this world, we should also make provisions, not only for our families but also for our community's future through WMS.

Time waits for none; passes each day;

Death's hour none can foresee;

For the hereafter we make our own way;

Through the WMS we help mutually.

What are the plans to equip the community with the knowledge and skills to do legacy planning and contribute to WMS? Can the Minister also provide an update on the fundraising efforts and funds raised through WMS thus far?

Contributions to SG60

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Mr Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] We celebrate SG60 this year. I am sure many of us are proud of what we have achieved in these 60 years since Singapore became independent, as a multiracial society in the middle of a region with a Malay and Muslim majority. We should use SG60 to remind ourselves that we have gotten here because of the contributions of every community. Can the Minister share more about the Malay/Muslim community's contributions to the SG60 celebrations this year?

Moving forward, I think there are at least two areas that our Malay/Muslim community can play an outsized role in the world and shape Singapore’s future on the world stage.

First, we can be the shining example of how the Malay/Muslim community can progress in harmony with other groups. The calibrated manner in which we handled the tudung issue over the years, the mature way in which we accepted the closure of mosques during the COVID-19 pandemic and how MUIS addressed various issues – all these are not as easily achieved in many other countries.

Second, we should take the lead in developing global thought leadership in growth areas, such as Islamic finance, Shariah-compliant medical treatments and bio-medicine, sustainable finance, as well as climate change. How can our community contribute to building a shared Singapore future together in a sustained way?

The Chairman: Minister Maliki Osman.

The Minister, Prime Minister's Office (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman): Mr Chairman, the SG60 period presents an opportunity for reflection – looking back on how far we have come and renewing our commitment to the shared values that underpin our unity and progress. Over the past six decades, our Malay/Muslim community has made significant progress, in tandem with the progress of Singapore.

Today, my colleagues and I will speak about how we can move forward together as a Community of Success. First, in developing citizenry, we nurture active contributors to community and country; second, in growing competency, where we equip the community for the future while building leaders of tomorrow; and third, in building character, we empower our community and religious sector to progress with confidence.

Ms Mariam Jaafar asked how M³ has laid the foundations for a Community of Success. Last year, we commemorated the fifth anniversary of M³. Much has been done through the M³'s five focus areas, where we identify and address issues in the community, provide more integrated and targeted support to those who most need it and strengthen our last-mile delivery. These efforts are bolstered by a growing pool of over 4,000 volunteers across the three M³ agencies – MUIS, MENDAKI and the People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (PA MESRA).

This ethos of active citizenry has been foundational to the work of M³ and in our community and nation building efforts. Let me share three ways we hope to further nurture active citizenry in our community: one, fostering ownership towards healthy living; two, rallying community assets towards the collective good; and three, playing our part by contributing to the wider society. Mr Chairman, I will continue in Malay.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Chairman, to become active citizens and contribute towards the nation’s development, each individual should remain fit and healthy. We do this by raising awareness on health and providing an environment that encourages a healthy lifestyle among Malay/Muslims.

Dr Wan Rizal asked for an update on M³ Focus Area 5 (FA5). Since we started FA5 two years ago, M³ have collaborated with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and our community partners on many initiatives to improve the health of Malay/Muslims, including in the areas of active ageing and mental well-being. We expanded the Saham Kesihatan initiative to all 11 M³@Towns, and more than 800 individuals joined in 2024, up from over 500 individuals in 2023. The Jaga Kesihatan, Jaga Ummah (JKJU) network has also grown, from 100 partners in 2023 to over 160 partners last year. JKJU participants increased from over 4,000 participants in 2023 to nearly 70,000 participants last year. The participants benefitted from JKJU programmes, such as exercise sessions, health talks and healthier groceries distribution.

I am pleased to share with Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Mariam Jaafar some positive trends that we observed in the community in recent years. For example, the proportion of individuals who have sufficient total physical activity rose from 76% in 2021 to 80% in 2023. Physical activity here means having at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, including daily routines, such as housework and taking the stairs instead of the lift. More have also taken part in national programmes like Healthier SG. Enrolment among Malays increased from 30% in May 2024 to 45% in February 2025.

However, we can do more, such as increasing the proportion of enrolments in the Healthier SG programme. We must also intensify efforts to prevent and manage chronic diseases. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and high blood cholesterol in the Malay/Muslim community remains higher than our national average.

Regular health screenings help with early detection and intervention and can prevent or delay the onset of complications of certain diseases. Health professionals always remind us that the longer we wait to address potential problems, the more complex and costly the treatment can become. The participation rate of Malay/Muslims in chronic disease screening has room for improvement; only 53% of Malays aged 40 to 74 attended chronic disease screening in 2023. This lags way behind the national average of 63%. For those aged 40 and above, it is recommended to go for diabetes and high blood cholesterol screening once every three years, and hypertension screening once every two years. I hope that the Malay/Muslim community will continue to take charge of their health for the sake of our families, community and country, in order to be active citizens and remain passionate about contributing to Singapore’s development.

Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Mariam Jaafar asked about M³ efforts to rally community assets and volunteers. In 2024, the 11 M³@Towns organised over 160 ground-up initiatives, supported by 900 volunteers and benefitting over 65,000 residents.

Dr Wan Rizal asked about Project Dian@M³. Project Dian is an example of how the Malay/Muslim community works with Government agencies and volunteers to support those living in public rental flats in M³@Towns. Complementing national schemes like ComLink+, Project Dian helps families living in rental flats to improve their stability and income, and work towards helping them purchase and own their flats. Project Dian started out as a pilot project in three towns in 2021 and now has expanded to six towns. We have engaged over 500 households, which represents roughly 70% of the Malay/Muslim families living in rental homes within these towns. Of these families, more than half have young children who have benefitted from additional support that meets their social and educational needs.

With the success of this pilot project, I am pleased to announce that Project Dian will be expanded to the remaining five M³@Towns by end-2025. This means that Project Dian will be offered to all 11 M³@Towns. This expansion will allow us to reach out to 1000 more of these families living in HDB rental homes. At the same time, the Dian Ambassadors have been matched with families with young children aged three to six years old, to provide support as early as possible, so that these children are better prepared to enter primary school. The joy is evident on the faces of the children when the Dian Ambassadors read and tell stories to them. With Project Dian’s expansion, we will progressively extend the Dian Ambassador programme to all M³@Towns, and train 100 more volunteers this year, to supplement the 200 volunteers that we have currently.

I hope that many more of us will step forward to join this noble cause, and help these families move forward from their current situation.

Chairman, Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked about Malay/Muslims’ contributions to the SG60 celebrations this year. We launched SG60 Bersama, which organises SG60 celebratory events by the Malay/Muslim community. Members of SG60 Bersama comprises Malay/Muslim organisations, Government agencies and several individuals who came forward to design various programmes for all Singaporeans to enjoy. One of these SG60 initiatives is the “60 for 60” Project by PA MESRA. In this project, 60 professionals aged 60 and above will provide guidance to 60 Malay/Muslim student leaders from neighbourhood secondary schools. This initiative exemplifies what it means to pay it forward, where these students will attend a six-month leadership course and learn new skills in areas such as project management and public speaking.

Beyond SG60, the Malay/Muslim community’s efforts in supporting the people of Gaza also demonstrate our show of concern at the global level. The situation in Gaza remains volatile, and Gaza still needs much help in the areas of humanitarian aid and reconstruction. The situation is more critical now as they observe their fast in the month of Ramadan. Singaporeans of all races and faiths have contributed generously towards the provision of critical humanitarian assistance to Gaza. This is a reflection our identity and noble values. Over the past year and a half, the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) has raised over $13 million, and is now into its fourth fundraising campaign for Gaza.

We recognise the desire of Singaporeans to do more to help. Recently, M³ worked with RLAF to launch the Aid for Gaza campaign to raise funds for Gaza. Over Ramadan, volunteers from the M³@Towns will raise funds for Gaza through various ground-up initiatives. In just the first two weeks of the campaign, we managed to collect $266,000, which is close to half of our target of $600,000 for this campaign. We hope that the theme of the SG60 celebrations “Connect, Care and Contribute” will be further ignited through this campaign. I look forward to the community’s strong support in together ensuring its success.

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(In English): Mr Chairman, beyond our shores or closer to home, efforts like M^3's Aid for Gaza and our initiatives for local communities in the M³@Towns show how our acts of care and contribution, as donors or volunteers, and how we can connect with one another to do so, can make a difference to those around us.

This is what we hope that we can do through the Malay/Muslim community's contribution to the SG60 celebrations or SG60 Bersama. We hope this will bring about many opportunities to celebrate our shared culture and heritage and act upon our collective hopes for the future.

We want to contribute to nurture this spirit of citizenry towards the community and towards the country. This is what will propel us forward as a Community of Success in the next 60 years and beyond.

The Chairman: Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamed.

The Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Mr Chairman, when we look at the progress of our Malay/Muslim community today, there is much that we can be proud of. About 40 years ago, Malay/Muslim leaders rallied together and founded MENDAKI, when we saw worrying trends in our students' educational performance. Many were not completing their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), "O" and "A" levels. Our leaders then recognised the importance of education for the Malay/Muslim community to progress with higher education and better paying jobs.

Today, we see the impact of the community's self-help efforts through MENDAKI to complement Singapore's education system. From 2000 to 2020, more than twice as many Malay youths obtained post-secondary or higher qualifications, rising from around 30% back in 2000 to around 80% in 2020. Among Malay adults, the proportion of university graduates has increased fivefold from 2.1% to 10.8%, and more Malays now hold PMET positions, with a steady rise from 23% to 40% in 2020.

To better prepare the community for current and future challenges, MENDAKI has adapted and transformed to stay relevant in raising the competency of the Malay/Muslim community. We approach this with three thrusts: one, expanding MENDAKI's role over the years to address evolving educational needs; two, to better support youths entering the workforce and encourage lifelong learning and upskilling among workers; and three, building community and industry leaders of tomorrow.

Our community has made solid progress, but the work does not stop here. Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked how we are supporting our students to thrive in new learning environments. MENDAKI has adapted to new developments in the education landscape while upholding its core mission of student support at every milestone.

We have made enhancements to the MENDAKI Tuition Programme (MTP), one of the first education initiatives introduced by MENDAKI in the 1980s. I was a beneficiary of the programme then and also volunteered as a tutor when I was in the university. Today, MTP has expanded to 100 centres across Singapore, with close to 9,700 students enrolled in 2024, a 35% increase over the last five years. MTP has also adjusted to changes in the education system, such as Subject-Based Banding.

This year, MENDAKI will further enhance MTP's programmes by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) systems into our curriculum to better prepare our students for an AI-driven future. We will sign memoranda of understanding (MOU) with two institutions which will partner us in this endeavour.

First, we will work with the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre (SMART) to provide students with access to AI tools that will help them better grasp Mathematics with topics, such as geometry, and improve the effectiveness of our volunteer tutors. Second, through our partnership with Quantedge Foundation and Temasek Foundation, we will pilot an individualised learning system with diagnostic quizzes and interactive activities, for better student engagement and academic outcomes.

MENDAKI has also moved upstream to invest in preschool education as part of the continuum of support we provide to young families through M³’s Focus Area 1. This is led by Minister of State Faishal Ibrahim.

I agree with Mr Zhulkarnain and Ms Nadia Samdin that preschool builds a strong foundation, not just for academic performance but for holistic development in those crucial years of early childhood. Local data has shown that children who attend preschool from age three are less likely to require additional support in primary school.

MENDAKI piloted KelasMateMatika (KMM) in 2018, an early intervention programme, to enhance children's appreciation of numeracy concepts and parents' skills in supporting their children's learning. KMM sets the foundations early for students to perform well in Mathematics, which opens up more educational pathways for them. Today, 90% of students who enrolled in KMM enter primary school without needing additional learning support. In the past five years, over 12,000 parents and children have enrolled in KMM. MENDAKI will continue to work closely with the M³@Towns and social service agencies for even more targeted outreach to young families. Chairman, in Malay, please.

(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Beyond education, MENDAKI has also responded to the professional upskilling needs and to encourage lifelong learning in the Malay/Muslim community. As Mr Fahmi Aliman highlighted, one priority is helping our workers to build resilience and constantly be ready to seize new opportunities. This became clear when COVID-19 hit and many workers struggled to keep their jobs in the changing economy. Today, with the rapid technological advancements and innovation, our workers must constantly upgrade and refresh their skills to keep pace with evolving job requirements and secure higher wages.

To enable more workers to actively upskill and reskill, the Government introduced the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme last year for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above. This included a $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up. For those pursuing full-time long-form training, they can get a training allowance of up to $3,000 per month or up to $72,000 over two years.

The Government enhanced this initiative during this year’s Budget to include eligible participants of part-time training who will receive a training allowance of $300 per month. For lower-wage workers, the Workfare Skills Support (Level-Up) will provide a similar monthly training allowance for selected part-time and full-time courses from age 30. Such programmes provide our workers with opportunities to get a substantial skills reboot and build career resilience, so that they can secure better futures for themselves and their families.

For Focus Area 4 (FA4) of M³ headed by Mr Fahmi Aliman, it complements national efforts in lifelong learning and helps workers stay competitive as job demands increase. Through collaboration with NTUC and community organisations, FA4 has supported about 25,000 Malay/Muslim workers through career fairs, job matching, skills development as well as mentoring programmes over the past three years.

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(In English): Mr Chairman, we have also intensified efforts to prepare youths to enter the workforce. Mr Sharael Taha and Ms Nadia Samdin asked about the impact of mentoring programmes for our youths.

MENDAKI's mentoring programmes, overseen by Minister of State Rahayu Mahzam, aim not only to motivate youths to stay in school but also to raise awareness of career and education opportunities available to them. Mentoring can help transform perspectives and motivate those from lower-income households, who may not have strong support networks and career role models.

In 2024, MENDAKI's #amPowered programmes matched nearly 1,400 students to more than 400 mentors – double the number of mentors involved compared with 2022. Apart from mentoring, our Malay/Muslim professionals have also come together through MENDAKI's Professional Networks to help youths build social capital and open pathways for them to reap the benefits from Singapore's investments in growth sectors.

The Professional Networks now cover 13 different industries with a growing membership that has doubled to over 850 in the past year. Of these members, about 60% have actively contributed back through MENDAKI's programmes and ground-up initiatives. For example, in 2024, the Professional Networks collaborated with MENDAKI to engage close to 650 youths across 17 interactive learning journeys that provided exposure to opportunities in different growth sectors. Professional Networks in Banking and Finance, Aviation and Technology have also organised networking events for youths to engage professionals on prospective career pathways with these industries. MENDAKI's corporate partners have also come on board to support our youths through scholarships that open doors to job opportunities upon graduation.

Over the past five years, MENDAKI's corporate partners have awarded around 45 scholarships to support students in their post-secondary education. One example is the Micron Foundation Scholarship and their internship opportunities for polytechnic students pursuing engineering degrees. I am glad these efforts have galvanised so many to step forward and I encourage all our professionals to continue reaching out in whatever capacity you can, to make a difference in the community.

Ms Nadia Samdin asked about how we are nurturing the next generation of community leaders. In the past, our community leaders contributed their expertise and influence primarily through the Malay/Muslim organisations (MMOs). Today, many Malay/Muslims are successful across various industries. Our vision is to draw on all our networks to cultivate leaders of tomorrow who are adept as both community and industry leaders.

To this end, MENDAKI introduced Tunas Bersama M Kuasa Tiga (M³), in 2022 to equip the next generation for leadership roles. The first cohort of 13 participants graduated in April 2024 and continue to contribute at national and community levels.

To widen outreach, MENDAKI has drawn on initiatives such as the Professional Networks to support youths with leadership potential from a broader spectrum of the community and different industries. The second cohort of 23 participants includes not just MMO representatives but also M³@Towns Chairpersons and Leads from the Professional Networks. The programme allows younger leaders to forge stronger collaborations and exposures, cutting across both community organisations and industry networks. Sir, I am hopeful that initiatives like Tunas and our Professional Networks can cultivate a stronger pipeline of community and industry leaders for the Malay/Muslim community and hopefully, even on the national and international stage.

Mr Chairman, our community has built a strong ecosystem to uplift individuals and prepare for the future. This would not have happened without those who have persevered through many challenges and steadfastly contributed back. Take, for example, Mr Ahmad Firdaus Daud. When he was a student at the Singapore Management University (SMU) in 2004, his family ran into financial difficulties. Firdaus made personal sacrifices so that his younger siblings could continue with school. With support from the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) and SMU scholarships, he graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honours in 2008.

Today, Firdaus is a Senior Counsel and regional Head of Legal for a large multinational firm. He also serves on MENDAKI's Education Trust Fund and has joined the second cohort of Tunas Bersama M³. Firdaus' journey against the odds, inspires us, not just for personal resilience, but also to greater endeavours so we can empower those in similar situations to overcome their challenges and succeed.

Chairman, I started my speech sharing about MENDAKI's humble beginnings 43 years ago. MENDAKI will keep transforming to better serve the community, whether to expand into preschools, enhancing our mainstream schools' offerings or moving into the workforce to help our workers upskill, reskill and transform to be relevant to the industries. With the support of our volunteers and partners, we are in a good position to continue progressing as a Community of Success for the future.

The Chairman: Minister Masagos.

The Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): Chairman, as Singapore marks its 60th year of Independence, it is timely that the Malay/Muslim community reflects on how far we have come and the common aspirations we have as we shape our future together. Our journey has been one of building unity and trust among different communities within our multiracial and multi-religious society, ensuring that we thrive as a Malay/Muslim community and collectively, as a nation.

Over the years, we have been steadfastly pursuing our vision to be a Community of Success, anchored on the three pillars of character, competency and citizenry. My colleagues spoke about growing competency and exemplifying citizenry in their respective speeches. Our community leaders and volunteers are key in the effort. Together with our M³ agencies and Malay/Muslim organisations, their contributions in bringing people together and for last-mile delivery, have been invaluable in dealing head on with our community's needs, while complementing the Government's efforts at the national level.

I will touch on the final "C" – character – which reflects the religious outlook of our community. Living in a society marked by change and complexity, our community look to our asatizah for religious guidance. The quality of asatizah – our Islamic religious teachers and scholars – therefore shapes the character of our community.

To Dr Wan Rizal's query on how our asatizah can meet our community's needs today and in the future, we have stepped up efforts to nurture our asatizah and develop an ecosystem for them to thrive, following recommendations on the Committee on Future Asatizah (COFA) five years ago.

I will share three ways we can continue making strides for the asatizah sector: one, grooming the next generation of Singapore Islamic leaders who are equipped to guide the community through contemporary challenges; two, galvanising contributions to strengthen the religious sector and the community; and three, growing the attractiveness of the religious sector.

We have been investing in grooming a pipeline of quality asatizah here in Singapore, where they can thrive. In 2020, MUIS introduced the Postgraduate Certificate in Islam in Contemporary Societies (PCICS) to train returning graduates from overseas Islamic universities in the practice of Islam relevant to our context. Graduates of PCICS shared that they appreciated how the course opened up their worldview. As importantly, the course also brought them back together again on returning from studying Islam from various overseas universities and uniting them in the process.

Back then, I said the PCICS would lay the foundations for a future Islamic college in Singapore. Today, we are fulfilling a long-standing aspiration of our community in setting up our Singapore College of Islamic Studies (SCIS).

Mr Fahmi Aliman asked about how we have been working to develop the SCIS. The SCIS will open its doors for an initial intake of 60 students in 2028. It will offer Islamic teachings, both classical and contemporary, to apply to our context. Students will be well prepared for employment opportunities in the religious and adjacent sectors. They can hit the ground running.

As part of the SCIS experience, prospective students can look forward to participating in immersion programmes for applied learning in specialisations across the SCIS' inter-disciplinary curriculum, such as Fatwa Studies, Quranic Studies, Social Work and Counselling. Through these programmes, students can gain practical skills to better contribute to different facets of socio-religious life in Singapore.

For those interested in pursuing their post-graduate studies after SCIS, MUIS is working with our foreign partner institutions to enable interested students to benefit from advanced standing for postgraduate programmes at these institutions.

These opportunities are possible because of our partnerships with local and foreign institutions. The SCIS will partner the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) for its social sciences pathway and with renowned Islamic institutions, such as Dar al-Ifta in Egypt, the University of Jordan and Al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, for its Islamic studies pathway. These distinguished partners are a testament to how our vision to establish SCIS is held in high regard and resonates internationally.

Through partnering world-class Islamic institutions, we can also ensure the SCIS is globally relevant, while remaining responsive to Singapore's context. Proper governance is critical. We have put in place an Advisory Panel, a Steering Committee and a Board of Governors to guide SCIS' development. Leaders of our partner institutions, together with other renowned universities like Al-Azhar, will be part of the SCIS' Advisory Panel. They will have their first meeting in Singapore in June 2025, on the sidelines of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS). The Steering Committee, led by Mufti Dr Nazirudin, has started the important work of charting the roadmap for the SCIS' developments. The Board of Governors, chaired by Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, will play a key role in stewarding the College's governance and providing oversight on matters like fees and entry qualifications.

For more information on our journey to develop the SCIS thus far, I invite Members to collect a copy of the SCIS booklet, "Building the Foundations", from the Parliament Library. Chairman, in Malay, please.

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(In Malay): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Chairman, the SCIS reflects our ongoing efforts to meet the socio-religious needs of our Malay/Muslim community. Our mosques have also been a key node for the Malay/Muslim community’s religious life.

Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Faisal Manap asked about mosque development plans. As our Prime Minister recently announced, we will resume developing the mosque in Tampines North and build a new mosque in Tengah in the coming years. The mosque in Tampines North was announced in 2015. At the time, the area was still under development. In 2019, we upgraded Masjid Darul Ghufran with a larger prayer hall to accommodate more congregants. The construction of the mosque in Tampines North was delayed due to COVID-19, which also significantly impacted the implementation of other planned infrastructure projects. When the situation improved, MUIS reviewed the mosque development plans and decided that planning for new mosques could proceed. MUIS works closely with national agencies on the planning of new mosques, which considers demographic changes and population projections with the development of new towns across Singapore.

To Mr Faisal Manap’s query, there are currently 32 mosques under the management of Executive Chairmen while the rest are led by Honorary Chairmen. Our Executive Chairmen receive competitive compensation packages that commensurate with their responsibilities in managing mosque operations and serving the community.

Mr Faisal Manap also asked about Warees Halal Limited (WHL). WHL was set up to provide a complementary role to MUIS’ Halal Certification Unit. Given significant developments in the halal regulatory regime and the halal industry over the years, MUIS will continue to review the role of WHL in response to these changes.

Back to Mr Faisal Manap’s question on the sharing of costs to pay for the employment of Mosque Executive Chairmen, the cost-sharing arrangement between MUIS and the mosques is reviewed based on the mosques' financial capabilities.

Even as we ensure we have enough funds to build new mosques and to establish the SCIS, we must also ensure that our community’s funds are sustainable. Hence, the Wakaf Masyarakat Singapura (WMS), which was launched last year to support the long-term religious needs of the Malay/Muslim community, is crucial. WMS will create a long-term, sustainable funding stream for our community and empower the Malay/Muslim community to chart a brighter future.

MUIS set up the WMS Protem Committee to establish strong foundations for the governance and implementation of WMS. Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked how we can help our community better understand Islamic legacy planning principles and instruments. To achieve this aim, MUIS formed the Islamic Legacy Planning Workgroup (ILPW) comprising lawyers, financial planners and estate planners, as well as asatizah.

To raise awareness of WMS, MUIS held its inaugural Wakaf month campaign last August and will do so again this July. I am pleased to report that we have raised $6.25 million so far. Out of this amount, almost $1 million are cash contributions, and the remainder in pledges. In conjunction with SG60, MUIS will launch a campaign to increase the number of pledgers to WMS to 6,000 individuals by the end of the year. This is five times the number of about 1,150 pledgers currently. I hope more among us will contribute to WMS. Our contributions will go a long way in supporting the socio-religious needs of our future generations.

Chairman, our asatizah contribute beyond their traditional role of religious instruction. They also support the community in other ways. To Mr Faisal Manap’s query, there are 5,080 asatizah recognised under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), of which around two-thirds are female.

Ms Nadia Samdin, who asked for an update on Bersamamu, may be glad to know that our Kadi and Naib Kadi have journeyed with about 31,000 couples so far. They are competent in other areas like marriage counselling or as Marital First Responders, family violence awareness and financial literacy. Therefore, they are well-informed of the trends and issues of married couples, and are more equipped to guide these couples.

Bersamamu is part of the community support ecosystem, complementing national-level initiatives that we have in place for young couples and families. In response to Ms Nadia Samdin, we can do more to help young families who face additional challenges. The Prime Minister has announced a suite of Budget initiatives to support growing families and in early childhood care and education, which we hope will benefit many Malay/Muslim families as well. Ongoing initiatives like KidSTART also equip parents with the knowledge and skills to confidently support their child’s development. I encourage the selected families to join KidSTART through touchpoints like ComLink+ as well as Bersamamu.

Just like how our Kadi and Naib Kadi provide invaluable support to families, we see the same spirit in FITRAH’s asatizah volunteers, where 40 asatizah from 29 mosques have stepped forward beyond their roles as Mosque Religious Officers (MROs) to support various services offered by FITRAH.

Our asatizah also play a key role in forging trust and mutual understanding between different faiths and communities. They lead their congregants to continue to actively expand our common spaces and open the mosques to other communities. This is especially felt during this Ramadan, when the mosques welcome non-Muslim friends to join us for “buka puasa”, as we share the joy and blessings of Ramadan together. We must therefore ensure that the religious sector remains attractive to have a steady pipeline of quality asatizah. Their journey usually begins at our madrasahs. To Mr Faisal Manap’s query, for each Primary 1 cohort, our madrasahs can admit up to 400 students. On average, the madrasahs accept one of every two students who apply.

One key strategy to grow the attractiveness of our asatizah sector is the phased implementation of a Common Salary Guideline (CSG), as recommended by the Committee of Future Asatizah (COFA) earlier. MUIS has conducted rigorous evaluations of the asatizah’s job scope, benchmarked their salaries against related sectors at the national level and engaged employers to ensure that salary adjustments are competitive and sustainable.

Since 2023, we have raised the salaries of more than 80% of asatizah working in our mosques and madrasahs to meet the CSG salary range, with an increase in their salaries ranging between an average of 5% to 12%.

With the third phase of implementation this year, I hope to bring more of our asatizah to within the CSG salary range. MUIS is committed to working with employers to continue adjusting our asatizah’s salaries so that it commensurates with their knowledge and skills. This is also done so that they meet the national salary benchmarks for relevant sectors progressively. We hope that these moves will provide assurance for our asatizah and recognise all their hard work in providing religious guidance and pastoral support for the Muslim community – that even in their chosen career, they can provide a comfortable living for themselves and their families, just like every other Singaporean.

(In English): Through our shared commitment and collective efforts, our vision of a Community of Success is not just a model that resonates within Singapore – it is now recognised and respected beyond our shores.

At the second edition of the International Conference on Communities of Success (ICCOS) in October 2024, regional and international audiences were deeply impressed by how our Malay/Muslim community practise Islam in context, harmonising faith with Singapore’s rich multicultural society. Many expressed keen interests in learning from our journey, inspired by how we have navigated challenges and embraced opportunities to thrive. This recognition reaffirms our approach in building Communities of Success, strengthening our confidence to contribute meaningfully to the development of similar communities around the world. I look forward to sharing more about our plans in my speech at my annual Hari Raya Get-Together in April.

Mr Chairman, as we celebrate SG60, we stand on the firm foundation of our community’s strong religious Character, which continues to guide us as we grow in Competency and nurture a deep sense of Citizenry. Character keeps us united, competency will make us strong and citizenry, trusted. These pillars will propel us forward, uniting us in purpose and progress. Together, as a Community of Success, we will shape a brighter future for our community and for Singapore. [Applause.]

The Chairman: We will take clarifications for Minister in this Head. Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim: Thank you, Chairman. I have two areas of clarifications: one for Senior Minister of State Zaqy and another for Minister.

For Senior Minister of State Zaqy, two questions. First on KMM, whether MENDAKI can look into plans to expand KMM beyond Mathematics and, possibly, into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), for example? Second, how is MENDAKI following through with the various graduated cohorts of KMM batches to track their educational outcomes in primary school?

For the hon Minister, on WMS and legacy planning. First question: what are the efforts that MUIS is undertaking with the other national agencies to streamline resources or share resources for the purposes of promoting legacy planning, like making wills, CPF nominations and insurance nominations? Second, our Malay/Muslim community may have various conventional investments or insurance policies that may not be strictly Shariah-compliant in the conventional funds. How can you promote more nominations of such assets into WMS? Will there be further religious guidance from the Office of the Mufti in this regard?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for his question and interest on KMM. I will take the question in two parts. First, on the programmatic level. At preschools, we have beyond the KMM programme, STEM programme as well for preschoolers and their parents at Raikan Ilmu at Heartlands as an example. We give them exposure to playing with robots, toys and other ways in which to explore more experientially rather than typical tuition or academic formats. We also have Instagram platforms to engage parents as well to give them courses, classes and exposure to the developmental programmes that they can take kids through with STEM.

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At the data and studies level, those are just as important because that informs us on the effectiveness of the KMM programme. First, now that we have established a programme evaluation office in MENDAKI, we are tracking closely and we have done studies internally. That is how we have come up with results that nine in 10 kids in who have gone through KMM for a reasonable period no longer required the Learning Support for Mathematics (LSM) programme in primary school. So, it has been quite effective in that sense and we continue to monitor it, especially when we scale.

When we started KMM, it was only about 300 students. We are now covering about 3,000 students and parents. So, that is quite significant. And one of the key factors is really how we engage parents and the parents in cultivating that love and interest in Mathematics. That makes a difference for many of our preschoolers who may have underperformed or may not have been able to clear LSM in the past but today, are with current cohorts.

The second thing we are doing is, given that we now have a data platform, we are now working with the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), doing longitudinal studies on how this affects our kids and how they perform over time. And certainly, with our MTP, our kids who graduate from KMM are automatically enrolled in MTP. That helps us ensure that we continue to have touchpoints so that while they have gained the knowledge and benefits in Primary 1, they do not lose it and we continue to track them when they enter mainstream school.

The Chairman: Minister Masagos.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: To the question from Mr Zhulkarnain, we are very glad that other agencies in the Government are very keen to support us and to help us in the growing of the funds for WMS. For example, at the Bulan Wakaf that we celebrated in August last year, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) was actually there, not just to tell the community that it is important to have a will, but also to talk about what you should do even before you pass on, like having a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), and so on.

For the Malay/Muslim community, the reliance on instruments like faraid, where one's estate will be automatically distributed after their passing on, is a tradition we have had for the longest time. But actually, the real tradition in the Islamic practice is to have a will, always to have a will. And that is a practice that we have not practised in this part of the world, because we assume the Government or MUIS will take care of whatever we leave behind. The will is a very important instrument, not only for WMS, but for people we want to give to, who may not benefit from the faraid distribution.

So, we hope that this awareness of WMS also creates awareness of the need to always have a will. Just a practice I would like to share with Members here is that, in the early days of Islam, everyone in the adherents of Islam had a will. Everyone had a will. To the fact that when they leave home to travel or when they went to war in those days, they would look back at the will and see whether the people they left this will behind for were still alive or if it should be changed. They were very serious about their will.

So, the distribution of the estate is the will first, and then debts and, then faraid. So, faraid is the default, but only when you do not have a will or you have cleared your debts. So, this instrument is a very important instrument and through WMS, we would like them to be aware that they should really have a will, and also, while doing a will, leave something for WMS.

The Chairman: Mr Faisal Manap.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Sir, I believe that the Minister did not answer quite a number of my questions. But due to time factors, I will submit a Parliamentary Question. Nonetheless, I have two clarifications.

One, on the full-time madrasahs. If I were to hear the Minister mentioned correctly just now that there are 400 places every year for Primary 1 enrolment and, at this point in time, almost every year, we have a double application for that 400 places. So, can I seek a clarification from the Minister whether does he MUIS to work with the full-time madrasahs to increase the number of Primary 1 places in these full-time madrasahs?

Secondly, regarding the Mosque Executive Chairmen (MEC), I just want to clarify whether is the proportion still the same where 20% of MEC's salary comes from MUIS and the other 80% comes from the mosque? I just want to clarify that.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Before I respond to the questions, I would like to ask Mr Faisal Manap whether he wants us to expand or he is asking me whether we should expand the places in the madrasahs.

The Chairman: Mr Faisal Manap.

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: Just asking whether MUIS can work with the full-time madrasahs to expand the number of intakes.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: So, the question is whether madrasahs really should expand, because the demand is much higher than the placement?

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap: I think the madrasahs should expand. But will MUIS work with the madrasahs to deal with this problem, meaning the shortage of places for Primary 1?

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: Mr Chairman, when we receive or accept the placement into the madrasah, we are not just looking at the point of entry. We have to look at the whole journey the child will take and we are responsible for it. That means that by the time they leave school, they must have a livelihood; and this is the reality of living in Singapore. It is not just pursuing an education to fulfil the dreams of the parents alone, but we must be able to ensure that when they go out, they have a career, a meaningful career and livelihood.

Today, out of the 400 annually that we admit into madrasah, actually only around 150 move on to do Islamic tertiary education beyond our madrasah system. Where did the others go? If we had not designed our madrasah so that if they were to leave the madrasah system or cannot complete the madrasah system, they can go back to the national system, we would have a situation that we had before the year 2000 – many drop-outs who would not be able to get back into the national system.

But because, over the years, we have constrained the numbers or limited the numbers to fit the needs of the community, the number of asatizahs we need in the years to come and we have done the manpower planning for that, 400 is about just nice. At the same time, for those 400, those who cannot continue, they are able to continue their national stream with no problems, which is why we do not have any dropouts in that sense of the word. And for this 150 who move on to become asatizahs, we want to ensure that they are competent, and when they come back, they have a job waiting for them, they have a livelihood that they can rely on. We do not want to end up with our asatizah pursuing a very long journey in becoming a religious scholar, finding no place in our society or mostly freelancing for that matter, while they do other jobs.

So, for now, this 400 is sufficient, it is what we need and, over time, if we need more, we will certainly increase it. But then, again, it is focused on the interest of the community's needs, as well as to ensure that every child that gets into our madrasah system does not lose out in becoming a contributing citizen in Singapore.

The Chairman: Dr Wan Rizal. Sorry, Minister.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I have one other question to answer which is the mosque executive chairmen. Twenty percent was just a guideline, because that is about the right amount to get the mosque to support the deployment of the executive chairman. But today, what we have looked at is the ability of the mosque and how much fund they can collect on a monthly basis, and then a portion, according to their affordability.

The Chairman: Dr Wan Rizal.

Dr Wan Rizal: Chairman, two questions. One on SCIS and the other is on the community health.

On SCIS, I note that the graduates are going through a very good training programme. But can we help by supporting them in their transition to employment? I think it is something that could be helpful. At the same time, while they are actually studying, are there opportunities to strengthen their pathways to employment through internships and industry attachments, ensuring that the curriculum is robust, is aligned to the workforce and they find some meaningful transition in that area?

The second is on community health. The JKJU network appears to be very successful and it is a good model for community engagement. Are there plans to expand this network to leverage on the network itself, to better intervene on community health issues and push this idea of preventive health and early intervention within the community?

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I just want to clarify is the Member asking about PCICS or SCIS? It sounds about the same.

Dr Wan Rizal: SCIS, Sir.

Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: SCIS. We have not started yet. So, we do not know how it will be. But it is a full-time course and, therefore, they will have to be studying full-time. I hope they dedicate that time studying and not moonlighting and working, because if they do, I do not think they can put their best effort in achieving the kind of knowledge that we want them to have. But at the same time, we want to ensure that it is affordable and if their families need support while they are studying, there are many avenues in Singapore for them to be supported.

The Chairman: Okay, we have already exceeded the time for clarifications. I will still allow it, but I just want everyone to recognise that we are eating into the Ministry's time. Minister Maliki.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Just a quick response to the question on JKJU. Indeed, we continue to pay attention to the health of the Malay/Muslim community. I mentioned earlier while we have been making progress, there have been some areas that we continue to want to improve on, particularly, increasing in our rates of participation in signing up for Healthier SG, preventive healthcare, at the same time, addressing chronic illnesses.

So, JKJU is one very active effort at reaching out to the community, using community resources and networks. But beyond just looking at the numbers that have been participating, we are also looking at the profiles of those who have been responding and making sure that those who are at higher risk are reached out earlier; at the same time, ensuring that we continue to address issues of reducing the onset or delaying the onset of chronic illnesses. Some of it is related to diet, some of it due to predisposition because of genetics, but there is a lot more that we can do together, working together with MOH and the Health Promotion Board on that.

The Chairman: Ms Nadia Samdin, make it quick.

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin: Sir, thank you for your indulgence. My first question is on Tunas. I appreciate what Senior Minister of State Zaqy mentioned about how we have expanded it to go beyond just Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs) to also include the professional networks and also M³@Towns. But really significantly, we see very few Malay/Muslim young women leaders who are stepping forward and I wonder if there is a way to expand the remit of Tunas, for example, to also include Malay/Muslim societies in the Institutes of Higher Learning, for example, to be part of some of the activities so that we can continue to grow a robust pipeline of leadership.

The other is in relation to Bersamamu. I thank Minister for sharing about the expansion. Really, what I hope is while we have done so much for young families, there still are a lot of big families who often have children who fall through the cracks, and I wonder if there is a way to better triangulate what we do with KidSTART, ComLink, in KelasMateMatika and all, such that, especially those larger families with very young children who are very vulnerable will receive the support so they have a good foundation.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for her questions. I am glad that the Member asked about Tunas, because it is a very new programme. It is running into its second iteration. When we first started, traditionally, MENDAKI funds, many of our MMOs in terms of programming, but we think that it is worth investing into the MMOs so that we can develop leadership. You find many of them now in leadership positions, some of them, from the first iteration leading some of the MMOs already today.

So, this is one way in which we want to not just cultivate, but also more importantly, give them leadership skills, because this provides good access, such as access to Civil Service College, in which they have certain training, understanding how Government works. This is one way in which they can also collaborate among themselves. We have seen joint projects between MMOs today, which we did not really see in the past. So, this is one way in which the leaders where we picked from the various appointment holders, come together and undergo this programme.

So, that leads to the other answer, because we can only pick those who are leading today. The fact that in the second iteration, we have expanded into professional networks, that gives us even more leverage, even more diversity, to access more talent from industry. That gives us greater potential to diversify the slate even more. And with the M³@Towns involved, we look at the leadership and we hope that we can also find more women leaders too.

So, certainly, that is one area in which we will work towards into encouraging the various organisations to support and develop more of our women leaders so that they, too, can lead the community in different functions.

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Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I totally agree with Ms Nadia's proposal that we really should support them and give them as much support as possible. Which is why we hope that they also tap into national programmes. And for our families which are qualified to get into KidSTART, they are also now part of the ComLink programme, which means that beyond KidSTART, they get support for career planning, they get support for preschool fees, development and so forth. So, this is one way that we can support these families.

At the same time, I am also happy that under Dr Maliki, the Project Dian volunteers are reaching out to them, so that there is also a cultural element in motivating them to take the right steps in uplifting themselves.

The Chairman: Last clarification. Mr Saktiandi.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Thank you, Mr Chairman, for allowing me to ask. I got two quick clarifications. The first clarification is for Senior Minister of State Zaqy about Quantedge. The Senior Minister of State mentioned about Quantedge partnership and the MOU, whether he can share a bit more about what the MOU means, because he did not give much details and in what way will students benefit.

The second clarification is in terms of the Dian expansion, for Minister Maliki. I am very happy that the Minister is expanding it to the other M³@Towns fully. Can the Minister mention how it will segue with ComLink+? I think the Minister mentioned about all the other things that ComLink and ComLink+ have done. But what other resources will there be for these other new towns when Dian is expanded? Would there be additional resources? Because we are talking about Budget and COS, whether there will be any additional resources.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank the Member for his interest. The two MOUs I spoke about, the first one with both Quantedge Foundation and Temasek Foundation, and the other one with Singapore-MIT Alliance, which is the MIT University, both relate to the use of AI in our MENDAKI Tuition Programmes. We are exploring ways in which we can allow students to access AI tools. I do not have details yet, because we are still working out the MOUs, because we are going to pilot some of these things to see how we can improve the experience for many of our students who today could leverage on AI, especially for weaker students. We can customise and tailor some of the ways that Maths is taught to them because different kids have got different problem areas.

The other area we are looking at is really on the tutors, how we can help our tutors, because many of them are volunteers, and how we can help them deliver courses for the students and engage the students even better. Some of these may also involve using tools that our tutors can customise for students according to some of their needs. So, just watch this space, because it is coming and it is something that we are working on quite closely.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: I thank the Member for the question. Yes, we are working very closely with ComLink+, and with ComLink for that matter. Dian started out with the recognition that when families are in rental flats and young families at that, they have the potential to really move forward and purchase their own home. That is the first fundamental thing we want.

At the same time, we recognise that they are facing challenges because they do have many young children, and some of them are young parents themselves, and do not have the ability to supervise and do not have the skillset in being good parents. So, in ComLink, the collaboration is one in which ComLink now has got a pool of family coaches that go in there and work with the parents first, to understand the issues and connect them with resources within the community. So, we leverage that set of resources available.

Dian provides the opportunities for Dian ambassadors. These are volunteers whom we train in understanding early childhood development and to help the parents look at how we reach out to the children, read to the children, inspire the children to be excited about learning, because some of the parents do not have these abilities. So, they work together to see how we can inspire the parents to say that the children really have that interest.

Right now, the Dian ambassadors go down to bring books and at the same time, help parents design, create learning corners in their small homes, so that even when they are living in a rental flat, they can create interesting spaces for children to learn and want to learn. So, we work together, leverage our resources within the Government, including ComLink resources, plus community resources within the Malay/Muslim community.

The other dimension is that having Dian ambassadors help with the cultural dimension, because not all family coaches from ComLink necessarily understand the dynamics of Malay culture, the nuances, and so the Dian ambassadors help them and tell them that these are the ways in which we can connect with Malay families in a manner that will get them to respond better.

The Chairman: Order. I propose to take a break now.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Mr Speaker: Order. To make up some time, we will just have a shorter break. So, I will suspend the Sitting and I will take the Chair at 3.20 pm. Order.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.05 pm until 3.20 pm.

Sitting resumed at 3.20 pm.

[Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair]

Debate in the Committee of Supply resumed.

[Deputy Speaker (Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo) in the Chair]

Head X (cont) –

The Chairman: Mr Darryl David.

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A Stronger and Cohesive Singapore

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Chair, the theme of SG60 is "Building Our Singapore Together" is based on and builds on the Forward Singapore exercise, in which Singaporeans avowed commitment to a renewed social compact based on racial and religious harmony. There are also a mix of legislation, policies, unique commemorative events and education in school and for the public, through campaigns to strengthen racial and religious harmony.

Additionally, there are efforts to enable discussion through platforms such as Community Engagement and Dialogue to raise and address concerns involving race and religion with the outcome of fostering respect and inclusion.

The National Education lessons and current issues discussions are also aimed at nurturing in our young the notion that this social compact is significant and can only be preserved through deep commitment and belief in racial and religious harmony and inclusivity at all levels of society.

Many public campaigns also aim at fostering respect and instilling understanding of the importance of being open, respectful and culturally aware.

Mdm Chair, as we celebrate SG60, Singapore, like the world, is changing and we must adapt, while still holding on dearly to what binds us. Building social harmony entails continuous support. The initiatives are valuable ways of cementing religious and racial understanding because this ensures social stability, unity, mutual respect and peace in Singapore's diverse, multicultural society.

I would like to ask what are the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's (MCCY's) strategies to unite citizens under a strong sense of national identity, as we forge our future together?

Culture Pass

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Mdm Chair, Singapore's arts sector has matured over the years with globally recognised artists and companies supported by world class venues. Importantly, local audience support is critical in building a vibrant arts scene engaged with the Community. I am therefore very encouraged to hear of the recently announced Culture Pass which will encourage more Singaporeans to join in and enjoy local arts performances, exhibitions and experiences on offer. It will also provide a significant boost to the arts sector economy.

For us to understand the wider strategic plans that the Ministry has for the arts sector, can I invite the Minister to share how the Culture Pass will fit into the broader Arts Plan 2.0.

The Chairman: Ms Usha Chandradas, please take your four cuts together.

Refinements to Cultural Matching Fund

Ms Usha Chandradas (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, for my first cut, I would like to thank the Government for its provision of a $100 million top-up to the Cultural Matching Fund (CMF) in this Budget and here, I have three points to make for my cut.

Currently, the CMF matches donations but not the earned income of registered arts charities. I have heard from some arts charities that this makes fundraising events, like the throwing of gala dinners actually much more "lucrative" than pitching for work or projects. The irony here is that if charities were out in the field securing contracts and paid work, as some charities do, they would be creating a multiplier effect, generating freelance and subcontracting opportunities down the line for other workers and players in the arts.

If we expect arts and heritage charities to be self-sustaining to an extent – and not to rely entirely on donations – why not support them more when they take steps to earn their own revenue? CMF backing for earned income would not be out of step with the broader mission of arts charities, it would actually reward sustainability and encourage charities to innovate in finding new revenue streams.

Secondly, arts charities are held to high governance standards, yet the CMF matching grants cannot be used to pay for legal fees. These could include fees for advice on compliance, contracts or intellectual property matters. These are essential operational costs that ensure charities remain accountable and that they are legally protected. Excluding them potentially undermines charities' ability to function effectively and sends the implicit message that these kinds of costs are not "necessary" operational costs.

Third, the non-profit sector struggles to attract and retain skilled talent, yet the CMF matching grants cannot be used for staff bonuses or welfare benefits. If we want to professionalise the arts charity sector, we must acknowledge that talent retention is just as crucial as the direct funding of artistic programmes. There is a long-standing misconception that non-profit staff are less valuable in some way than their private or public sector counterparts. Excluding staff bonuses and welfare costs from CMF matching support potentially reinforces this bias too. It could have the effect of undermining our efforts to build a strong, motivated workforce within the arts and heritage charity sector.

The CMF is an extremely meaningful initiative, I do not deny this – all I am saying is that the exclusions for the usage of the matching grants, in themselves, send a message about how we view charities' human resources and their legal and compliance obligations.

To address these challenges, could MCCY reconsider the restrictions against CMF matching grant use for legal fees, staff bonuses and welfare benefits? Could MCCY also consider expanding the ambit of the CMF, or if the CMF is not the right scheme for this, because I do understand that it is in place for specific purposes, such as to encourage philanthropy, could MCCY then consider introducing a separate grant structure, such that charities which achieve better financial self-sufficiency, are then able to achieve and receive additional Government support, in recognition of their good work?

Cross Cultural Appreciation in the Arts

In response to my previous Parliamentary Questions, MCCY has stated that it does not collect data on the ethnicity of audiences at arts performances or exhibitions. Similarly, when asked about plans to encourage philanthropic giving to minority arts groups, the response was that the Government takes a broad-based approach to arts funding.

I acknowledge and am grateful for MCCY's ongoing support for Chinese and minority cultural arts groups, but these groups continue to face challenges. Minority arts groups represent smaller communities and can struggle to gain visibility, especially if their content is not delivered in English. Similarly, arts groups offering Chinese language- or Chinese traditional performances can find it difficult to attract younger audiences and new patrons. Both sets of groups have also shared with me that mainstream philanthropic networks are harder for them to access, making it sometimes difficult for them to fund raise.

Yet, the arts have a unique power to transcend cultural boundaries. They can foster emotional connections between different communities and, in so doing, strengthen racial harmony. MCCY should encourage crossover audiences in arts events – that is to say, bringing Chinese audiences to non-Chinese arts performances and offerings, and vice versa.

The work of minority and non-English arts groups is about more than just cultural preservation, it strengthens social cohesion as well. When I spoke to Dr Kasinathan, who was a long-term secretary and now patron at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) – which coincidentally celebrated its 75th anniversary this past weekend – I asked him what, to him, was one of the most significant achievements of SIFAS? Dr Kasi told me that he was proud that the organisation "not only created opportunities for students of all races to learn and participate in the Indian fine arts, but that bursaries if required were also equally available."

I have also personally seen the impact of cross-cultural engagement firsthand, at the theatre. At AGAM Theatre Lab's "Tharuthalai Thirutham", I saw audiences of different backgrounds moved to tears by the storytelling, even though not everyone understood Tamil. When watching Nine Years' Theatre's "See You, Anniversary," delivered entirely in Chinese, which is a language I barely understand, I was deeply moved. These experiences show that language is no barrier to emotional connection.

Art has the power to create bonds that go well beyond theoretical slogans about racial harmony. To support cross-cultural engagement in the arts, I propose three suggestions.

3.30 pm

First, could MCCY provide more funding or logistical support for non-English medium and minority arts groups to market their performances to a wider audience? This could include collaborations with mainstream media, influencers or targeted digital campaigns.

Second, could MCCY act as a bridge between these arts groups and philanthropists? These groups could lack direct access to new patrons and facilitating introductions through things like private showcases, receptions or dialogue sessions could help them to connect with new potential patrons or supporters.

Third, could MCCY introduce a new recognition platform for philanthropists who support artistic projects that bridge different racial and ethnic communities? At present, the Patron of the Arts Award broadly differentiates donors by the monetary value of their contributions. Perhaps, we could consider a new category of awards, a Cultural Visionary Patron Award, for example, for philanthropists who support arts groups which bridge diverse cultural expressions and accordingly promote racial harmony through the arts.

Art, Technology and Youth Audiences

Madam, technology empowers arts practitioners to explore innovative mediums and techniques, pushing the boundaries of both artistic creation and technical innovation. However, as with any new advancement, opportunities will come with risks and challenges.

Christie’s, for example, just concluded its first sale of AI-generated art. The artistic community had a mixed response, with some raising concerns over AI’s use of copyrighted works while others embraced its creative potential. Among the highlights of the Christie’s sale was an animation by digital artist, Refik Anadol, and this sold for around S$369,000. We can see that the intersection of art and technology is not just a space for experimentation but also a potential economic driver.

That being said, in Singapore, many artists still lack access to the necessary tools or training to integrate emerging technologies into their work. Others may be wary of venturing into unfamiliar territory. It may be too expensive to attend courses to acquire these skills, and there may be concerns over ethical and legal issues. Many artists remain concerned about issues, such as that of artwork ownership rights, intellectual property protection and fair compensation for digital creations.

I would like to ask MCCY if it has any specific plans to equip arts practitioners with the skills that they need to engage with new technologies in their creative processes. Beyond access to tools and training, will there be initiatives to educate artists on how to protect their intellectual property rights in the digital realm?

On a related note, does MCCY have any plans to use technology to engage younger audiences and deepen their appreciation for the arts? With digital platforms playing an increasingly central role in how content is consumed, innovative approaches, such as interactive virtual exhibitions, AI-assisted creative tools or gamified experiences, could especially help to bridge the gaps between traditional art forms and younger generations. And I would appreciate any insight the Minister might have on how MCCY has been thinking about these opportunities.

Salary Guidelines for Arts Workers

Madam, for my final cut, I would like to start by thanking the Minister for his extensive response to my Parliamentary Question last year on whether skills and salary guidelines can be developed for arts workers. I fully agree with the Minister that the development of a competitive and sustainable arts sector is key, but I want to emphasise that salary guidelines are not a distraction from this goal. They are, in fact, a meaningful component of it.

I have spoken to many young artists and aspiring arts workers who feel anxious about entering the job market because they have no clear expectations of pay, especially if they seek to be freelancers. Anecdotally, you still hear stories of exploitation where people, especially younger workers, are asked to work for free or without proper pay. Without transparent guidelines, both workers and employers struggle to navigate fair compensation. This can lead to inconsistencies that will affect the sector’s ability to attract and retain talent. With this in mind, I offer three targeted suggestions for MCCY’s consideration.

First, could MCCY examine the precedent that has been set by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS)? NCSS has developed skills and salary guidelines which took effect from April last year to improve talent retention and ensure competitive wages in the social services sector. These are issues that are also relevant to the arts. While it may be too early to assess the full impact of the NCSS model, could MCCY consider whether a similar approach could be adapted for the arts sector to provide clearer pay benchmarks and career progression pathways?

Second, could MCCY help to address the lack of salary benchmarking in the arts sector? Many arts organisations struggle to set salaries and remuneration due to a lack of publicly available data, especially for freelancers. While some financial information on Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) is available on the Charities Portal, it lacks detailed data on compensation and this makes it difficult even for well-intentioned employers to structure fair wages competitively. Since MCCY already has access to detailed financial reports from arts organisations under its Major Companies Scheme, could the Ministry leverage its access to these reports and publish aggregated, anonymised data on payment structures for employees and freelancers? A preliminary study of salary trends among MCCY-funded major companies would arguably require minimal resources but could offer critical insights into whether pay structures across the sector actually show any consistency.

Third, if MCCY’s resources are better allocated elsewhere, could it then consider outsourcing a deeper study on salary guidelines to external researchers? There are arts administrators, economists and industry analysts who can provide valuable insights if given access to relevant data and market players. A study could also directly engage arts workers, ensuring that any proposed guidelines, if they are issued, will reflect real market conditions and concerns.

Ultimately, Madam, salary transparency is not about Government interference or market distortion. It is about equipping arts workers and organisations with the right tools to make informed decisions. A stronger and more sustainable arts sector is not just about artistic excellence. It is also about fair and competitive working conditions. I hope the Minister will consider these proposals and I welcome further discussion on this point.

Improving SEPs' Mental Health and Well-being

Ms See Jinli Jean (Nominated Member): Madam, freelancers are often stressed by financial precarity due to fluctuating demand, client cancellation and payment delay. Some shared that freelance work could increase feelings of isolation and loneliness. Could MCCY provide an update on its efforts under the National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy in respect of freelancers? Could MCCY share how it is working with Government procuring agencies and stakeholders to improve the mental health and well-being of freelance coaches, instructors and creators?

Support for Artists

Mr Darryl David: Mdm Chair, Singapore supports artists and traditional arts through grants, arts spaces and programmes that develop the arts workforce. The National Arts Council (NAC) provides grants to artists and arts organisations. For instance, the stART Fund that supports traditional Chinese arts and emerging Chinese visual artists and calligraphists.

Some of these schemes are also customised for the artists’ needs. The NAC's Framework for Arts Spaces includes the Incubation Scheme, the Scheme for Developing Artists and Arts Groups, and the Arts Centre Scheme.

There are also campaigns like The Esplanade's Arts for Change campaign, which aims to make arts more accessible to all Singaporeans.

While the Government has invested in the arts scene, there might be a perception that the arts are not as valued as other industries. There are limited performance spaces, difficulties in making a decent living from the arts alone and perhaps a greater need for audience engagement and appreciation for artistic talent.

Can MCCY share the plans to strengthen and support artists to develop their talent and skill to realise their full potential?

Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman: Mdm Chair, for the arts scene in Singapore to thrive, it is essential to cultivate a steady pipeline of artists and practitioners who contribute to the vibrancy and growth of the sector. Supporting emerging and mid-career artists through skills development, mentorship and sustainable career pathways will be key in ensuring that our local arts landscape remains dynamic and resilient.

One of the key approaches is to create affordable spaces through subsidised studios, performance venues and exhibition spaces where artists can showcase their talent and artworks. Another approach is to expand audience engagement and participation through more free or low-cost performances to encourage wider audience participation, like ArtsEverywhere@CDC, where we bring arts experiences closer to communities.

Could MCCY share its plans to strengthen support for artists, particularly in developing their talents and skills so they can realise their full creative potential and sustain long-term careers in the arts?

Plans for Heritage Buildings

Mr Darryl David: Mdm Chair, in the early years of nation-building, economic development and housing were Singapore’s main priorities. To provide for housing and industrial needs, many historical buildings were torn down.

But the Government ultimately recognised that our buildings are a critical part of our heritage and the need to preserve for future generations. Heritage building preservation led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) through its conservation programmes focuses on maintaining the original character, and historical and architectural significance of these buildings while allowing for modern functionality.

Singapore encourages repurposing old buildings for new purposes, like retail spaces, restaurants and cultural centres, while preserving the features of the buildings. Some of these buildings are not just iconic but a part of the Singapore story, significant for our collective cultural memory.

Some notable examples of repurposed heritage buildings are CHIJMES, formerly the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus School downtown, which is repurposed into a mixed-use development with restaurants, shops and event spaces.

The Old Police Academy along Thomson Road is now a contemporary art centre. The Singapore Art Museum has moved to Tanjong Pagar Distripark and is doing well in attracting new audiences in this space.

Golden Mile Complex, an example of Brutalist architecture, slated for redevelopment into The Golden Mile, a conservation development including offices, medical suites and lifestyle spaces. These preservation initiatives maintain Singapore’s rich national culture while supporting urban development.

I would like to ask if MCCY can provide an update on development plans for heritage buildings in Singapore?

Our Cultural Heritage

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Kebun Baru): Mdm Chair, I would like to speak about how we can sustain our heritage businesses.

Singapore’s rich multicultural heritage is a vital part of our national identity and should be accessible, celebrated and preserved for future generations. From our historical districts to traditional trades, our cultural heritage reflects the shared experiences and contributions of our diverse communities. However, sustaining interest and deepening appreciation requires proactive efforts to engage Singaporeans, especially our younger generation.

Can the Minister share what can be done to ensure that the community continues to sustain interest in, and deepen appreciation for, our cultural heritage? And beyond cultural sites and festivals, heritage businesses also play an important role to shape our identity, serving communities for decades with high-quality products and services that have stood the test of time. Many of these businesses are not just commercial enterprises but keepers of traditional crafts, recipes and experiences that define Singapore’s unique character.

For example, in Kebun Bahru, we have the largest remaining bird singing club left in Singapore. And next to the club, there are one or two little shops with a couple of craftsmen who do handcrafted and handmade bird cages. They may not generate a lot of sales but their presence shaped the look and feel of the surrounding bird-singing community.

Yet, as we have seen in recent cases in Marine Parade, these long-established businesses face challenges, including rising rentals, changing consumer habits and competition from large retail chains.

While urban renewal and commercial viability are important, it is equally critical that we find ways to safeguard and support heritage businesses so that Singapore does not lose these cultural icons.

Can the Minister share any plans to recognise and support our heritage businesses, ensuring they remain a meaningful part of Singapore’s cultural and economic landscapes for years to come?

The Chairman: Ms Hany Soh, please take your two cuts together.

Promote Historical and Cultural Heritage

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): In 2022, the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced its new Woodlands Heritage Trail, which aimed to accentuate Woodlands’ rich military history, the evolution of its communities and places of worship and its transformation into a modern estate.

The trail features 15 heritage sites and is supported by eight heritage trail markers. Even so, many Woodgrove residents have told me that there are more places in our division that also deserve a spotlight.

Take Mandai Tekong Park, for example. For years, residents have wondered why a neighbourhood park in Woodgrove carries this name when we are nowhere near Mandai or Tekong. I recently learned from a senior resident that the park was likely named after a former village off Mandai Road. During HDB’s Rejuvenation of Heartlands project recently, this park got a major facelift, reflecting the kampung spirit with its play features.

With that in mind, I ask the Ministry what is the progress of the NHB’s heritage trails in uncovering more untold stories about the historical and cultural heritage of our respective neighbourhoods?

Beyond adding places like Mandai Tekong Park with an extra heritage trail marker, would MCCY consider expanding this initiative to showcase how local community clubs have evolved and touched residents’ lives over the years?

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Take Fuchun Community Centre, for instance. It was formerly known as Hock Chun Community Centre. Following Senior Minister Lee’s visit to Marsiling in 2019, he shared through his social media that Hock Chun Community Centre was Singapore’s first rural community centre. He had actually attended its opening with our founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew back in 1963. Although the present-day Fuchun Community Centre is no longer located at its original site, such valuable history must be passed down to the next generation and generations to follow.

Mr Chairman, this year marks SG60 and here in Woodgrove, we are excited to welcome our newly renovated Fuchun Community Centre, complete with green sustainability features and amenities for both young and old to bond as a community and family. I hope the NHB will seriously consider updating the Woodlands Heritage Trail to include a new trail marker at this Community Centre when it reopens in the second quarter of this year, to let this kampung spirit, that has evolved since 1963, to continue to pass down for generations.

Access to the Arts among Young Children

Every Singaporean child deserves a chance to explore the arts. It is how they discover creativity, appreciate their culture and see the world in new ways.

The National Arts Council's Arts Education Programs serve this purpose by providing students access to quality arts education experiences that complement curriculum and co-curriculum learning. On this note, how can MCCY do even more, to expose our young to the arts? Can this initiative be expanded to also benefit younger children in preschools?

In a similar vein, the SG Culture Pass, which was announced to provide all Singaporeans aged 18 and above with cash credit for activities like arts and cultural performances, since this is intended to encourage us to engage with our rich cultures and inspire participation in art, why not extend this opportunity to younger Singaporeans by lowering the age eligibility to include children from preschool onwards?

A similar family-focused design like the Active SG credits for the SG Culture Pass could help instill a love to the arts from an early age, while enhancing family bonding. If lowering the age is not possible, I would urge the Ministry to team up with vendors to offer waivers or reduced fees for kids who come with adults. Or as another option, let these children use their Life SG credits to cover these costs.

The Chairman: The next Member is not here. Mr Gerald Giam.

Raising World-class Athletes

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Madam, I declare my interest as a parent of a child in a high performance sports programme run by SportSG. I congratulate Yeo Jia Min and Loh Kean Yew on their stellar performance in the recent German Open Badminton tournament. They and other team Singapore athletes have blazed a trail for many more athletes to follow.

The level of competition in world-class sport is fierce, with elite athletes dedicating their youth to training and competing. Winning at the highest level requires early talent identification, top-tier coaching and strong athlete support. These student athletes take a different path from their peers in mainstream schools. Training 20 hours to 30 hours a week and travelling frequently for competitions while studying, is extremely demanding.

Not all can enrol in a Singapore Sports School, because its 10 academy programmes may not match the athlete's sport. SportSG and National Sports Associations (NSAs) must work more closely with mainstream schools, therefore, to give student athletes greater flexibility in their schedules, while ensuring they keep up academically. Finances are a major hurdle to developing world-class athletes. Most costs, especially in the early years, fall on parents. Joseph Schooling's parents reportedly spend some $1 million on his training, education, accommodation and travel on his road to winning an Olympic Gold medal. How many families can afford that? Without external funding, we risk limiting our talent pool to the wealthiest households.

Funding need not come solely from the Government. Corporate and private sponsors can help. SportSG and NSA should play a bigger role in securing and connecting athletes with sponsorship opportunities. Even modest sponsorship of equipment, clothing or travel, can help to develop potential talent.

Young athletes and their parents need clearer guidance and structured pathways, so they do not navigate the system alone. More support should be provided to help parents make informed decisions about their child's sporting and academic future. Smaller NSAs may lack the expertise and resources for world-class coaching and athlete development. In such cases, SportSG should provide more guidance and oversight to support athletes and help them to achieve their full potential.

World-class athletes are developed through years of rigorous training, not talent alone. If we are serious about competing on a world stage, we must put in the right structures, pathways and financing in place for our athletes to train, develop and win.

Sport Facility Bookings

Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap (Aljunied): Madam, in June 2024, MyActiveSG+ was launched. The web-based platform was meant to address the problems faced by users in booking sport facilities. Since the platforms launched, there have been problems with transferring of credits from the previous MyActiveSG apps, access to facilities by children and accompanied by their parents and with payment issues. I seek an update on whether these dealing issues have been ironed out.

On a more concerning note, there was a commentary carried by CNA in November 2024 on the appearance of badminton groups organising games in exchange for a fee from participants. Individuals interviewed for the piece expressed their unhappiness over having to pay the host who organised badminton games, but at the same time will also resign to the realities that these groups leveraged on their members to secure slots at facilities, something that is more difficult for an individual on their own.

Madam, I note that actions have been taken against the use of boards and scripting in the booking process, but the problem of securing booking at sports facilities as badminton courts remain prevalent. I urge MCCY, SportSG and stakeholders to look into improving the booking process further.

ActiveSG

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong): Madam, in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] While ActiveSG's new balloting system has reduced the issue of scalpers booking sports facilities and reselling bookings for profit and has given more residents who have never used ActiveSG facilities the chance to make bookings, some residents still find the balloting system cumbersome and awkward. Under the previous “first-come first-served” system, if residents were unsuccessful in securing a booking, they would know immediately and could quickly look for alternative venues. Now, they have to wait for the ballot result with each booking attempt, taking more than 24 hours. Some residents would prefer a system that provides immediate result.

(In English): Madam, second, we should not allow individuals who secure ActiveSG court bookings to host strangers and organise games for a fee. While this practice is not outright "on-selling", it is effectively "fractional on-selling", masquerading as the hosting and convening. Do not get me wrong. I am not against private players creating a market to convene strangers to play sports together, but do this on private courts. We should not allow the hosting of games for a fee on public courts funded by taxpayers.

I urge ActiveSG to step up efforts to detect and weed out this practice. Be a "mystery shopper", join these hosted sessions and gather direct evidence of what is going on. Or better yet, ActiveSG itself can step into the market and host groups on public courts. Emulate private market practices, do it ourselves on public courts for the public good.

ActiveSG Credits

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant (Nominated Member): Mdm Chair, keeping fit and staying healthy are important aspects of our lifestyle which cuts across all ages. One way in which the Government has been encouraging a healthy lifestyle, is by the provision of the ActiveSG credits.

Could MCCY please provide an update on the utilisation of ActiveSG credits and how this current top up is accompanied with programmes to further boost the uptake and utilisation of ActiveSG facilities and programmes in 2025?

Also, I would like to ask whether there are any new or upcoming programmes planned for 2025 that will complement this top-up, ensuring that everyone in Singapore is motivated and supported to fully leverage the facilities and programmes available.

The Chairman: Mr Sitoh Yih Pin. Just take your first cut only.

Sports Hub

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Madam, many Singaporeans are very excited about the Kallang Alive Masterplan announced at the Prime Minister's National Day Rally last year and are looking forward to how the plans will revitalise the Sports Hub and its surrounding areas. In the meantime, the Sports Hub continues its work in developing sporting and lifestyle offerings for Singaporeans and support the development of sporting excellence of our athletes.

I would like to invite the Minister to give us an update on the Ministry's work and plans in these areas to give us an idea and understanding of how we are continuing to develop sporting and lifestyle offerings and supporting our elite athletes leading up to achieving the Kallang Alive Masterplan.

The Chairman: Minister Edwin Tong.

The Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai): Thank you, Madam. Madam, the Singapore Spirit lies at the heart of our nation. It binds us and it drives us forward as one people. At MCCY, we serve as the custodians of this spirit; nurturing our nation's heart and soul, transforming Singapore from a city into a home – one where everyone, regardless of their background, can contribute to our shared story. Whether it is in the arts, heritage or culture, or in sport, music or religion – these are all strands of the Singapore spirit. Collectively, they make up the Singapore identity – one that is richly woven into a multi-ethnic tapestry.

The challenges ahead – both internal and external – will be daunting; which is why we think that now, more than ever, we need to nurture and strengthen the Singapore spirit.

At MCCY, we will double down on our efforts to serve Singaporeans and build a society that can stand united and strong, embodying "We, the people of Singapore", enabling our diverse aspirations to shine and building our shared future, together.

I thank the Members who have spoken. They have given us much to think about by way of ideas and suggestions. My colleagues and I will respond to as many as possible in our speeches.

Over the years, we have built a strong united nation founded on key values, like resilience, openness and self-determination. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin and Mr Darryl David said, "SG60 is an opportunity to reflect on our past." We agree. "We should celebrate our shared values and prepare for the future. Our pioneers embodied these values and etched them into our national fabric." Indeed, we should document and celebrate the stories of these pioneers, to preserve the values that make Singapore, well, uniquely Singapore.

Through "Project Citizens – The First Million", we will collect stories of our pioneering first citizens, and share them through the Founders' Memorial to inspire future generations of Singaporeans. Our nation's strength lies in our people. Our shared values, as well as our collective experiences – these are what bind us together.

We have witnessed this in so many moments that we have had. I am sure many of the Members here will have their own account, but just last year, we saw religious leaders coming together, engaging in a historic interfaith dialogue with the Pope, or our residents enjoying arts in their own heartlands, as some of you have spoken about, through our programme, ArtsEverywhere@CDC or athletes surpassing themselves at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics and the many school and community events at the Sports Hub, which have brought people together and many more.

These, and other shared moments are the foundation of our identity as "We, the people of Singapore". In our highs, we celebrate together; in our lows, we support each other. At MCCY, we will build on them and we will remain committed to creating opportunities and occasions for more Singaporeans to come together to experience such moments.

In 2023, we opened the largest ActiveSG gym in Singapore at Bukit Canberra, bringing us closer to our goal of making sports a way of life for everyone. We now have 28 ActiveSG gyms in Singapore and 21 ActiveSG Sport Centres. We are progressing on our plans to add other gyms and sports centres around Singapore.

We have also reimagined the Disability Sports Masterplan. To increase accessibility and awareness of our disability sport programmes and activities, not only for the disability community, but also for the broader public – to drive greater awareness, as well as stronger inclusion. We will continue to reduce barriers and create more incentives to drive greater participation.

With this in mind, as part of SG60, we will be topping up the ActiveSG account with a further $100 credit. We hope this will further encourage sport participation across more community segments.

Mr Neil Parekh, who just spoke a moment ago, will be glad to know that previous instances of credit top-ups that took place in 2014 and more recently, in 2023, were positively received, with about two in three ActiveSG Members using the credits within a year of the top-up and the announcement. With this SG60 top-up, we hope that we can push on, to enhance mass sports participation, so that all Singaporeans can live better through sport.

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Madam, in his Budget speech, Prime Minister announced the SG Culture Pass. Madam, this is a very significant move, to build a stronger affinity and appreciation for the arts and culture in Singapore, and through this programme to also bring people together through this shared appreciation.

With the Culture Pass, all Singapore Citizens,18 years and above, will receive a $100 credit to encourage them to take part in and experience local arts and heritage offerings. The Culture Pass is an integral part of our Arts Plan 2.0, aiming to foster a deeper connection and appreciation between the Singapore audience and the arts and heritage in Singapore. At the same time, this programme also seeks to strengthen the support for our own local practitioners.

To Mr Sitoh Yih Pin's question, it is my hope that this will ignite a passion for more arts appreciation amongst Singaporeans and inculcate in as many Singaporeans as possible, a lifelong interest in the arts and a deeper appreciation in their own heritage.

Let me also thank Ms Usha Chandradas for her typically passionate support for the arts and for the Culture Pass. She had also raised several queries during the Budget debate and earlier when she spoke. I will address the Culture Pass questions. My colleague, Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling will address the other queries that the Member has raised.

As I said, our aim is for the Culture Pass to impact as many Singaporeans as possible, especially those who have not attended or do not usually attend local arts and heritage events. We want to change their outlook and hopefully, through the programme and the experience that they go through, catalyse a permanent interest in the arts amongst them.

Therefore, the credits will not be transferrable to another person or directly donatable to arts charities. But they can be used to purchase tickets for family and friends so that they can go together and enjoy the programmes together.

Ms Hany Soh suggested for us to extend the scheme to younger Singaporeans. We do not currently have plans to do so. That is because younger audiences will be able to benefit from arts education and outreach programmes that are embedded into schools, which NAC supports. Parents will be able to use their credits, however, to bring their children along for local arts and culture events. We hope that, overall, this can encourage Singaporeans to come together to engage in a shared experience of our local arts and culture.

This, Madam, is also why we focus on in-person experiences for the Culture Pass, rather than virtual experiences or purchases of artworks or art materials. In-person activities create opportunities for all Singaporeans to come together and create a community around art appreciation. That said, we recognise that in some cases, for example, in the literary arts, the primary mode of appreciation is through the written word, through books. The Culture Pass will, therefore, be available to support the purchase of SingLit books with the credits.

Madam, the Culture Pass levels the playing field for our local arts and heritage practitioners to come together and compete for and attract and gain new audiences. So, let me reassure Ms Usha Chandradas that we will continue to ensure that diverse groups of all sizes will have fair access to the programme. We will pull all eligible offerings onto a single website, which will help publicise events from different groups. And this helps the smaller groups who might not be able to afford the resources to publicise, gain additional mindshare and publicity.

There are some understandable concerns that some parties may take the opportunity to profiteer. But I believe that with the wide array and variety of programmes to choose from, it suits basically everyone, whoever has a local offering, in arts and culture and heritage, will be on the programme. We think that arts groups will be incentivised to price their offerings competitively, reflecting their true value.

But at the same time, having said that, we will also continue to monitor and review the effectiveness of the scheme. We are looking at utilisation and healthy utilisation would be one important indicator. So, I encourage all eligible Singaporeans to use their credits before they expire in December 2028. That is quite a bit of time, enough time for you to get engaged with the arts fraternity. We do not intend to impose a penalty for no-shows, but I do urge everyone to attend the offerings you have purchased so as not to forfeit the credits.

Finally, let me say to Ms Chandradas that the Culture Pass initiative was born out of a lot of feedback and views given to us by the arts community. They gave us a lot of views. Many of them were constructive. We worked on them. We tested it on them. And we had a dialogue with the arts and heritage community and we have therefore come up with our Culture Pass. It is in a form that I think is workable, but we will continue to take feedback from users on its implementation.

Alongside the SG60 ActiveSG credit top-up and the SG Culture Pass, we will also have a busy and bustling calendar of events to bring Singaporeans together over shared experiences.

In October, the Singapore Biennale 2025 will bring art outside of traditional museum spaces and into the public realm. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin can be assured to know that we will be leaning forward to provide a diverse portfolio of events at the Sports Hub.

Madam, it has been about two years since we took back the Sports Hub. At that time, we made a commitment to bring in more community and sporting events, and to transform the Sports Hub into a vibrant space that all Singaporeans can enjoy and identify with. Since then, we have fulfilled this and done much more. We saw an all-time high in the number of National School Games Finals held at the Sports Hub. We have hosted a range of sporting and community events that we never had before at the Sports Hub, such as the Let's Celebrate 2025 New Year Countdown, HYROX, Harmony Fest, and the Singapore Tennis Open, to name a few of the recent ones. We have also brought in top-tier global artistes, both western and eastern, into Singapore, for multi-night concerts. And Members might know, we just announced this morning that Lady Gaga will be performing at the Sports Hub for a few nights in May.

This, Madam, did not happen by chance. The Kallang Alive Sports Management team has worked hard and worked innovatively to bring such events into Singapore, and we will continue to hustle and bring in the best events across sport, entertainment and lifestyle to Singapore. With this wide spectrum of events across different genres, our 2024 event attendance increased by more than 50% compared to the year before, in 2023.

We have reclaimed the Sports Hub as a place for all Singaporeans and will continue to do so with the Kallang Alive Masterplan.

On the Masterplan, Members might recall that the Kallang Alive Masterplan was first announced by Prime Minister at last year's National Day Rally. As part of this plan, we will also be developing a new indoor arena and have precinct enhancements. This will enable us to host more sporting, lifestyle and entertainment events, and also increase the vibrancy of the precinct with community sporting facilities and programmes. These developments will complement our plans for the home of Team Singapore, a topic of which I will return later in my speech.

Third, Madam, we will continue to open up more pathways for Singaporeans to chart their own successes and reach their own full potential. Let me speak about two areas, the arts and sports and our plans to push the envelope a little further.

In the arts, we now have a vibrant ecosystem of world class, creative and dedicated practitioners. I would regard them as being amongst the best globally. This success stems from years of careful planning and investment in our arts community. Through strategic initiatives like the Arts and Culture Strategic Review and Our SG Arts and Heritage Plans, we have set up clear, multiyear plans with strong foundations and have also taken a special care to nurture talent at every level.

We have established institutions, like the School of the Arts and more recently, the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) to shape the next generation.

We provide career resources and on-the-job training through platforms, such as the NAC's Arts Resource Hub, particularly for the many freelancers who contribute so much and thrive in the arts community.

We have made further commitments to supporting our arts and heritage community to allow them to thrive even more, by unlocking spaces for experimentation and presentation, such as at Kampong Java, by preserving heritage businesses through the work of the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Heritage Businesses, Traditional Activities and Cultural Life, which Senior Minister of State Low will speak about. And finally, by catalysing funding with initiatives, such as the $100 million top-up to the Cultural Matching Fund to encourage private patrons to support the arts and heritage.

Today, we are proud to have world-class institutions like the National Gallery and the Singapore Art Museum for visual arts, The Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay for performing arts, and the National Museum of Singapore and Asian Civilisations Museum, amongst others, for heritage.

But Madam, there is one area where we see untapped potential and that is in the area of design. Design is a key strength of Singapore. We have after all been a UNESCO Creative City of Design since 2015. Our people-centric urban design is renowned around the world. Our designers have gained international acclaim, with many working at the highest levels around the world.

For instance, in the realm of fashion, we have Andrew Gn, who is based in Paris but very well-known internationally. He will be exhibiting in the US later this year, the first retrospective of a Singaporean designer overseas.

In addition, Singapore-based jewellery brand State Property Fine Jewellery, founded by Afzal Imram as well as Lin Ruiyin, has been worn by the likes of Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama. In the realm of architecture, Kampong Admiralty, designed by homegrown architecture firm WOHA, won World Architecture Festival's World Building of the Year in 2018. And in industrial design, Hans Tan's works have been collected by major international museums, such as M+ in Hong Kong and Cooper Hewitt in New York.

We already have strong programmes to groom the next generation of design talents, such as those at UAS, which include cutting-edge programmes, such as Biophilic Design and Design for Social Futures. We should showcase and promote their talents even more.

But let me also add that design is not just about aesthetics. Good design makes our lives better, can be a key driver of innovation, value creation and international branding for Singapore businesses.

With that in mind, we think that a Singapore Design Museum could be a key addition to our growing arts and heritage landscape. This museum could showcase the best of Singapore's design and the talents of our designers to the world. It would increase public understanding and appreciation of the importance of good design. It would also serve as a hub for experiential learning, academy-industry partnerships and a creative laboratory for design practitioners and overall, boost the growth of Singapore's design sector, which can also be an additional engine in our arts economy.

The Old Saint Joseph's Institution building at the heart of the Bras Basah Bugis historic district is a good location and a site for such a museum, which we are currently considering. We envisage that this new design museum could become a centre of gravity for designers, practitioners, and creatives in the district, coming together as a hub, drawing energy and synergy from the surrounding arts, culture and heritage institutions. We are currently studying the suitability of the site for a Design Museum and will share more details when ready.

Let me turn to the second point on sports. Mr Gerald Giam can be assured that we have and we will continue to strengthen our quality high-performance sporting ecosystem, for Singapore athletes. Mr Giam spoke of structures and pathways. So, let me elaborate on structures and pathways that we have previously put in place and which we will continue to put in place.

Madam, we might have a small population base, but we are committed to a system which can identify the best of them and bring out the best in them. We know that being a full-time athlete in Singapore can sometimes be tough, balancing intense training with competition schedules, often overseas and at the same time, the athlete having to meet other life priorities, often requiring sacrifices to be made. But it is also rewarding and fulfilling and many of our athletes strive to reach their peak of their potential.

That is why, over the years, we have reshaped and refined our sporting policies and programmes to help mitigate, minimise, if not, remove these trade-offs, enabling our athletes to develop, to train, to compete and to flourish, at the highest levels.

We start when they are young. We tap into the sports co-curricular activities in mainstream schools, starting with primary schools, which are often our youths' first exposure to sports. We cast the net wide, to identify as much talent as possible at a young age. That answers Mr Giam's point, which I agree with, that we should start when the athletes are young.

We also do it through ActiveSG Academies and Clubs, which SportsSG manages, where we first identify, and then nurture young athletes across a wide range of sports, ensuring a healthy and regular pipeline of talent. And for those who have set their minds on sport from a school age, we have the Singapore Sports School that provides a dedicated specialist environment to support both education and training. We have also made this available to high-performance athletes regardless of the school that they are studying in. So, you might be in a different school, but you can come into Sports School for a period or for a season to train for a programme and go back to your original school thereafter.

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We have also put in place a comprehensive sport science and medicine program through the National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI) and Singapore Sport Institute (SSI). Ensuring our athletes can manage both the pressures as well as the physicality of high performance sport.

For those who may have reached the crossroads between sports and some other career, we have significantly enhanced our athlete support policies, for instance, to name a few, we went upstream to support athletes with performance potential beyond the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and welcomed the first batch of spexPotential athletes in April 2024.

We also launched the spexEducation Undergraduate scholarship, gave CPF top-ups to our spexScholars both in August 2024. [Please refer to "Clarification by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth", Official Report, 10 March 2025, Vol 95, Issue 161, Correction By Written Statement section.] These are changes that help to prolong the livelihood and the period of competition at the highest level for our athletes. And they are the latest in our series of efforts that we have made to strengthen high-performance sport in Singapore.

Over the years, we have consistently refined this approach, ensuring that athletes have the right infrastructure, adequate resources and multiple opportunities to excel. And these developments are not just one-off adjustments. They represent a concerted, strategic, long-term commitment to building a sustainable and thriving sports ecosystem.

As I mentioned earlier, we will have the home of Team Singapore as part of the Kallang Alive Masterplan, where all the elements of high-performance sporting development will be integrated in one campus, so athletes can stay, train, study, compete and repeat, until excellence becomes intuition.

They will also have dedicated access to sport science and nutrition and supported by the relevant NSAs. This will significantly strengthen the pillars on which sporting success in Singapore can be advanced.

As Members will know, it will take a few years for the home of Team Singapore to materialise under the Kallang Alive Masterplan. But we intend to jumpstart the process now. While we may not be able to speed up its physical redevelopment and construction, we can, nonetheless, start now to organise ourselves around an integrated structure, designed to push Singapore's sporting excellence to new heights.

Let me explain this in some detail. We intend to introduce a new entity that will house all our dedicated sports institutions under one umbrella. We will first integrate SSI and NYSI in April. This will enhance our end-to-end service delivery to our athletes across the youth and senior spectrum.

Thereafter, in a few years' time, we will consolidate this with the Singapore Sports School into a new entity. While the Sports School will remain as a school and retain its brand and identity, this consolidation will more closely integrate Sports School with the rest of the high-performance sporting ecosystem.

We will also streamline touchpoints with stakeholders involved through an athlete's life, such as parents and NSAs. We will then be able to develop a centrally-coordinated pathway that can provide better visibility and assurance to our athletes. We will grow and retain our talents in sport science, sport medicine, administration as well as burgeoning sports technology, which we will harness.

By having more professional development opportunities to rotate them across sports and profile, and sometimes, it is useful to deploy our sport scientists across different sports, to gain more experience. That is what we will do.

These moves will collectively strengthen and deepen the integration between the key aspects of high-performance sport. We will have multiple layers of support converging around the athlete, supporting them through their journey, from youth right through to senior levels and we will, with this programme, be able to hit the ground running once the physical development of the new Kallang Alive Masterplan is completed.

Madam, shifting gears slightly, as we progress through SG60 this year and look beyond, we also want Singaporeans to lead and own our future. So, let me conclude my speech with some brief points on the community.

In times of crisis, particularly during COVID-19 or the global recession or even in our daily challenges, Singaporeans have shown remarkable generosity, spontaneity, spirit, in both small and big ways, to care for and help each other out. We want to tap on this innate generosity, this strong spirit, as it speaks to the essence of who we are as Singaporeans.

As we move forward in SG60 and beyond, it is therefore crucial that we continue to nurture this spirit of contribution and make sure that no one is left behind. It is this sense of empathy and care for fellow citizens that is the hallmark of a progressive and inclusive society, one where we look out for one another as fellow citizens.

To do so and push this along, we are partnering with the National Council of Social Service on the SG SHARE programme. This programme multiplies the impact of modest donations over a period of time, to support various social service programmes under the Community Chest.

Beyond monetary donations, we also encourage more Singaporeans to volunteer for causes which are meaningful and which matter to them. With curated volunteering opportunities across a spectrum of different causes, including children, families, seniors, education and sports, we have served more than one million beneficiaries.

We will also support ground-up initiatives from the community through Our Singapore Fund (OSF). This fund serves as the seed to kickstart meaningful ideas for Singaporeans, by Singaporeans.

For example, OSF has helped The New Charis Mission, a non-profit, to expand the reach of "The Unlabelled Run". The run brings together groups of different backgrounds, with the aim of building an inclusive and compassionate society. Originally started to support ex-convicts in their reintegration journey into society, this event has since expanded in 2024 to support the special needs community as well as the elderly runners, with the aid of OSF.

The Unlabelled Run is just one of the many success stories of OSF. Since OSF's launch in 2016, about $8 million in funding has been disbursed to over 700 citizen-initiated projects, across areas, such as enhancing neighbourhoods, developing digital literacy and building resilient communities. And we look forward to supporting even more of such ground-up projects.

Madam, as we stand at the threshold of SG60, we do so as a people forged by resilience, woven together by shared experiences and bound by the unwavering belief that we can build a better future, if we build it together.

Because of the tenacity of past generations, we are more than just a city. We are a nation, a home, a people who dare to dream, dare to persevere and dare to rise above challenges. SG60, therefore, is not just a time for celebrations. It is a moment for reflection, for renewal and for re-commitment.

As we honour our past, we must also look ahead to the next bound of our journey. The Singapore of tomorrow will not be built by chance, nor by circumstance. It will be built, instead, by all of us – by every artist who expresses our identity, every athlete who pushes the limits of excellence, inspiring us, every young Singaporean who steps forward with a vision and with a voice.

Over the past five years, I have had the privilege of working alongside my MCCY colleagues in shaping a more inclusive, vibrant and united Singapore. Just as we have done in the past, we have strengthened the ties that bind us, we have championed a Singaporean identity that is confident and outward looking.

Through our shared national experiences, we have woven a richer, more interconnected national tapestry, one that tells the story of our people, our passions and our aspirations. This tapestry, however, is still being woven.

It is in every Singaporean who comes together – on the field, in the theatre, in our community spaces – to share in something greater than ourselves. It is in the stories of our pioneers that we preserve, the dreams of our youth that we nurture and the sense of belonging we create for every Singaporean.

At MCCY, we will continue to stitch all of these threads together, to champion the arts, so that our culture remains vibrant and our stories are told; to elevate our sports, so that our people can excel, aspire and inspire; to empower our young people, so that they do not just inherit our future but actively create it.

But this future is not for MCCY alone to build. It belongs to all of us. So, I say this to every Singaporean: your dreams matter, your contributions count and your actions shape our shared destiny.

So, let us go forward with confidence, with courage and with conviction. Let us embrace the challenges ahead with the same pioneering spirit that has brought us this far. And together, let us continue weaving our national tapestry – strong, diverse and uniquely Singaporean – into the next great chapter of our story. [Applause.]

The Chairman: We will take clarifications at the end of the speeches. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, you can take your next cut.

Seniors and Sports

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Madam, apart from a healthy diet and regular preventive health checks, one of the key elements of keeping healthy in our silver years is to pursue an active lifestyle. Playing and participating in sports is a fun and engaging way to do so.

Granted that as one ages, we may not be able to participate in intense sports activities. I do not think, for example, I will be diving into any tackles soon on the football pitch. However, playing suitable sports and games can promote and enhance our seniors' health. Popular sports played in the community, include table tennis, badminton or pickleball.

Participating in sports in a safe environment will not only encourage our seniors to have an active and healthier lifestyle but will also aid in mental wellness, continuing to keep our mind active, hone our motor skills and importantly, make more friends in the Community!

In this context, I invite the Minister to share with us, the Ministry's engagement plans to reach out to more seniors in the community to participate in sports.

Seniors' Participation in Sports

Mr Darryl David: Madam, my cut continues the theme that was just mentioned by MCCY's GPC Chairman earlier. Exercise and proper nutrition are essential for not just anyone, but especially seniors in Singapore – for health, independence and quality of life. Current research shows that regular physical activity strengthens muscles, enhances flexibility and improves balance, reducing the risk of falls and injuries.

Exercise boosts mood lessening anxiety and depression, and improves cognitive function for overall mental health. We need to promote health and active participation exercises among seniors, in a safe environment, while catering to their evolving needs.

Initiatives, like the National Seniors' Health Programme, offer exercise videos and health campaigns tailored for seniors, promote active living and healthy eating. Developing senior-friendly exercise spaces and providing equipment can also make exercise more accessible.

Providing information on the benefits of exercise and nutrition, along with personalised health plans developed in consultation with healthcare professionals, empowers our seniors to be stewards of their own health. The Healthier SG initiative offers such support, focusing on physical fitness, nutrition and mental well-being. At the same time, encouraging participation in group activities can enhance motivation and provide social support, making exercise and healthy eating more enjoyable and sustainable.

The Singapore National Population Health Survey 2022 indicates that approximately 70% of seniors aged 60 to 74 engage in consistent physical activity, meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise weekly. This is certainly heartening statistics, but I believe we can always do better to help encourage our seniors.

I would like to ask if MCCY can share about engagement plans to reach out to more seniors in the community to encourage more participation in sports and other related activities?

Disability Sports Master Plan Update

Mr Ong Hua Han (Nominated Member): Madam, in my Budget debate speech, I highlighted the need to take more active steps to enhance community integration, through recreational sports. Can the Ministry share an update on the progress of the Disability Sports Master Plan, since it was first introduced in 2016 and its refresh last year, as well as upcoming sporting initiatives to strengthen community integration and foster deeper inclusion?

The Chairman: Mr Baey Yam Keng, you can take your two cuts together.

Greater Inclusivity through Sports

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines): Thank you, Mdm Chair. The empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) through sports participation represents one of the most meaningful aspects of Singapore's commitment to building an inclusive society.

Sports has proven to be a powerful vehicle for integration, confidence-building and the breaking down of social barriers. The benefits of sports programmes that promote inclusivity extend far beyond physical fitness. They create platforms for social interaction, foster mutual understanding and demonstrate the remarkable capabilities of PwDs.

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These programmes are fundamental to our vision of a Singapore where every individual, regardless of ability, has the opportunity to participate fully in community life. While we have made significant strides in developing para-sports and inclusive sporting activities through the Disability Sports Master Plan, we must continue to enhance and expand these opportunities. The National Sports Participation Survey conducted by SportSG found that the sports participation rate for PwDs has grown from 28% in 2015 to 46% in 2023. This is encouraging but we should do more.

Could the Minister provide an update on current and future efforts to empower people of different abilities through participation in sports together?

Community Participation Through Sports

The upcoming World Aquatics Championships 2025 is the highest tier of world championships in aquatics and this is the first time this championship will be held in Southeast Asia, in Singapore. This event reinforces our nation's capability to host world-class competitions but, more importantly, provide our Team Singapore athletes an opportunity to compete against the world's finest on home soil, or should I say in home waters. Hosting major sporting events like this has great potential to spur Singaporeans to develop a strong interest in sports.

Therefore, I would like to ask the Minister: can MCCY share plans to engage Singaporeans of all ages and encourage them to be interested in sports, to support sports and to take up sports? How do we leverage on such world-class events in Singapore to do all these?

As we look towards this championship and beyond, the preparation of our athletes becomes paramount. The journey to sporting excellence is long and demanding, requiring sustained support and strategic planning.

In this context, I would like to ask the Minister to elaborate on MCCY's plans and strategies to ensure that our Team Singapore athletes are thoroughly prepared for all upcoming major games?

Boosting Youth Participation in Sports

Mr Mohd Fahmi Aliman: Mdm Chair, Sports play a crucial role in youth development, offering physical and mental health benefits while also fostering important values, such as discipline, teamwork and leadership. Beyond personal growth, sports provide a platform for social bonding and inclusivity, strengthening relationships among peers and the wider community.

One of the key avenues is to cultivate a positive sports culture where there is a strong emphasis to recognise participation, not just the talent, and at the same time, encouraging and educating parents on the benefits of sports beyond academics. This can also include the promotion of traditional sports, such as silat, sepak takraw and even dragon boating, alongside the mainstream sports.

Could MCCY share if there are plans to boost sports participation among school-going children and youths? Specifically, how can the Ministry encourage greater parental and grassroots engagement and accessibility to sports for young Singaporeans?

Model of Harmony in a Fragmented World

Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, racial and religious harmony in Singapore did not occur by chance. It is the result of hard work and conscious effort by our founding fathers, who sought to forge unity among disparate communities. Subsequent generations have taken over the mantle, implementing policies that have gradually strengthened our social cohesion and built mutual trust over time.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

A 2023 Pew Research Study reported that Singaporeans of all faiths are broadly tolerant and accepting of followers of different religions, with 56% agreeing that diversity makes our nation a better place to live in. Harnessing strength from diversity has become core to our national identity.

The IPS-OnePeople.sg Indicators of Racial and Religious Harmony 2024 showed that about two-thirds of respondents had high or very high levels of racial and religious harmony. Seventy-one percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it is a good thing for Singapore to be made up of people from different racial groups.

The International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) has established itself as a significant platform for dialogue since its inception in 2019, having engaged more than 2,200 participants from over 52 countries.

Recent initiatives, such as Interreligious Youth with Pope Francis, held during the historic State Visit by the Pope, successfully brought together more than 600 participants from over 50 schools and organisations.

As we approach ICCS 2025, we stand at a crucial juncture in our nation's journey of fostering multicultural understanding. Would the Minister elaborate on how ICCS 2025, with its theme: Cohesive Societies, Resilient Futures, will facilitate a deeper understanding of multiculturalism and interfaith harmony?

Foreigners in Singapore

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Mr Chairman, as a market-oriented, open economy, there will be, over time, inflows and outflows of foreigners who live and work in our country, alongside fellow Singaporeans. These foreigners come from different backgrounds and cultures and take on work in various forms as PMETs, skilled or manual workers.

It is to be expected that, as foreigners will not intuitively appreciate and understand our Singapore culture and way of life, friction and conflict may result in the community.

In Singapore, we pride ourselves as a diverse and inclusive society. It is, therefore, extremely critical that we do our utmost to integrate foreigners into the Singapore society in order to maintain social cohesion and stability. In this context, I invite the Minister to share the Ministry's plans to strengthen integration of foreigners into our society. This is especially relevant as more Singaporeans return to the physical workplace.

Encouraging Philanthropy

Mr Keith Chua (Nominated Member): Mr Chairman, whether we look back 60 years or longer, we will find many threads of generosity and philanthropy in our shared history. It was not just among the wealthy and higher income, though many did give generously, but giving was across all income and social levels. I have often referred to Singapore as a generous society in past speeches.

In the last couple of decades, we have seen philanthropy grow as more and more individuals and families give back to society. We can and should continue to encourage philanthropy and giving. I thank the Prime Minister for including initiatives in this year's Budget to encourage the spirit of giving, including the option to donate the SG60 vouchers to charity.

Singapore continues to develop as a philanthropic hub for local and international giving. Could we get an update on existing initiatives and schemes to support the broader charity and non-profit sectors? In particular, are we seeing an increase in support for arts, heritage, culture and sports? Are there plans that will build regional giving that will leverage on public and private sector collaboration?

The provision of $600 million in matching funds will be a helpful boost for the non-profit sector. How will this be channelled to areas or services of greatest need? Will all charities be favourably considered in benefiting from the matching funds, and are there measures to ensure that this matching grant to the three platforms will not result in donors redirecting funds away from the existing flow of donations directly to charities?

The Chairman: Ms Jean See. You can take your two cuts together.

Company of Good Recognition System

Ms See Jinli Jean: The enhanced company of good recognition system recognises organisations for demonstrating commitment to corporate purpose and making impact in the areas of people, society, governance, environment and economy. Could MCCY share whether the recognition system has encouraged more companies to engage in corporate philanthropy and social responsibility? How does MCCY plan to encourage more companies to apply to be recognised?

Driving Community Giving

Making monetary giving more convenient and accessible for Singaporeans will help to strengthen financial resilience of charities over the long term. Can the Ministry share how it plans to make giving monetary donations more convenient and accessible? How does the Ministry plan to encourage more residents to make monetary donations?

SG60 and Ground-up Ideas for Common Good

Mr Baey Yam Keng: SG60 is a significant milestone in our nation's journey. This anniversary presents a unique opportunity to honour our founding generation while reinvigorating our collective commitment to nation-building.

SG60 is more than a commemoration. It is a moment to reflect on the values and principles that have guided Singapore's development. The pioneering spirit, resilience and unity demonstrated by our founding generation have laid the foundation for our success. As we mark six decades of nationhood, we must ensure that these values continue to inspire and guide future generations.

Our Singapore Fund was launched in 2016 and has been a crucial instrument in empowering citizens to initiate ground-up projects that serve community needs. In 2020, MCCY shared that $20 million would be put into the Fund. I would like to request an update from the Minister on the progress of Our Singapore Fund. How has it encouraged the generation of ground-up ideas that benefit the common good?

The Chairman: Mr Shawn Huang. You can take your two cuts together.

Philanthropy and Volunteerism

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong (Jurong): Mr Chairman, a strong and united society is built on the generosity and kindness of its people. As Singapore continues to progress, it is heartening to see individuals, businesses and community groups stepping forward to make a difference. The spirit of giving was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when many came together to support those in need. Our challenge now is to sustain and strengthen this momentum, ensuring that philanthropy and volunteerism remain an integral part of our national identity.

While we have made good progress, we must continue to do more. We should continue to expand our volunteer participation. How can we encourage more Singaporeans to take part in causes that they care about? How can we make opportunities more accessible and flexible to suit different lifestyles and interests?

Second, we must continue our efforts of enhancing awareness and the impact of giving. Many Singaporeans are eager to contribute financially but may not always know where their donations can make the greatest difference. By improving transparency and highlighting success stories, we can inspire more people to give with confidence.

Thirdly, we must continue to empower businesses and young changemakers. Companies and young Singaporeans are stepping up with innovative ways to give back. How can we strengthen partnerships with the corporate sector and youth-led initiatives to further drive sustainable and impactful contributions towards society?

What new initiatives are being explored to sustain and enhance philanthropy and volunteerism? How can we ensure that giving remains inclusive, impactful and meaningful for all? Together, we can strengthen Singapore's spirit of care and compassion for all.

Nurturing Our Youth

Mr Chairman, it is important that we continue to nurture our youths and ensure that they remain actively engaged in shaping our collective future. Singapore's success is built on each generation striving to create a better tomorrow and our young people are the key to drive progress in an ever-changing world. It is, therefore, crucial that we continue to empower them, listen to their aspirations and provide platforms for them to contribute meaningfully to society.

One important way we have encouraged youth participation is through the establishment of youth panels, which provide young Singaporeans with a voice in shaping policies and initiatives that affect them. I would like to ask the Ministry for an update on the work of these panels. What were some of the key issues that our youths were most passionate about? As societal needs evolve, how will these panels be enhanced to ensure that they remain relevant and impactful?

From climate change to mental well-being, from social inclusivity to digital innovation, young Singaporeans have shown great passion in addressing real-world challenges. Their ideas and enthusiasm must continue to be supported. How can we further empower them on this journey?

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Beyond structured platforms, we must continue to create an environment where young Singaporeans feel that their voices are valued and their actions can make a real difference.

Can MCCY share how it plans to strengthen youth engagement in the years ahead? How can we ensure that young people from diverse backgrounds, including those who may not typically step forward, are included in these conversations? How can we deepen partnerships between the Government, community organisations and youth-led initiatives to sustain their momentum?

The Chairman: Next Member is not here. Minister of State Low Yen Ling.

The Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Ms Low Yen Ling): Chairman, Minister Edwin Tong spoke about building a caring, cohesive and confident Singapore. Let me touch on how we will accomplish this through the arts and heritage.

Today, we have a vibrant arts and heritage scene that Singaporeans can be proud of. In 2024, attendance of arts events across music, dance and theatre in Singapore reached more than four million.

I will outline two areas we will focus on to bring Singapore's arts and heritage sector forward.

First, we will expand Singaporeans' access to the arts and encourage all, from the young to the old, to participate in and appreciate our vibrant local arts. Second, we will strengthen support for our arts and heritage workers and businesses and empower them to shape an enduring future for our arts and heritage ecosystem.

Under the Arts Plan 2.0, we aim to build a Connected Society and a Distinctive City through the arts. A key part of this is bringing the arts to every part of our city.

We launched the ArtsEverywhere@CDC initiative last year and brought high-quality performances into places where Singaporeans live, work and play. Since July 2024, more than 40,000 people have enjoyed performances islandwide at popular locations, like Kampung Admiralty, Heartbeat@Bedok, Toa Payoh HDB Hub, Our Tampines Hub and Jurong Lake Gardens.

Through ArtsEverywhere@CDC, Singaporeans with little or no exposure to the arts have gained a newfound appreciation for both the arts and the Singapore culture. For example, Mdm Yang Siew Shan, an engineer who lives in Woodlands, discovered a new interest in the arts after attending an ArtsEverywhere performance in her neighbourhood. For 67-year-old Mdm Jamaliah, she felt a sense of pride in her culture when she watched NADI Singapura's traditional Malay drumming performance in Brickland Estate with her friends.

Ms Usha Chandradas asked about encouraging cross-cultural appreciation and engagement through the arts. I want to assure her ArtsEverywhere@CDC is a key platform for this purpose. ArtsEverywhere@CDC performances have featured arts groups from different cultures, such as Indian ensemble Brahmastra; Chinese traditional ensemble Ding Yi; and the Philharmonic Winds Orchestra.

ArtsEverywhere@CDC also includes fringe activities, where arts groups provide audiences, participants with more immersive cultural experiences. It is a multi-sensorial engagement. For example, Brahmastra’s performances were accompanied by a Parai and Karagam Workshop, where participants learned to play the parai, a traditional Indian percussion instrument; and perform the karakattam, an ancient Indian folk dance. NADI Singapura also ran a Paper Tanjak Workshop, where participants of all background or races could create their very own traditional Malay headgear.

Overall, the response to ArtsEverywhere@CDC has been encouraging. We will keep bringing the arts to Singaporeans like Mdm Yang and Mdm Jamaliah, with over 200 ArtsEverywhere@CDC performances this year.

Beyond physical spaces, we will also bring the arts into the virtual world. Ms Usha Chandradas asked about the plans to enable our arts practitioners to use technology to reach younger audiences. As part of Arts Plan 2.0, NAC launched Project Arts Metaverse, an Alliance-for-Action to co-create arts experiences in virtual spaces with the arts and tech community. This year, NAC will support and develop three pilot projects that allow our artists to experiment with new ways of making art and nurturing new audiences, especially among young people.

While we invest in bringing the arts and culture to all Singaporeans, we also want to encourage them to attend local arts and cultural events and activities. This is why Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Minister Edwin Tong shared more about the introduction of the SG Culture Pass. We are proud of our unique Singapore arts and culture, and we call on all Singaporeans to "support local".

Beyond this, we also hope to continue fostering cultural philanthropy through the Cultural Matching Fund (CMF). As Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has announced, we will top up CMF by $100 million and extend it until 2029. To date, we have disbursed more than $400 million in dollar-for-dollar matching grants to 127 unique charities. This means, almost eight in 10 arts and heritage charities have received such grants. The number of donations matched by CMF has multiplied from 2,000 in Year 2014 to more than 16,000 in 2024. Ms Usha Chandradas asked if CMF could be expanded to match earned income and if matching grants can be broadened.

The CMF encourages philanthropic giving to Singapore's arts and heritage sector. CMF grants fund expenses which are directly related to the delivery of programmes by arts and heritage groups because we want to ensure that public monies deliver impact for Singaporeans. Expenses, like legal fees, staff bonuses and welfare benefits, are not covered. This applies only to the matching grants, not to the donations raised by the charities and IPCs.

The CMF is just one of many schemes administered by MCCY and NAC, that our arts and heritage groups can use. For example, Minister Edwin Tong talked about the new SG Culture Pass, for example, focuses on helping our arts and culture groups increase their earned income.

Chairman, we will continue to foster and encourage arts participation among our children and students. For instance, NAC and Ministry of Education (MOE) introduced the Artist-in-School Scheme and the Arts Education Programme (AEP) in MOE schools. NAC also worked with MOE to introduce Museum-Based Learning in primary schools and Performing Arts-Based Learning for lower secondary students. Our cultural institutions offer many programmes for children, such as the National Gallery of Singapore's Children's Biennale.

In 2022, you will remember that we opened the Children's Museum, the first local museum dedicated to children aged 12 and younger. To help parents promote and participate in the arts with their children, NAC provides recommendation on family-friendly arts events and experiences on Catch.sg.

As suggested by Ms Hany Soh, we will bring these benefits further upstream to include preschoolers. NAC will scale up the AEP in Government-supported preschools. Currently, more than 500 Government-supported preschools are on the board AEP. In 2025, NAC will scale up to 70% of Government-supported preschools, around 700 schools, and eventually reach 100% of the preschools by 2027. This means nearly 1,000 preschools and 44,000 students will have access to quality arts learning experiences.

In addition, the arts is a powerful force to help elderly people and residents live well and age well. The Government has been investing in this area as well. For instance, NAC's WeCare Arts Fund supports Social Service Agencies providing arts programmes that strengthen the physical and the mental well-being of elderly people. The Fund has supported more than 80 programmes, including batik painting, dance, ukulele sessions for more than 1,500 beneficiaries.

NAC is currently collaborating with SingHealth Community Hospitals and the AIC to develop a framework and resources to guide the design of arts programmes that promote well-being.

Chairman, MCCY is dedicated and committed to supporting our arts and heritage practitioners and helping them realise their full potential as Mr Fahmi Aliman and Mr Darryl David have suggested. In fact, this is what Creative Economy pillar of the Arts Plan 2.0 is all about.

We will: one, expand our support for the next generation of Singaporean artists; two, ensure that our arts and culture workers have the right skillsets and capabilities; and three, support our arts and culture companies in growing their businesses to bring the sector to new heights.

The Government has consistently supported the development of artistic talent in Singapore. In the past three years, NAC has invested over $5 million in talent development programmes, including scholarships, international residencies and the Young Artist Award (YAA). These initiatives have supported more than 400 local artists. These investments have added more talents to our pool of arts and culture practitioners. For example, Mr Adib Kosnan received the NAC scholarship in Year 2023 to pursue a Master of Arts in Arts Pedagogy and Practice at LASALLE College of the Arts (LASALLE). I met him in 2023 when he received his scholarship. Adib is an Associate Artist at a local theatre company, Checkpoint Theatre.

MCCY and NAC will certainly enhance our arts scholarships this year. We will allocate an additional $2 million per year for arts scholarships, allowing us to award more NAC Arts Scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate studies. This funding will also go towards a new NAC Creative Arts Scholarship for pre-tertiary and diploma studies offered by School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA), the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) as well as LASALLE. Taken together, this will support around 40 more students to pursue higher arts education each year.

Our arts practitioners will also receive support. We will help them upskill and stay ahead in today's fast-evolving landscape.

Today, the arts sector is about 19,000 strong. They have diverse backgrounds, talents, capabilities and skills. Around the world, the creative sector has always led the wider economy in terms of project-based and freelance work. This is also true in Singapore. Many arts practitioners, including some of our most talented, are Self-Employed Persons (SEPs). They comprise about a third of the arts sector workforce.

We will ensure that our arts workforce has the right capabilities to bring the sector forward. We will: number one, expand the resources available to our arts SEPs; number two, develop a robust leadership pipeline in the sector.

NAC will expand its offerings through the Arts Resource Hub (ARH), which was set up in 2019 to help arts SEPs establish their careers. Currently, more than 3,400 arts SEPs subscribe to ARH. Subscribers enjoy free access to co-working spaces, preferential rental rates on performances and rehearsal spaces, as well as updates on ARH programmes. They also receive career and professional development support.

In the next phase of ARH, NAC will work with our arts community to shape ARH offerings across artforms and career stages. Ms Jean See asked about how MCCY will work with stakeholders to improve freelancers' mental health and well-being.

I want to assure her that we are doing more in this area. In 2024, ARH conducted a series of peer-sharing sessions with arts collective CITRUS Practices, focusing on self-care tools as well as practices. Going forward, we will expand ARH initiatives to cover issues, such as improving working conditions for arts practitioners, legal issues including protecting intellectual property (IP), IP rights and developing well-being resources for mental resilience.

In addition to developing individual talents, we also want to build up our arts companies. Like corporates in any sector, arts companies need business and management capabilities. This may be even more crucial in the arts sector, where economics are challenging.

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We will introduce targeted support to develop a robust leadership pipeline in the arts sector. This is critical as most arts companies are micro-enterprises without dedicated human resource capabilities.

NAC will pilot an Arts Management Leadership Programme for emerging and mid-career arts managers to undergo mentorship and coaching, milestone leadership programmes and industry attachments. In the next three years, we aim to equip a core of arts managers for leadership roles. Over time, we want to cultivate stronger leadership bench to catalyse further growth in the sector.

Elevating our arts and heritage sector requires more than developing individual talents and supporting organisational capabilities. In particular, the Government can play a role to stimulate demand for heritage goods and services.

Mr Henry Kwek asked how the Government will support our heritage businesses. We have set up an inter-agency task force on this issue. This year, MCCY will pilot the SG Heritage Business Scheme to recognise exemplary heritage businesses and help boost demand for such products.

Businesses that have been operating for at least 30 years, providing locally rooted trades, goods, or services, and contribute significantly to the identity of community or place, can be designated as "SG Heritage Businesses". They will receive brand campaign support, as well as access to business support, such as consultancy services.

So, I want to invite heritage business owners and members of the public to submit nominations for SG Heritage Businesses so that we can recognise, celebrate and support these businesses in our communities. Chairman, please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Singapore's arts and heritage are pillars of our social cohesion. They bring us together, help us understand each other and give us a shared sense of belonging. As Singapore celebrates its 60th year of Independence this year, let us look forward to the next phase of nation and community building through arts and heritage, ensuring all citizens have access to arts while strengthening support for arts and heritage workers and businesses.

The ArtsEverywhere@CDC programme, jointly launched by the National Arts Council (NAC), Community Development Councils (CDCs) and People's Association (PA), is a platform that provides Singaporeans with opportunities to experience arts and culture. From Heartbeat@Bedok to Kampung Admiralty, the initiative has attracted over 40,000 audience since its launch last year, featuring performances by various cultural groups, such as Chinese ensemble, Ding Yi.

The Government will continue to fund this programme. This year, ArtsEverywhere@CDC will present over 200 performances across various community neighbourhoods.

Beyond increasing access to the arts, we will also promote the well-being of seniors through arts programmes. NAC is working with SingHealth Community Hospitals (SCH) and Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) to develop frameworks and provide resources to guide the design of arts programmes that promote well-being. We are piloting arts programmes in four Active Ageing Centres (AACs) and the Outram Community Hospital, which use different arts forms such as visual arts, storytelling, music, and dance to engage seniors. In the coming year, we will expand the pilots to more AACs, integrating arts into community activities to promote citizens' well-being.

This year, MCCY will also pilot the SG Heritage Business Scheme to recognise exemplary heritage businesses, help citizens better appreciate long established local heritage businesses, products and services, take pride in their achievements and support the development of local heritage businesses.

Businesses that have been in operation for at least 30 years, provide locally rooted trades, goods or services, and contribute significantly to the identity of a community or place can be designated as SG Heritage Businesses. These recognised businesses will receive brand campaign support and access to business support, such as consultancy service subsidies.

We welcome community organisations and the public to actively submit nominations for SG Heritage Businesses, so that we can continue to support these businesses and acknowledge their contributions to our cultural heritage with our actions.

The measures I have announced today aim to bring arts and heritage to all Singaporeans. Through these activities and programmes, we hope to unite our people, encourage more people to join in our local arts and heritage, and contribute to the richness of our unique culture.

(In English): Chairman, our arts and heritage scene has come a long way. Today, on any given day, Singaporeans can watch a performance in the heartlands, attend an arts exhibition, or walk into any one of our excellent museums. We aim to bring the arts and heritage to all Singaporeans and enable more Singaporeans to appreciate and contribute to the richness of our unique culture.

The Chairman: Minister of State Alvin Tan.

The Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Alvin Tan): Chairman, Mr Edwin Tong spoke of how our shared experiences weave a rich tapestry capturing the stories and dreams of our people and our nation.

I experienced this recently at ART SG when weaving a small part of a 60-metre-long tapestry on display. This tapestry was made from upcycled fabrics by UBS employees, community partners and children from Care Corner in a bid to commemorate SG60.

It is a great example of how arts and heritage and culture, in fact, bring Singapore and Singaporeans together to contribute to our rich culture, as Senior Minister of State Low has just described in her speech. It represents how we weave together diverse races, religions, generations and perspectives into a rich tapestry.

Sir, we have two priorities at MCCY: tightening the weave of our social fabric and also expanding our vibrant tapestry.

Sir, as a diverse nation with migrant roots, our Pioneers built a cohesive community for all Singaporeans, regardless of race, language or religion. And today, we benefit from the strong social fabric that they have woven. Like the generations before us, we must weave a stronger and tighter social fabric, pulling different threads together to contribute to this tapestry. And we have a long tradition of communities coming together to do well and to do good, a tradition that is older than our nation, of collective responsibility and mutual support which is a key thread in our social fabric.

I am speaking, of course, of our co-operative societies, or "co-ops" for short. This year, we celebrate the centenary year of our co-op movement here in Singapore.

Since 1925, our co-ops have played a critical role in building our nation and our social compact. In fact, our first co-ops were formed to help junior civil servants meet unexpected expenses. Today, we have a much wider and a much richer landscape of co-ops. And they cover a diversity of needs, from daily necessities to seniors' recreation and to help individuals with special needs.

Co-ops like the Runninghour Co-operative, which is an inclusive sports co-op that promotes the integration of persons with special needs through sports. Runninghour was founded in 2009 as a running club with just 10 members with special needs. Today, Runninghour has grown and has over 780 registered members, including persons with special needs, volunteers and more. They run weekly. Sir, Runninghour is special to me. A good friend I have known since we were teenagers who lost his sight in his 20s is an active member.

This year, we celebrate the centenary year of our co-op movement. And over the past 100 years, many of our social needs have been better addressed. But others are emerging, including our demographic challenges. Our co-ops, too, now face a myriad of challenges; new, different challenges. They face greater competition, rapid digitalisation and changing consumer needs. Therefore, our co-ops must transform to attract and retain talent and to extend their reach. To do good, our co-ops must continue to do well.

Sir, I spend a lot of time with our co-ops. I meet with them regularly to chat with them and to learn and to engage with them and to see how we can better support them as they continue to do good and continue to do well.

In fact, over the last Saturday, I met with the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees Credit Cooperative. They were celebrating their 60th anniversary and we discussed how best to support co-ops like them, and I told them to listen out for today's COS debate.

This year, we will waive the first-tier Central Co-operative Fund contributions for co-ops. Co-ops contribute part of their yearly surplus to the Fund, which supports their development and growth in areas like education, training and research. This waiver that I just announced will help over 60 co-ops. They can choose to redirect these savings to enhance their social mission or to better cope with rising costs.

And together with the Singapore National Co-operative Federation, we will also launch a consultation with the sector to develop a transformation roadmap for the next 10 years. This roadmap will help to extend our co-ops' social mission and impact, help them to develop talent and strengthen governance.

Mr Chairman, just as we are tightening our weave through our co-op sector, we will also encourage this spirit of mutual care through philanthropy – questions that Mr Keith Chua and Ms Jean See had raised.

Sir, over the years, donations received by our arts and heritage and our sports sectors have risen significantly. We will continue growing philanthropy through tax deductions and dollar-for-dollar matching grants like our Cultural Matching Fund and our One Team Singapore Fund.

The Tote Board's Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme likewise supports fundraising efforts of all eligible Singapore-registered charities, while our SG Gives' matching grant encourages donations to support social and community programmes serving communities in need. These will all galvanise more donations and amplify the impact of giving on our charities and communities.

And through National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre's (NVPC's) Company of Good recognition system, we recognised 290 companies last year, in 2024. It is double the number in 2022, and it includes four times the number of SMEs. So, it is not just the multinational companies (MNCs) and the large companies but also SMEs, and we have been encouraging that.

All of these companies, regardless of their size, actively integrate social impact into their operations, and they give their time, talents, treasures – and it amounts to a combined total donation of around $323 million, and over 800,000 volunteer hours. We will encourage more companies to make doing good a core part of their business.

Sir, to build regional giving, we launched the Philanthropy Tax Incentive Scheme last year and the Overseas Humanitarian Assistance Tax Deduction Scheme pilot this year to include others in the fold of our tapestry and to expand this tapestry.

And one way we are expanding our tapestry is by connecting communities in an increasingly fractured world. That is why we are hosting the third edition of the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) in June. Ms Joan Pereira asked how ICCS 2025 can facilitate deeper understandings of multiculturalism and interfaith harmony.

Sir, we are gathering practitioners, community and youth leaders, and academics from over 30 nations. Over a quarter of our delegates will be below 35 years old. In fact, our youth leaders will join the working committee of the Young Leaders Programme at ICCS to facilitate breakout sessions and hold cultural sharings.

I recently spoke to a group of youths about the importance of our precious, hard-won racial and religious harmony. I shared how Singapore, through our example and platforms like ICCS, can contribute perspectives on striving for harmony in an increasingly divided world.

So, ICCS 2025, the third edition, will bring participants to our iconic places of worship and heritage districts to witness diverse religious and cultural practices coexisting harmoniously in shared spaces across Singapore. Our community leaders will also share their lived experiences of harmony in diversity.

At 60 years, we are still a young nation and have much to learn from others. I have been involved with earlier ICCS editions and have witnessed the impact that it has made in Singapore and beyond our shores. Through ICCS 2025, we get to share our challenges, learnings and brainstorm solutions and areas for improvement in a never-ending effort to remain open and connected.

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Sir, remaining open and connected allows us to enrich our tapestry with new weaves and fabrics, through friends from all over the world and our next generation. Like Conal McMahon, PwC's Head of Market Insights. He told me he moved to Singapore about seven years ago after living in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Shanghai. He and his wife were attracted by Singapore's lifestyle and personal growth opportunities.

In his free time, Conal teaches professional skills at Aidha, a charity looking after migrant domestic workers. Conal also serves on the board of the Jane Goodall Institute, which empowers youth to take action for the environment, for the animals and community.

It is wonderful to have people like Conal call Singapore home and contribute to our nation and our community. And we too, must welcome our overseas friends with open arms. I understand, having lived overseas for over nine years across my career. While overseas, the community surrounding me and my young family helped us to settle down and find home in that particular city, for that particular season.

Newcomers to Singapore alike also navigate unfamiliarity every day. And we can all play our part to make them feel at home in that particular season of their lives. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin asked how we are fostering greater understanding and integration of foreigners in our society. I agree we should do more, beginning at our workplaces.

Therefore, this year, MCCY is partnering our business community to convene an Alliance for Acrton (AfA) on Integration of Foreign Professionals. I co-chair this with PwC Singapore's Chairman, Mr Marcus Lam, who serves in the Singapore National Employers Federation and Singapore Business Federation; alongside 15 other industry representatives. We began engagements last year – we have met quite a few times now, including in focus group discussions and we have so far gleaned some learnings.

First, local employers are committed to fair, equal-opportunity hiring; they want to better integrate employees and foster positive interactions in workplaces. Foreign professionals also want to adapt to Singapore's cultural norms and build relationships with their local colleagues. And efforts have already begun, so we have a running start.

Last year, OCBC organised their inaugural run of the Singapore Immersion Programme (SIP), which provides opportunities for foreign employees to get involved in the community alongside their local colleagues. I recently spoke with Diallo Ramatoulaye, a Canadian lady originally from Mali. Through SIP, Rama deepened her understanding of our culture and our work ethic, and built meaningful relationships with her local colleagues. She is giving back to Singapore through teaching financial management to children with special needs and also befriending underprivileged families.

Our AfA will rally and equip more employers to nurture inclusive workplace communities. And we will share more about what we have learned and what we plan to do in the second half of this year.

Sir, just as in the workplace, we are also doing this in the community. We also plan to refresh our Integration and Naturalisation Committees and Champions (INC) programme. Since 2006, INC volunteers have helped newcomers settle into their communities and adapt to our Singaporean way of life, including Ms Jessica Tjung from my constituency. Jessica is a Singaporean Citizen originally from Indonesia and has lived here for over 26 years. Her first-hand experiences navigating integration's challenges led her to volunteer as an Integration and Naturalisation Champion.

Jessica has spearheaded initiatives, like an Old School Games Carnival in 2023, for residents of all ages and backgrounds to learn about our heritage. Like Conal, Rama and Jessica, every thread contributes unique colour and texture to our Singapore tapestry.

Sir, we have good cloth. We have good cloth in our youths. Our youths bring fresh colour and perspective and are our future leaders, who will take on the work of tightening our weave and expanding our tapestry into the future.

Mr Shawn Huang asked about our Youth Panels. Our inaugural Youth Panels gave our youths a platform to be involved in policy-making. And our youths have responded with great interest – 120 youths stepped forward to work with the Government to deliberate on policy issues.

We put together four panels, together with our youths, we called them #LifeHacks, #JobHacks, #TechHacks and #GreenHacks. The youths spent over a year developing their ideas across these four panels and engaged over 5,000 of their peers through surveys, focus group discussions and our Youth Policy Forum. They then distilled their views into four policy papers with 11 recommendations.

At one of my many engagements with these energetic Youth Panels, I spoke with Kimberly Quek, who is a final year Life Science student at the National University of Singapore. Despite her hearing loss, Kimberly has excelled in her pursuits in bowling and passions in the sustainability space.

In fact, Kimberly led our #GreenHacks panel to propose solutions like segregated recycling bins and standardised recycling labels, to improve consumer knowledge and promote better recycling habits. We are considering the Panels' recommendations and will respond soon. To Mr Shawn Huang's question, we are also reviewing the Panels to better involve our youths in shaping Singapore's future.

The Youth Panels have concluded and I recently hosted them here, in Parliament, to deep dive into their recommendations. We had a really lively dialogue, and they gave excellent solutions and also recommendations.

And, in fact, it does not end here, because many of the Youth Panel leaders have gone on to thread new pathways. One of them, Josh Lee, was a contributor to our #TechHacks Panel, and now serves as a youth representative to the Media Literacy Council. So, there is a channel for them to contribute even more to national initiatives.

Just as we have empowered youths, like Josh, through the Youth Panels, we are doing the same for other youths through Mentoring SG, our national mentoring movement. Over 260 partners – which involves corporates, mentoring organisations, community groups – have joined the movement since we launched it in 2022.

And we are doing more, there is good momentum. We are doing more to guide our youths through life's key transition stages. We are now partnering with Institutes of Higher Learning to match more youths with mentors. We launched the first Youth Mentoring Hub at Singapore Polytechnic in November that will connect 10,000 students to mentors over the next three years. This commitment extends across sectors. Companies or corporates, like Jobstreet by SEEK and Prudential, offer flash mentoring at career roadshows, and they provide valuable insights as our youths prepare for work.

We also partnered trade associations and chambers, like the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association, to promote mentoring to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students and to attract future semi-conductor leaders. I have attended these sessions over the years at ITE College Central many times and saw firsthand how interested our youths are in exposing themselves to new opportunities in the semi-conductor space.

We invite everyone to join us as mentors – we will not leave you hanging, because we will train you. You can pick up mentoring skills through our Mentoring 101 programme and Workforce Skills Qualification-accredited Mentoring for Youth course.

Sir, as we mentor a new generation of youths to lead and take action for their lives, community and our nation, we are also creating platforms for them to design Singapore's future tapestry, points that Mr Shawn Huang had raised.

This SG60 year, we are embarking on a year-long series on engagements with our youths, for them to step forward to share their views and realise their aspirations. These are platforms for our youths to connect on what Singapore can be for them and how they want to contribute in areas, such as volunteerism and mental well-being. Every youth is invited to participate and be a change maker in an area that interest them and is close to their hearts.

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]

I attended a recent session at the Red Box in January by our partner Growthbeans, who are connecting over 100 youths and stakeholders on the issue of youth well-being. Including Shannen Yeo, a Secondary 1 student and active volunteer who facilitated discussions at the engagement. These contributions will culminate in our SG Youth Plan; this SG Youth Plan is a five-year action blueprint for youths, by youths, supported by whole-of-society.

There are many ways to contribute. I invite everyone – youths, organisations, like Growthbeans, and individuals – to shape our SG Youth Plan together.

Chairman, I have spoken of how we are tightening our weave and expanding our tapestry. And how every single one of us can play our part. Like Thaddeus Tan, whom I met in November at a counter-terrorism seminar he helped us organise. It was called the Radical Shift and we held this at the Civil Service Club. A member of the MacPherson Racial and Religious Harmony Circle, Thaddeus is spearheading an inter-faith concert in July, showcasing young local talent in celebration of Racial and Religious Harmony Month.

Thaddeus is an excellent example of how every successive generation of Singaporeans must continue this meaningful endeavour to ensure that our Singapore tapestry remains vibrant. MCCY will continue fostering communities who care and contribute to the Singapore tapestry.

One of these ways is the unifying power of sports, which Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua will speak on, before bringing us to the finish line. I look forward to our tapestry growing more vibrant and colourful, as each one of us threads our unique stories into the living masterpiece we call our home.

The Chairman: Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Eric Chua): Sir, sports enrich our lives and help to foster inclusive, healthier and connected communities. We are committed to enable more to "Live Better Through Sport", by making sports programmes and facilities accessible to all Singaporeans.

I will cover initiatives to boost sports participation among three groups: children and youth, persons with disabilities and seniors.

Sir, I have a young son at home, so I fully appreciate that introducing children to sports early fosters healthy habits, builds character, reduces screentime and nurtures their talents. Mr Xie Yao Quan and Mr Mohd Fahmi will be glad to know that we have been and will continue to expand the opportunities for our children and youth to play sports, both in and outside of schools.

We partner MOE to promote sports in schools through programmes, such as the Strategic Partnership Co-Curricular Activity (SP-CCA). This enables students to pursue CCAs beyond what their school offers and, at the same time, encourages inter-school mixing. As mentioned at MOE's COS, we have expanded SP-CCA to include canoeing and we plan to add hockey by 2026.

Outside schools, children can engage in sports through the ActiveSG Academies and Clubs (A&Cs) and lower income families may tap on the SportCares Bursary to fully cover programme fees. Children and youths can take part in sports activities and interest groups organised by the People's Association's Community Sports Networks, such as the PAssion Community Football Programme for children aged five to 16 years old or the PA Community Championship and Pesta Sukan for youths. We also work with National Sports Associations (NSAs), private academies and sport clubs to broaden the sports programmes available to all Singaporeans.

Chairman, let me next move on to sports for PwDs, a topic Mr Baey Yam Keng and Mr Ong Hua Han spoke about. Sports enhances quality of life for PwDs and can help transform societal attitudes toward disability, by spotlighting strengths, instead of disability.

We first launched the Disability Sports Master Plan in 2016. Since then, we have seen an increase in sports participation rates amongst persons with disabilities, from 28% in 2015 to 45% in 2024, and our para-sports athletes have also consistently performed well at major games.

But we wanted to do more. We set up the Enabling Sports Taskforce, engaged stakeholders and launched a refreshed masterplan last November, which aims to raise sports participation rate of persons with disabilities to 70% by 2030. This plan focuses on three "A"s: first, to increase accessibility; second, to raise awareness; and last but not least, to fulfil aspirations.

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First, we will continue to increase accessibility by further increasing the capacity of our disability sport programmes and make ActiveSG sports facilities more inclusive. Take Ms Diana Yap and her son, Aaron, whom I recently met, for example. Diana shared that Aaron did not like playing sports initially but fell in love with badminton since joining SportSG's Play-Ability and now looks forward to every single badminton session! With better outreach, we hope that more PwDs can enjoy sports like Aaron!

Second, we will raise awareness of disability sports and inclusive sports activities by expanding initiatives, like Play Inclusive, so that all Singaporeans can play and enjoy sports together, regardless of ability. This includes working with MOE to have all students in mainstream schools experience at least one disability sports by 2028.

Third, we want to support the aspirations of PwDs who desire and have the potential to pursue sports at the high-performance level. We will continue to build the capabilities of disability sport coaches and support personnel. We will also establish a para-sport National Training Centre within the home of TeamSG at Kallang Alive and set up Para Sports Community Hubs across the island so that PwDs can access sports closer to home.

\We have set up five such community hubs to date and plan to add more. These hubs are intentionally set up at ActiveSG centres, so that both PwDs and members of the public can enjoy sports together in the same space. I was told that this has actually allowed for PwDs to make friends with members of the public and this integration is exactly what we hope to see.

Lastly, based on feedback from our engagement sessions, we will launch a new Enabling Sports Fund in the second half of this year to support more community initiatives in disability sports. We target to have at least $10 million in the fund by 2030, where $5 million will be raised through donations and the other $5 million matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government. We encourage everyone to contribute actively to this Fund.

Sir, Singapore will become a super-aged society by 2026; and by 2030, more than one in four residents in Singapore will be 65 years or older. With this comes a growing concern – frailty, a condition which reduces the function and health of older individuals. Aside from inactivity, poor nutrition and social isolation, frailty is related to muscle loss, also known as sarcopenia, which begins as early as when we are in our 30s or 40s. And by the age of 70, we may lose up to about 25% of our muscle mass!

In response to Mr Xie Yao Quan, Mr Darryl David and Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, I would like to share about the Active Health initiative and its Frailty Prevention Programme (FPP), which was introduced by SportSG in collaboration with AIC and features an eight-week Combat Age Related Loss of Muscle (CALM) programme.

Seniors in the programme participate in exercises involving resistance bands and dumb bells, along with guidance on nutrition and sleep. The FPP also offers adaptive sports such as sport stacking, ladder toss, boccia, disc golf and seated floorball – activities which are modified to enable players of differing abilities to participate. Aside from providing a good workout, these sports promote teamwork and interaction amongst seniors, reducing the risks of isolation and loneliness.

To bring sports to seniors where they are, FPP is being conducted at Active Ageing Centres in our communities. To date, 54 Active Ageing Centres have completed the CALM programme and we aim to double this to about 100 Active Ageing Centres by end of this year. We also aim to provide adaptive sports equipment to about 100 Active Ageing Centres by end of this year too. To ensure successful roll out, we aim to train staff and volunteers from all Active Ageing Centres who come onboard the FPP.

From my chats with seniors, I have heard directly from them about how the FPP has improved their lives. Recently, I met Mdm Tham Yoke Cheng, Mdm May Mak and Mdm Lam Ngiat Yin who were participating in the CALM programme at Chong Hua Tong Active Ageing Centres in Moulmein Cairnhill. I was glad to hear that CALM has helped them to strengthen their muscles and improve their walking gait, especially for Mdm Lam who has issues with her knees. For Mdm Mak, she even shared that she had mostly stayed at home for the past three years before joining the programme. Now, thanks to CALM, Mdm Mak likes to bake treats to share with her fellow seniors at Active Ageing Centres!

Through my visits, I have also seen the enthusiasm that seniors have for adaptive sports. Some are very competitive! I have played many of these games and lost many games with them!

So, for seniors who have joined CALM or adaptive sports and enjoyed it, I encourage all of you to invite your friends to join in. I also look forward to more Active Ageing Centres offering both the CALM and adaptive sports programmes at your centre. Sir, in Mandarin please.

(In Mandarin): [Please refer to Vernacular Speech.] Exercise not only keeps us physically healthy, but also help maintains our mental acuity and agility, making our lives more fulfilling.

To help seniors actively participate in sports, SportSG and AIC have specially launched the Frailty Prevention Programme, which includes the eight-week CALM programme. These courses are conducted at Active Ageing Centres located in our neighbourhoods, where professional coaches provide careful guidance through exercise, nutrition and good lifestyle habits to help our seniors maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Seniors who have participated in the programme have reported significant benefits, noting improvements in both their physical strength and quality of life. I hope they share the benefits of this programme with their friends and family. We welcome seniors who have not yet participated in this programme to sign up at their nearest Active Ageing Centre.

Let us enjoy our golden years together through staying active, interacting with those around us and exercising actively!

(In English): Sir, through the Sports Facilities Master Plan, we aim to provide most Singaporeans with affordable sport facilities no more than a 10-minute walk from their homes by around 2030. Mr Xie Yao Quan asked for an update on this.

To-date, we have renovated three sport centres and completed 15 of our committed development projects, as part of our Sports Facilities Master Plan. This includes two sheltered basketball courts and four open surface courts at the new ActiveSG Sport Park @ Bedok North, which will open later this year. In addition, this year, residents in Ang Mo Kio and Queenstown can also soon enjoy renovated facilities in their neighbourhood at the Queenstown Sport Centre and ActiveSG Sport Park @ Ang Mo Kio.

The Sport-In-Precinct (SIP) initiative is yet another key strategy by SportSG to bring facilities closer to Singaporeans and their families. To date, we have completed 10 SIP facilities, with another 24 in the pipeline. Out of these, six SIPs are already under construction. Residents in Keat Hong, Tampines North, Pasir Ris East, Whampoa, Ulu Pandan and Choa Chu Kang can look forward to their completion over the next few years.

To keep pace with demographic shifts, we will also build sport facilities that cater better to the needs of seniors and working adults. An example is the upcoming "Active Health Fitness Trail" at Mei Ling, which has specially designed equipment and architecture to create a safe and effective exercise environment for seniors. This is an important feature of the broader Health District @ Queenstown.

To ensure fair access, SportSG introduced the MyActiveSG+ booking platform in June last year, as pointed out by Mr Xie Yao Quan and Mr Faisal Manap. The new platform addresses concerns that some users were abusing scripts to monopolise bookings. Now, everyone can only have one account tagged to their Singpass and peak hour slots are allocated by ballot.

This ensures that everyone has an equal chance of booking their preferred slot and facilities, which has also increased the number of individuals with successful bookings. We have also enhanced the platform, based on feedback, adding features like high-demand indicators and improved search filters. We continue to welcome feedback as we continue to work to improve the platform.

To conclude, Sir, I have spoken several times in the past in this Chamber about how through sport, one can defy the odds and redefine the deck of cards that life deals each of us.

In past COS, I have shared about the story of boccia para-athlete, Aloysius Gan who despite being quadriplegic and non-verbal, shows us clearly that the human spirit triumphs disabilities. Last summer, I was privileged to have joined Jeralyn and Pin Xiu and Team Singapore para-athletes in Paris, as they brought home an historic haul of Paralympic medals.

I am extremely proud of all of them and I am also sure that they will agree with me when I say that true inclusion in sports is not merely about catering carve-outs for persons with disabilities or for our seniors for that matter. It is about creating common spaces where all, regardless of age, abilities and persuasions, feel welcomed, respected and valued. We need to start from young and we can start with each of us.

Sport has always been a powerful force for unity, transcending differences, bridging divides. By fostering inclusion in every game, every match and every Singaporean journey, we can weave a stronger fabric of diversity into the very DNA of Singapore society. Let us make inclusion not just a goal, but a living and breathing part of who we are.

The Chairman: We have some time for clarifications. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin.

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Sir, I thank the political office holders for their responses. Sir, in the last few hours, several media outlets reported that Lady Gaga will be performing here at the National Stadium. I think four concerts in May this year. I like to ask the Minister if he can provide more information on this and in particular, whether the Government is giving any grants for these concerts.

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Sir, the event arrangements for the Lady Gaga concerts that will be held in Singapore in May, or that will be scheduled for May, were handled directly by Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM). They negotiated directly with the artist and her team, including Live Nation. No Government grants were given to secure this event. This was a purely commercial arrangement between the artist and the venue, and an agreement was entered into.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

I would add, Sir, that KASM pushes for events like this to take place at the Sports Hub to bring a diversity and a range of different events to Singapore, including top-class marquee events, but at the same time there is a good mix, as I have explained in my speech of local events, sporting events that take place at the Sports Hub, including community and school events. Together, collectively, they enrich the vibrancy of the Sports Hub and make the Sports Hub more accessible to Singaporeans.

The Chairman: Mr Darryl David.

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, Chair. I just have two clarifications for Minister Edwin. I spent six years as an educator at Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design and during that time I developed not just a deep understanding of the significance of design, but also an understanding of the role that design played in the history of Singapore. So, when I heard about the Minister's speech that we are going to have a dedicated design museum in Singapore, it was certainly heartening news.

My clarifications are, Sir: are there any particular designers or design disciplines that this design museum will focus on, for example, interior architecture, interior design, product design, fashion design, for example? And also the second clarification is, how will the curation of the material in this design museum differ from other design-related exhibitions that are currently on display in other museums, for example, I believe that the Asian Civilisation Museum has a fashion display.

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Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Sir, I thank Mr Darryl David for his encouragement and his interest in the area of design. As I said, we are studying the feasibility of the site for such a museum. That would include also the concept, the curatorial element and direction, as well as the kinds of exhibits, both permanent as well as temporary, that we will have. But in my speech earlier, I gave an idea of the kinds of designs that we are thinking about – fashion, jewellery, architecture, industrial, furniture – all of which have Singaporeans' involvement in one form or another.

I would say, last year, as a side trip to the Venice Biennale, I visited the Milan Design Week as well and saw one dedicated booth for Singaporean designers to showcase their exhibits. And I saw quite well-designed and well-functioning furniture designs by Singaporeans. That is one area that we can think about because we do have very well-regarded and well-known designers in that space. Likewise, in jewellery, as I mentioned, and also in fashion.

So, overall, we will think about this as a combination of both permanent designs that will resonate with the Singaporean audience, but also temporary ones that allow regional and international designers to anchor their exhibitions in Singapore. As I said, to create a hub and a centre of gravity for the design space in Singapore and, through Singapore, for the region as well.

The Chairman: Ms Usha Chandradas.

Ms Usha Chandradas: Chairman, I have two clarifications. My first clarification is for Minister Edwin Tong and it is on the use of the Culture Pass for the purchase of books. I understand Minister Tong's explanation that the Culture Pass is primarily for participatory experiences. And if I understand him correctly, the reading of books is a primary way in which someone participates in literary arts and this is why book purchases will be covered by the Culture Pass.

But I would just like to take the opportunity to make the point that the purchase and consumption of visual art can also be a participatory experience that is very similar in the way that one might consume a book. So, when you buy a local painting or an artwork, you typically try to interpret, analyse and connect with it. In fact, art historians refer to this process as "reading the artwork". So, the terminology that you use is actually identical to what you would use when you are talking about consuming a book.

The physical experience is also very similar if you are buying an artwork from a gallery. Many small local galleries do not charge an admission fee for you to enter. So, just like you would enter a bookshop, find a book that connects with you, buy it, take it home, appreciate it and consume it, I think the same can be said for purchases of visual art as well. So, with all of these taken into account, would the Minister be open to reconsidering the exclusion that is presently in place for the purchases of visual art using the Culture Pass credit?

My second clarification is for Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling. I thank her for her extensive reply, but I believe that she did not address my cut on salary guidelines for arts workers. So, I would be grateful if she could please address that and reply to my cut.

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: I thank Ms Chandradas once again for her impassioned plea. She has been pushing several points and I appreciate that very much because she comes from the perspective of someone who is engaged with the arts industry, understanding the needs and oftentimes, coming to Parliament to portray those needs. I appreciate that very much.

On her specific point, I understand the point she made about appreciating artworks, visual artworks and one way of doing that, of course, is to buy those artworks. We made a distinction for books because it is quite different. It is much harder to appreciate books. It is a personal item. It is less of an investment, unlike visual art. And so, we decided that, given the policy around Culture Pass to create more of a community around appreciation, where you can come together and you can partake in the appreciation as a group, we felt that it was more appropriate to leave the purchase of artworks out of this programme. You can still take part in exhibitions, galleries, there can be events that centre around visual arts. But we decided to not include the Culture Pass for the financial purchase of visual artworks for the reasons I have outlined.

Ms Low Yen Ling: Chairman, I want to thank Ms Usha Chandradas for the opportunity for me to respond to her question on the salary guidelines. Please allow me to explain that the nature of employment, as well as the wage structure in the arts versus the social service sector, are really quite different.

For example, in the arts, work is highly differentiated and variable, and our arts and culture practitioners generally differentiate themselves through the uniqueness of the vision for the art piece or the performance, as well as the artistic practice. So, while the National Council of Social Service's salary guidelines for the social service sector set pay benchmarks for specific roles and responsibility in the social service sector, employment structure, in comparison, for the arts and cultural sector, differs quite greatly.

But I also want to use this opportunity to assure the Member that MCCY publishes the Singapore Cultural Statistics annually. And there is a section on creative economy data which includes figures for the number of arts and culture companies and societies, employment numbers, and also wage numbers, value-added and operating receipts. We do not just work within the Ministry. We work very closely with the sector as well as the Department of Statistics and also the Ministry of Manpower.

Allow me to also reassure Ms Usha Chandradas that NAC also conducts what we call the Arts and Culture Employment Survey, which surveys the arts workforce and organisation, and I am happy to share with her that the 2024 findings will be released later this year. These studies are important to MCCY and NAC because they inform our understanding of the complex factors and issues that influence the salaries and employment in the arts sector. In fact, we have used these data and insights to develop programmes, including a programmes that has been announced during this COS.

I want to reassure Ms Usha Chandradas that we will certainly continue to monitor jobs and skills data for the arts sector and share this with the stakeholders in the arts and culture ecosystem and work together to design our policies and programme accordingly.

The Chairman: Ms Hany Soh.

Ms Hany Soh: Chairman, this is pertaining to my earlier cuts to the Minister in relation to the progress of the NHB's Heritage Trails project and whether it has plans to expand to feature stories of how local community clubs have evolved and touched our lives over the years and more specifically, whether a heritage trail marker can be placed at Woodgrove's Fuchun Community Club to mark its history of being Singapore's first rural community centre since 1963. I look forward to the Minister's favourable reply.

Ms Low Yen Ling: Minister Edwin Tong has asked me to help to relay this. Ms Hany Soh has talked about this last year as well and she will probably remember that during last year's COS, we said that more than 24 heritage trails have been launched. And in fact, during last year's COS, I also talked about the Heritage Activation Nodes (HAN).

MCCY and NHB want to thank her for her interest. NHB has launched HAN since last year to engage communities in exploring and also celebrating heritage through collaborative projects. And the first two that we have launched since the announcement last year are: one, HAN@Katong-Joo Chiat, because it showcases Katong-Joo Chiat's very interesting multicultural heritage, especially Peranakan influences, traditional architecture, as well as food culture; the second one, launched at Dr Tan Wu Meng's ward, HAN@Clementi, in September 2024, engages the youths in uncovering hidden heritage gems through schools and also community collaboration.

I am happy to update that NHB will launch the third HAN in Punggol next month. Over this project, we are happy to update Ms Hany Soh that more than 9,900 people have joined the HAN programme with more than 2,050 new heritage volunteers and 50 partners on board. And I want to assure her that NHB will continue to work with the communities, including her team, and potentially explore ways to commemorate community spaces, including Fuchun Community Club.

The Chairman: Mr Gerald Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Sir, I thank the Minister for responding to my cut. Just two clarifications.

First is, even with top coaching and facilities, our athletes may still lack a strong local training and competitive environment. This is because Singapore's small population and even smaller pool of young athletes aiming for world-class success limits their chances to train with equally driven peers. One solution obviously is to train overseas. But this is not feasible for most families, especially those from lower- and middle-income groups. So, how is SportSG tackling this challenge beyond just financial support by building a stronger local training and competition environment across all sports?

Second, there are currently only 10 academy programme sports at the Singapore Sports School. With the school's move to the Kallang campus, are there plans to increase the number of academy programme sports?

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Sir, Mr Giam is right. We do want to push our athletes beyond the local sphere, and those who surpass the standards that are being offered locally, we want to push them overseas, because the more you push them into difficult environments where they have to level up, meet better opponents, stronger opponents, the better prepared they will be. So, our principle has always been to drive our athletes to train and if necessary, compete overseas as much as possible.

Earlier on in his speech, Mr Giam mentioned two of our badminton players. They train overseas regularly. They compete overseas regularly. In fact, they are still on the road after the German Open. So, these are some examples. At the middle tier, what we do is to organise training trips overseas where possible. We group them together, whether as an NSA-initiated exercise or in some cases where ActiveSG has academies, we group them together as academy-initiated exercise. But we try and take the initiative to take them overseas for greater exposure.

In other cases, on occasion, we bring in foreign coaches to lend their expertise on local soil. That allows us to have more outreach, and we touch more trainees and more athletes can benefit from the presence of foreign coaches. Again, from time to time, NSAs, when they identify a good foreign coach to come in, either at the developmental level or at the high-performance level, we also support the NSAs to hire these coaches to bring even bigger impact to the pipeline. So, these are among some of the measures that we take to expose our athletes, the junior ones as well as the senior ones, to a greater variety of different training environments, as well as to foreign input and foreign thinking on the sport.

I talked about the Kallang Alive Masterplan. As we move closer towards that, we will also have residential facilities at the Kallang Alive space, where the Sports School will sit together with our training centres, and the intention is not just to bring foreign coaches to come in and train with us, but also foreign teams to come in, site in Singapore and spar with us on a more regular basis. All of these would help to level up the playing field and expose our athletes to greater competition.

That leads me to the Member's second question. We currently have limitations in terms of space, given the programmes, some of which Mr Giam is aware of. But when we have the Sports School at the Kallang Alive Masterplan space ready, redeveloped, we intend to expand beyond 10 programmes, and we are currently studying which of our top-tier sports ought to train in this space, having regard to performance, pipeline and other criteria for each of the sports.

The Chairman: Ms Jean See.

Ms See Jinli Jean: Chairman, I have two clarifications for the Minister of State and one clarification for the Senior Minister of State.

To Minister of State, I would like to ask: how does MCCY plan to encourage more companies to come on board the company of Good Recognition System, and also whether MCCY has plans to actually work with the MyCareersFuture Singapore, and also other jobseeker portals, such that these companies that are recognised as company of good are actually elevated as choice employers?

To the Senior Minister of State, I would like to ask because many of our freelance coaches and instructors are actually directly engaged by Government procuring entities, such as schools, and we know that there is actually a Tripartite Advisory on Mental Health and Well-being. So, my question is whether there can be more efforts taken such that these Government procuring entities, such as schools, can work very closely with our freelancers by taking reference to this Tripartite Advisory?

Mr Alvin Tan: Sir, I thank Ms Jean See for her question. In fact, I sit on the NVPC's Company of Good Roundtable and we meet very regularly and have seen an increase in the number of companies that value the Company of Good's recognition. That is why we have seen not just a number of companies, large local companies, and MNCs, being on board, but also see a four-fold increase in the number of SMEs.

That is a good trend and we will continue to spur them on. One initial challenge in the early days was to get more SMEs involved, and we now have SME representation within that Company of Good Roundtable, which I sit in. And through that, we are also getting more SMEs to be involved.

As to Ms Jean See's other question with regard to MyCareersFuture, nothing is off the table. We will discuss with both the MNCs and LLEs as well as the SMEs to see whether we can do more on that front.

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Ms Low Yen Ling: Chairman, I want to thank Ms Jean See for her clarification. I want to assure her that there is ongoing collaboration and discussion between MCCY as well as MOE. I recall that when I came back to MCCY for my second stint from July 2020, if you remember, it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, together with my NAC and NHB colleagues, we strengthened our collaboration and also synergised, and really strengthened the nexus between the Ministry and MOE. MOE, as we know, especially at the primary and secondary schools, have arts and culture instructors, music instructors, sports instructors. We were very happy to also rope in the National Instructors and Coaches Association.

Even post COVID-19 pandemic, we have leveraged on that strong infrastructure between MCCY, NAC, NHB, as well as SportsSG and also MOE.

Earlier on, I announced about AEP. Under the AEP, we have many arts and culture, and music instructors. And indeed, we do want to continue to leverage on this partnership to persuade the schools to also ensure that there is buy-in and they hoist on board the Tripartite Guidance and Advisory.

The Chairman: Mr Henry Kwek.

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: Sir, I have some clarification questions for MCCY regarding the SG Heritage Business Scheme. On behalf of the heartland merchants, since I am the advisor for the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, I would like to ask MCCY how many businesses are expected to benefit from this scheme? And what is the budget for this scheme? And are there plans to expand it beyond Chinatown, Kampong Glam and Little India, to include other areas like Joo Chiat and Katong?

Ms Low Yen Ling: Chairman, I want to thank the Member, Mr Henry Quek, for this clarification. Together with my fellow Parliamentarian, Minister of State Faisal Ibrahim, both of us had co-chaired two taskforce meetings on this inter-agency taskforce, involving not just the MND family, not just the MCCY, but also including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Enterprise Singapore. We have identified that there will be an initial group of probably 150 heritage businesses. Most of them are concentrated in the central area that will benefit from these concerted efforts to support and grow our heritage businesses, especially the heritage business in Singapore's historic precinct.

The Chairman: Mr Xie Yao Quan, you raised your hand earlier? Yes, go ahead.

Mr Xie Yao Quan: Thank you, Chair. Two clarifications for the Minister. First, do we expect the merger of NYSI, SSI and ultimately, the Singapore Sports School to impact existing staff in any of the current organisations, and more specifically, do we expect any retrenchment of staff?

Second, what are MCCY plans for the Singapore Sports School post-merger? Specifically, will the merger impact the support that will be received by our student athletes?

I also have a question for Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua on the CALM and adaptive sports programmes. Is participation in these programmes chargeable, and how do we ensure that these programmes are accessible to all seniors, including those who are less mobile who live alone, who do not come to the Active Ageing Centres in the first instance?

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Sir, Mr Xie asked if the merger would affect existing staff and in particular, whether there would be retrenchments, the short answer is no. We intend to rationalise and strengthen the sporting support and as you heard me say in my speech earlier, we intend to first merge SSI with NYSI, and both of them support the athlete, one in the junior level, the other at the senior level, but the technical support – sports science, nutrition, sports medicine, we intend to harness the synergy as well as the economies of scale for both of these agencies into one. We will be serving the same number of athletes, if not more at the junior level, as well as at the senior level.

You heard me also say just now that we intend and have gone upstream in terms of our spexPotential to open up the pool of athletes that will qualify for spexPotential and support them earlier on their journey. So, if anything is to come out of this, it is in fact serving more athletes than less and to also grow the expertise in areas such as sports administration, sports management and also sports science. We have an intention to grow the number of sports scientists per capita number of athletes that we have in Singapore. So, really the move is one in the mode of expanding rather than contracting.

On Mr Xie's point about the impact of sports school and the merger, the intention is for sports school to provide the educational arm of an athlete's journey. So, if you think about it in terms of where it is today: today's Sports School sits in Woodlands; SSI sits in Kallang; we have the NSA spread across Singapore with some training facilities in Kallang, and others outside. The idea is to consolidate all into one campus so that end-to-end the support for junior as well as senior athlete, from the time you start education until you graduate from school, but remain in the sport, all of that can be centred into one venue, one campus, for a holistic and specialised training regime for all our athletes.

Mr Eric Chua: Sir, I thank Mr Xie for his clarification on CALM and adaptive sports programmes. The two programmes that are offered at the Active Ageing Centres are free of charge, but outside of the Active Ageing Centres, seniors can also participate in these two programmes at the Active Health Labs, which are located in the Active SG Sports Centres. While the seniors are at the Centres, they can make use of all the other programmes as well as facilities like swimming pools, gyms, that are also made available free of charge for our seniors who are 65 and above.

In addition, there are other programmes, for instance, SportCare conducts adaptive morning exercises. These are conducted on a weekly basis at the locations that are near where seniors live. So, this is just another example of how we are engaging seniors at locations and with programmes which are convenient for them.

The Chairman: Ms Joan Pereira.

Ms Joan Pereira: Thank you, Chairman. I have two clarifications for the Minister of State. The first: I am very happy to hear about ICCS and the involvement of our youth. How is MCCY working with more youth to be more involved in local interfaith activities? That is the first clarification.

Second clarification: you mentioned the AfA for integration of foreign professionals and also refreshing of our INCs. What would this refresh entail, and when can we get more details of this?

Mr Alvin Tan: I thank Ms Joan Pereira for her questions. First, it is really encouraging to see our youths stepping up in the interfaith space. I mentioned this was something that we have done in previous generations, but this new generation of youths, they have new ideas, they have formed many of these youth sector organisations – Rose of Peace is one; hash.peace is another.

If you noticed during the recent visit of the Pope last year, there were many youths involved, including Shukul Raaj Kumar, who is 29 years old and led the interfaith youth discussions at the Catholic Junior College with the Pope. He is part of our IRO youth team, and they have just refreshed it and are doing a lot more.

Many of them will be involved with ICCS 2025. It gives them this platform for them to share with an international audience and international peers what interfaith and multiculturalism is like in Singapore, and also gives them opportunity to take the lead in some of these discussions, showcase what Singapore is doing, but also learn and pick up lessons from others.

The second question is with regard to the INC. We think that it is time for us to also refresh it. We have refreshed our initiatives over the years. MCCY has refreshed, for example, the IRCC into the Harmony Circles. We think that it is an appropriate time for us to also look at what we can do better in terms of training, recruitment and also refreshing the branding of INC so that they are more relevant to what we have today. So, we are going to do a pilot. It is going to be in my constituency in Moulmein-Cairnhill. We will learn from the learnings from this pilot, and hopefully, share it across the island.

The Chairman: As there are no more clarifications, can I invite Mr Sitoh Yih Pin if you would like to withdraw your amendment?

6.10 pm

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin: Yes, Sir, I will keep it very short. I would like to thank the entire MCCY team and all the speakers for their speeches. With that, I ask for leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $2,270,827,200 for Head X ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $510,521,900 for Head X ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.