Speech by Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and National Development and President, SINDA, at the 36th SINDA Annual General Meeting on 21 May 2026 at The Civil Service Club @ Tessensohn

 

Dear Members and Friends of SINDA,

 

Opening

1. Good evening members.

 

Mr Shriniwas Rai

2. Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to remember Mr Shriniwas Rai, a prominent member of our community and a SINDA pioneer and stalwart. Many of you who are here will remember him. He passed on in January this year at the age of 83.

 

3. We remember Mr Rai’s contributions with immense gratitude.

 

4. He played key roles in SINDA in its formative years, along with serving in several civic and religious bodies. His dedication and commitment to uplifting others was recognised and he was selected as a Nominated Member of Parliament where he was able to contribute beyond the community at a national level.

 

5. While he is no longer with us, Mr Rai’s legacy continues to inspire us and the community. So, lets applaud and celebrate him.

 

SINDA’s Reach

6. I would like to now update Members on what SINDA has been doing since the last AGM.

 

7. In total, SINDA benefitted 29,931 beneficiaries in 2025. This number, an increase from previous years, is the result of a deliberate shift — towards more targeted and sustained engagement, so that the support we provide is not only accessible, but meaningful, holistic and sustained.

 

 

Education: Building Confidence and Capability

8. Education remains firmly at the heart of what we do. In 2025, SINDA invested over $18 million — more than half of our total expenditure — into education and related initiatives.

 

9. Since 2020, education-related assistance has tripled, with schemes such as the SINDA Bursary, SINDA-SIET Tertiary Bursary, and RightSave supporting children’s educational journeys at different stages of life.

 

10. We continued flagship programmes for educational content such as STEP and Teach, to provide structured tutorials, with early intervention efforts to strengthen academic performance, holistic development, and parental engagement.

 

11. In 2025, we saw a 21% increase from 2024 in students achieving two-grade improvements, with approximately 1,700 of our tutorial students demonstrating sustained progress.

 

12. We are now evolving our approach to prepare our students for a changing world — strengthening exposure to digital learning, self-directed learning, and emerging areas such as AI.

 

13. To meet growing demand and improve accessibility, we also expanded our outreach with two additional STEP centres, and two virtual centres that have experienced strong demand.

 

14. Data from the Ministry of Education shows that Indian students are doing well nationally across key milestones:

 

1. 1. Over the last decade, the percentage of Indian Primary 1 cohort progressing to post-secondary education rose from 93.9 per cent to 95.5 per cent, reflecting sustained long-term improvement.
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   2. At the PSLE level, Indian students continue to perform strongly, achieving above 90 per cent and outperforming national averages in English, Mother Tongue and Science, while continuing to make gains in Mathematics.
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   3. At the O-Level stage, there is a growing proportion of students achieving academic progress – 84.9 per cent of students achieved at least five O-Level subject passes in 2024, an increase of almost 8 per cent from 2015.

 

1. 4. Indian students have also shown steady improvement at the A-Level stage, with pass rates consistently around 90 per cent.

 

1. 5. These improved performances can be seen in the greater number of award recipients at SINDA’s SEA ceremony, or the SINDA Excellence Awards, which recognises students for excellence in a wide range of academic pathways, arts and sports fields.

 

15. Taken together, these trends tell us that Indian students have strong capabilities and they are doing better than ever before. Their academic performance continues to narrow the gap with national performance. But more importantly, this goes beyond academic progress, reflecting a generation that is more all-rounded, more capable and better equipped for the future.

 

 

Assistance: From Access to Sustained Support

16. A child’s success does not happen in isolation: it begins with the family. To help families with this, we have been making greater efforts towards more coordinated and sustained SINDA support.

 

17. We see this in families like Harzathnisha’s, a 33-year-old single mother raising three young boys on her own. She experienced heavy emotional and practical pressures from her divorce, together with urgent needs to care for her three children.

 

18. SINDA connected with her at a community event, and through a combination of financial assistance and parenting programmes, she received practical support and guidance. These created a more stable and nurturing environment for her children’s growth and development and helped her to overcome her challenges.

 

19. We are happy to have helped Harzathnisha and her family. This year’s Annual Report highlights their journeys and the stories of several other SINDA individuals and families, showing the positive impact SINDA has made on their lives.

 

20. Our Back-To-School Festival or BTSF, is an important touchpoint to identify families who require deeper support.

 

21. Once identified, families are connected to follow-on assistance including bursaries, fee waivers, and other programmes. In this way, those in need are brought into a full ecosystem of support.

 

22. Close to 550 new beneficiaries from BTSF 2025 received additional support this year. This allows us to journey with the families to provide support across different stages of life.

 

23. SINDA also continues to support families through festive gift packs and essential assistance, ensuring that families can celebrate important occasions with dignity despite financial challenges.

 

 

Community and Partnerships

24. We are also strengthening intentional and strategic partnerships with corporates, schools, Institutes of Higher Learning, Social Service Agencies, and industry partners.

 

25. Partnerships with organisations such as the National Youth Council and the National Youth Achievement Award have strengthened outreach and created more opportunities for young people. We are also working with corporates to provide opportunities for them to contribute through their CSR initiatives – for example, ride-hailing company Grab served as the official transport partner for our elderly during our festive engagements for them.

 

26. Through initiatives such as the Indian Business-leaders’ Roundtable Corporate Mentorship, Let Her Shine! Mentorship, and the Career Advancement Series, we give Indian youths platforms to build skills, access networks, and get internships and mentoring — reaching over 4,000 youth touchpoints.

 

 

Strategic Review: Setting Direction for the Next 10 Years

27. We are now looking ahead to see how SINDA must do in our next phase of evolution.

 

28. SINDA has embarked on a strategic review led by Mr Ravi Menon and members from our Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and industry experts. The Review will shape our next phase of growth.

 

29. The Taskforce is looking at emerging needs within the community as well as emerging educational, economics and social trends, with a view to ensuring that SINDA’s programmes remain relevant, meaningful, impactful and sustainable.

 

30. These efforts are also closely aligned with national priorities, including the need to prepare Singaporeans for a digital and AI-enabled future.

 

 

Building for the Future: New Community Space

31. SINDA will be moving to a new building in 2027 — 1 Victoria Lane, the old Stamford Primary School. Apart from being a place for SINDA to deliver our programmes and services, we are also planning for this to become an integrated community space where the Indian community can come together for events, functions and meetings.

 

 

Closing

32. As disruptions continue in the world, the challenges we face will grow more complex.

 

33. But what should give us confidence is that the Singaporean Indian community continues to show drive, resilience, adaptability, and a strong sense of collective responsibility.

 

34. With the support of our partners, volunteers, and donors, and all of you, SINDA will continue to strengthen pathways, expand opportunities, and uplift the members of our community.

 

35. Let us build a ‘We First’ Singapore, in which the Indian community thrives and progresses along with all the others.

 

36. Thank you.