ADDRESS BY MINISTER INDRANEE RAJAH, PRESIDENT, SINDA, AT THE 33^RD SINDA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, ON TUESDAY, 30 MAY 2023

 

 

Dear Members and Friends of SINDA,

 

1. A very warm welcome to today’s AGM. Thank you for making the time to come. One of the nicest things about the AGM is the ability to see and catch up with one another. I would like to share with everyone what SINDA has been up to the past year.

 

2. 2022 was a year of many changes. As Covid-19 became endemic and we eased safe management measures, SINDA was able to resume its in-person programme and services. This allowed us to resume face-to-face contact with our beneficiaries and provide direct support and reassurance.

 

Increased Reach in 2022

 

3. I am pleased to inform members that SINDA increased its outreach in 2022. We were able to benefit 26,216 unique individuals in 2022, 4,603 more than the 21,613 in 2021. That is a 21% increase from the previous year and a 6% increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

 

4. This increase was across all benefitting categories, such as family, youth, and financial assistance. Individuals who were previously unknown to SINDA came into our fold – joining our enrichment and empowerment programmes and seeking social services and financial assistance.

 

5. These were a result of SINDA’s effort in recent years to ramp up our outreach and leverage partnerships which include Indian, religious, community and grassroots organisations to reach greater numbers of our target profile.

 

6. Also, after their first touchpoint with SINDA, these beneficiaries were then introduced to the full spectrum of other SINDA services and programmes.

 

7. 2022 also saw increased numbers in two signature community events.

 

8. First, we helped 7,280 students at our Back To School Festival in 2022, an increase of 3,000 from 4,200 recipients in 2021. This was due to closer collaborations with partners, who identified and referred students from their own networks to SINDA.

 

9. Second, the SINDA Excellence Awards saw a bumper crop of 781 recipients recognised for their achievements in the academic, sports or the arts. This is the highest number of recipients in the Awards’ history and a 7% increase from the previous year.

 

10. The number of recipients has been on an upward trend since 2019, showing the spirit of excellence among our students.

 

 

Continued Academic Excellence

 

11. The overall Indian student population’s performance at the national examinations has remained broadly consistent, with no significant downward trends. In the last decade, our students have also narrowed the gap with the national average in several important subjects.

 

12. In 2021, 95.4 per cent of our students progressed to post-secondary pathways, compared to 92.5 per cent a decade ago. This is an increase of 2.9 per cent.

 

• • While more Indian students are pursuing post-secondary education, the percentage of students from other races is increasing as well, with 98.4 per cent of Chinese students pursuing post-secondary education in 2021.

 

13. At the PSLE, Indian students surpassed the national averages in the English Language, Science and Mother Tongue. Although the gap with the national overall has been steadily narrowing, there is still though some catch up to do in Mathematics.

 

14. At the GCE O-Level examinations, the percentage of students with at least five O-Level passes increased, from 73.5% in 2012 to 83.4% in 2021– a significant 9.9% increase.

 

• • The gap between the Indian O-Level students and the national overall has closed from 3.6% in 2020 to 2% in 2021.
  • So, Indian students have shown the most significant improvement amongst all four races and we hope to see this trend continue in the coming years.

 

15. A sizeable jump was also seen at the GCE A-Level examinations, with 90.4% of Indian students scoring at least three ‘H2’ passes and a pass in the General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry. This is a 4% increase from the 86.4% a decade ago.

 

• • The gap between Indian A-Level students and the national overall has also reduced from 4.5% in 2020 to 3.2% in 2021.
  • While there is still room for improvement as we try to close the gap with the other races, it is heartening to see the strides our students have made compared with a decade ago.

 

Enhanced Programmes for Greater Benefit

 

16. We will sustain the support to our students to help them achieve their aspirations and good life outcome. SINDA looks at students’ overall development, through Holistic Learning Centres. In addition to academic lessons, students in tutorial programmes are exposed to experiential learning so they can explore their areas of interest and build skills.

 

17. Online STEP lessons enable our students to learn beyond the classroom, while the Education Plus initiative helps students gain essential life skills and promotes their emotional, mental and social growth.

 

18. We also introduced new and enhanced programmes for other target groups in 2022.

 

19. We stepped up our engagement with ITE youths, through our Enhanced ITEnable Corporate Mentoring The Indian Business-leaders’ Roundtable, or SINDA-IBR, provided both mentors and learning avenues for these youths, to help them gain real-world exposure. This mentorship programme will be expanded to include to polytechnic and university students in 2023.

 

20. In 2022, SINDA also launched ‘Let Her Shine!’ an empowerment programme for Indian girls and young women. The Let Her Shine! programmes and workshops equip young women with knowledge and life skills, aimed at building their self-confidence and resilience. They include public speaking and confidence building workshops, coding and robotics workshops and learning journeys to laboratories to inspire young girls to explore STEM-related careers.

 

21. On the first anniversary of ‘Let Her Shine!’ earlier this month, we launched a mentorship programme for young women to link them with leading Indian women professionals who have undergone their own journeys to leadership and excellence and can provide guidance and mentorship to the Let Her Shine! participants.

 

22. SINDA also has a very successful Prison Reintegration programme, which supports incarcerated and formerly incarcerated mothers. This success of this programme led to Prisons agreeing to it being extended to fathers as well. Through this programme, SINDA helps prisoners who are parents gain effective parenting skills with a view to helping them reconnect with their family and rebuild family bonds. At the same time, we provide their families with financial and social support and ensure their children get the appropriate resources and proper caregiving, to minimize the disadvantages of their family’s circumstances.

 

Award Recognitions

 

23. SINDA was given two accolades in 2022 in recognition of our efforts.

 

24. The first is the Advocates of Second Chances Award at the Yellow Ribbon Awards, given in appreciation of SINDA’s partnership with the Singapore Prison Service to help incarcerated individuals.

 

25. Such mutual collaborations with national agencies are important as they allow us to reach and support a wider pool of beneficiaries. We will continue to pursue and expand such partnerships for greater reach.

 

26. The second award is the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Charity Transparency Award, which recognises SINDA’s good governance practices and management of the community’s donations and monetary contributions.

 

Charting the Path Forward

 

27. Looking ahead, SINDA’s efforts are bearing fruit and achieving intended outcomes. However, there is still much to be done. While the community has made great strides in the last decade, the future is complex, and the needs are ever-changing. This requires SINDA to finetune its approaches and strategies in response to new and emerging areas.

 

28. SINDA will embark on an organisation-wide strategic review over 2023 and 2024, to ensure that our initiatives are relevant and meet the needs of our community in the next decade. This review has begun, and over the course of the next one year, we will also be engaging stakeholders across all levels, including SINDA members, to ensure that the community’s priorities and needs are addressed.

 

29. As we look ahead, SINDA remains focused in our mission to uplift the community through education, community collaboration and mobilisation. We will continue to support vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community, bridge inequality, and help the community gain skills for better access to available opportunities.

 

30. We will also facilitate the growth of strong families, and a confident, resilient Indian community that is part of an inclusive, vibrant and united Singapore.

 

31. Thank you.