ADDRESS BY MINISTER INDRANEE RAJAH, PRESIDENT, SINDA, AT THE 34^TH SINDA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, ON TUESDAY, 14 MAY 2024

Dear Members and Friends of SINDA,

1. A very warm welcome to all of you to this In fact, our AGMs feel a little bit more like family reunions than the former AGMs, because you get a chance to catch up with friends. Thank you for making the time today and I’m glad that we can all meet here.
2. When we look back to 2023, one of the important moments was the release of the Forward SG report and this was the culmination of the Government’s conversations with over 200,000 Singaporeans; these conversations where we heard their views, their hopes and their aspirations, both for themselves and their families, as well as their priorities.
3. So, these conversations formed the basis of the Forward SG report, which charts a new direction for Singaporeans – one focused on a shared future. It creates a new way forward, a world of possibilities, where all Singaporeans can benefit from opportunities and achieve their aspirations.
4. SINDA has an important role to play in this shared vision. We want to ensure that those that we serve – our students, youths, families and seniors – are able to access the opportunities available and that will become available, and that they can reap the benefits. SINDA is working to ensure that they have the right tools and skills to progress and succeed.

Extending Impactful Reach

5. In the past year, SINDA has remained focused on its mission of uplifting the community. I’m happy to report that SINDA supported 28,429 beneficiaries in 2023, an increase of 8.4 per cent from 26,216 beneficiaries in 2022. SINDA’s reach has been on an upward trend in the post-pandemic period.
6. The increase was across all beneficiary groups in our academic, development and assistance programmes. More students and families received bursaries and financial aid, while greater engagement efforts led to more families coming into SINDA’s fold. A larger pool of youths joined our programmes as well, which allowed them to develop their leadership potential and expand their skill sets.
7. We also saw record numbers in academic achievement. The SINDA Excellence Awards honoured 851 recipients in 2023, the largest cohort to date in the award ceremony’s history. We were heartened that SINDA could play a significant role in supporting many of these recipients in their academic pursuits.
8. National data from the Ministry of Education also affirms that Indian students are doing well. Based on most recent data, we observe that:
   • The percentage of Indian students progressing to post-secondary education has risen to 95.8 per cent in 2022, a 3.5 per cent increase from 92.3 per cent a decade ago.
   • At PSLE, Indian students scored higher in 2022 in English, Mathematics and Science, as compared to 2021. In English and Science in particular, our students surpassed the national average.
   • At the GCE O-Level examinations, the percentage of Indian students with at least five passes stood at 84.3 per cent in 2022. This is a 10 per cent increase from a decade ago when it was 74.3 per cent – so that’s a remarkable leap.
   • At the GCE A-Level examinations, the gap between Indian students’ performance and the national average widened slightly by 0.4 per cent, between 2021 and 2022. However, Indian A-Level students’ overall performance has certainly improved over the decade.
9. Overall, these data tell us that our students’ academic performance has been generally good and on an upward trend. Where there are areas for improvement, SINDA will continue to work with students and stakeholders to identify opportunities, introduce impactful measures and help our students to do better.

Increasing Depth of Support

10. In addition to education, SINDA has also expanded the depth of support in other areas of work, to help our students grow holistically.
11. In 2023, career camps were introduced to upper primary students to encourage young children’s career interests and allow them to gain deeper insights into a broad range of industries, especially in STEM.
12. As part of enhancing life skills, we introduced topics on ‘adulting’ to ITE students. These workshops focused on essential matters that they need to know as they transition to adulthood, such as financial and household management, career goals, relationships and self-care.
13. Mentorship has also been a focus for SINDA in the last several years. The latest addition to our programmes is the ‘Mentorship to Let Her Shine!’, a mentorship programme for young women. Together, these programmes help support different segments of youths and young adults to get access to advice, knowledge and resources from experienced professionals.
14. These SINDA programmes have seen good outcomes and have impacted our young beneficiaries positively.

Expanding Support to More

15. At the heart of these efforts is SINDA’s sustained push to reach and benefit more people. We are working towards the longer-term goal of improving social mobility for more groups in our community. We want to empower them and give them a boost to achieve their aspirations. Even as the government undertakes significant steps to enabling a more inclusive society, SINDA is working in tandem to ensure the best possible support for the Indian community.
16. In early 2024, SINDA revised its Per Capita Income or PCI threshold upwards, from $1,000 to $1,600. This PCI determines the eligibility of individuals and families to receive financial assistance and programme fee subsidies.
17. So, the new PCI has enlarged the pool of beneficiaries; it allows more families from a broader range of income bands to benefit. More people in the middle-income groups will now have access to essential SINDA support and enjoy full fee waivers when they enrol into programmes.
18. We estimate that a further 11,000 families, or about 12 per cent more in the community, will stand to benefit from this PCI enhancement.
19. SINDA will invest an additional $5 million in 2024 to support this wider group of people, and will do more if necessary.

Partnering the Community

20. In carrying out our work, we are grateful to our extensive ecosystem of partners. 316 partners worked with us in 2023 and such partnerships ensured that we could do more.
    • The Indian Business-leaders’ Roundtable and its members continue to rally around our causes, with many bringing on board their respective companies and colleagues to collaborate with SINDA on initiatives.
    • In 2023, we brought our Project Give campaign to the heartlands to amplify celebrations, thanks to several supportive grassroots and community partners.
21. SINDA is grateful for these partnerships and we look forward to growing our partnerships, so that we can do better in serving and uplifting the Indian community.

Navigating the Journey Ahead

22. Finally, before I conclude, you may be familiar with the interview that PM Lee gave recently. He had some nice things to say about SINDA, so let me just share this with you. In his interview, he said:
    “The Indian community has been doing well too, in the sense that, not that you do not have issues, because like every other community, you have a certain group who are having family issues and kids growing up who need to be helped. But you have got SINDA and SINDA has done a very good job. It is smaller than Mendaki, but you have got some very active and passionate volunteers – some Singaporeans, some immigrants, some not citizens but families working here; some kids and teens who are working with families who need help, who go and do reading with them, who mentor them and guide them, and I think it makes a big difference. You would have to keep on doing this because these are problems which will not easily disappear. But you are doing the right thing.”
23. That was from the PM and his kind words reaffirm the good work being done at SINDA and encourage us to go further in our work.
24. So, as we look into the future, SINDA remains prepared to do our utmost to support less-privileged members of our community, improve social mobility and help the community gain better skills so that they can access opportunities better.
25. We will help the community navigate the journey ahead, so that we can all succeed together.
26. Thank you very much.