Govt is doing more to help Malays but without statistics, how do they know it's effective?

I refer to the article “Call to do more to equip Malays with money skills” (Straits Times, Sep 5).

It states that “Currently, CPF members who turn 55 can withdraw their CPF savings after setting aside the Minimum Sum – which is now $155,000, but will go up to $161,000 for those who turn 55 in July next year. Those who cannot meet the Minimum Sum can withdraw only $5,000.”

More Malay-Muslim statistics may be useful?

When I was invited to speak in March last year (the other 3 speakers were the CEO of Mendaki, Malay-Muslim MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and an AWARE board member) at a public forum organised by the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) – in response to several questions during the Q & A – I suggested that it may be useful to have more statistics about the financial affairs of the Malay-Muslim community.

How many met CPF Minimum Sums?

In this connection, how many and what percentage of Malay-Muslim Singaporeans  who turned 55 last year, met the combined CPF and and Medisave Minimum Sums of $198,500? (w.e.f. 1 January 2013, the Medisave Minimum Sum of $43,500 must also be met in addition to the CPF Minimum Sum of $155,000  before any excess can be withdrawn at 55)

Measuring progress?

As to “The discussion also found general agreement among participants that the Malay/Muslim community has progressed over the years, even though there were some who wondered if it was “lagging behind” other communities in Singapore”

ComCare assistance?

-  The Singapore media in 2006 reported that a common electronic database of 105,000 Malay-Muslim recipients of financial aid programmes in Singapore had been launched.

How many are on the database now, and what percentage of ComCare receipients are Malay/Muslims?

Increase in % staying in HDB 1 & 2-room

The only ethnic group which had an increase in the percentage of those staying in 1 and 2-room HDB flats, was Malays – which increased from 6.5 to 8.7 per cent, from 2000 to 2010.

In contrast, the percentage of Indians and Chinese, declined from 8.1 to 4.9 and 4.4 to 4.1 per cent, respectively.

Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A – C in Standard Mathematics

Malays 60.1%, Chinese 89.4%

In 2002, it was Malays 56.5% and Chinese 90.2%.

So, the performance of Malays in Mathematics has been relatively weak, compared to the other ethnic groups.

Degree holders?

I understand that the latest statistics are that only 6.8% of Malay-Muslims had a university degree in 2010, compared to 28.3% across all races. (“Is Mendaki TTFS fully funded by Govt?“, July 31, 2012 and “‘Graduates in every family’ call“, Straits Times, July 1, 2012) (“PSLE Maths: Malays 60.1%, Chinese 89.4%“, Oct 29, 2012)

The “the trend is upwards”

With regard to “Dr Yaacob said that there were schemes by the Government, Mendaki and other Malay/Muslim organisations to help people get ahead in life. And outreach programmes to get information about these schemes to people in the community who need them most need to be continued.

“The broad statistics for educational achievement are clear – the trend is upwards. The question is the gradient. I still believe we can do better,” Dr Yaacob said.”