Speech by Minister Indranee Rajah at Focus on the Family Singapore’s 22nd Anniversary Dinner

Mr Tony Soh, Chairman

Mr Choe Peng Sum, Vice Chairman

Ms Delia Ng, CEO

Distinguished Guests, Friends and Partners of Focus on the Family Singapore

Good evening. Thank you for inviting me to join you tonight, to celebrate Focus on the Family Singapore’s 22^nd anniversary, and the 10^th anniversary of FamChamps. I am heartened by Focus Singapore’s steadfast dedication over the years towards building strong families and I am honoured to be here. A big congratulations on yet another milestone achieved!

Onward for Family: For Generations

The theme for tonight’s dinner “Onward for Family: For Generations”, is a wonderful theme. It calls on all of us to continue to make family a priority, both in our personal lives and in the work that we do. It’s really the family that makes it all worthwhile – family that anchors us, family that keeps us going, family that believes in us when we fail, and family that gives us the strength to go on. So family is really essential – it’s the most important social unit, I think, in Singapore. Your theme also reminds us to be forward-looking and have a family-centred approach in the choices that we make, to shape a Singapore that future generations would be proud to inherit.

Strong and stable families are at the core of a thriving society. They are often our first line of support. They enable us to build a successful nation where Singaporeans can live fulfilling lives, have good incomes and careers.

Shifting Mindsets and Priorities

The Government remains committed to help Singaporeans achieve their personal and family aspirations. But the journey that lies ahead is a tough one. We are facing significant challenges such as an ageing population, declining fertility rates, as well as delayed marriage and parenthood. Please don’t go away with the impression that this is unique to Singapore. It’s not; it’s something that is faced by many other developed societies as well, so it’s really a global issue.

It gets even more complex, as these challenges indicate shifts in mindsets and norms, for which the policy solutions, are not so clear-cut.

As mentioned earlier, our total fertility rate fell to a historic low of 0.97 last year – the first time that it has dropped below 1.0. It reflects a global trend where more young people are prioritising other pursuits, and may not necessarily see marriage or parenthood as important life goals.

In Singapore, based on our surveys, we are glad that young Singaporeans still aspire towards marriage and parenthood, and still value the importance of a strong and stable family. Yet, at the same time, more are postponing marriage and having children, or are having fewer children. Why is this so?

There are many factors at play. Some choose to prioritise career aspirations, others fear the loss of personal time and freedom, or have trouble finding the “right one” with whom they feel confident about building a life together.

While marriage and parenthood are deeply personal decisions, it is important that we as a society, support those who wish to pursue such aspirations so that they can embark on their journey with confidence and ease.

We also have to understand how the views and priorities of each generation of Singaporeans towards marriage and parenthood may evolve, bridge the gap between their aspirations and reality, and strengthen assurance for couples to take the next step.

Support for Families

From our surveys and engagements, couples have shared that the costs of child-raising and the ability to manage work and family commitments are important considerations for them when making parenthood decisions. This is why we have, over the years, put in place a wide range of measures to support Singaporeans on these fronts. These measures include:

·         More affordable and faster access to housing;

·         More affordable, accessible and higher-quality preschool education;

·         More financial support to defray costs of raising children including through the Baby Bonus Scheme; and

·         More support for working parents to better manage work and caregiving responsibilities via parental leave and a stronger push for more flexible work arrangements.

Most recently, we enhanced the Baby Bonus Scheme, and doubled the Government-Paid Paternity Leave to four weeks on a voluntary basis. We also increased Unpaid Infant Care Leave to 12 days per parent per year, in their child’s first two years. We hope that these will allow parents, especially fathers, to be more involved in caring for their children, while still being able to fulfill their responsibilities at work. We are studying how paid parental leave can be further enhanced, and are working to mandate the additional voluntary two weeks of Paternity Leave as soon as possible.

The Government is also focusing on encouraging harmonious workplace norms around Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs). Young families have to care for young children, but many of them also have to care for ageing parents. So FWAs enable parents and caregivers to better manage work and family commitments. Just last month, we released the Tripartite Guidelines on FWA Requests. Here, I have to say that it is FWA Requests, meaning that we have not made it mandatory for everybody to have flexible work arrangements, but what the guidelines provide is that employers have to consider the requests. We are asking employers to entertain a request and to have conversations with the employees to see how they can accommodate the request and work out the arrangements. The Tripartite Guidelines set the norms and expectations on how employees should request for FWAs and use them responsibly, as well as how employers should consider and respond to such requests properly. With these processes in place, we hope to foster a workplace culture of mutual trust and open communication around FWAs. This will support Singaporeans in their ability to achieve work-life harmony, enabling them to maximise their potential at work while setting aside time for themselves and their loved ones. The key people that we need to get onboard are the employers.

Additionally, the Government supports the Families for Life, or FFL, movement. FFL aims to promote strong and resilient families through providing marriage and parenting resources and organising meaningful activities island wide to strengthen family bonds. This includes the upcoming National Family Festival, which will be held at various locations from 25th May to 23rd June. The festival will be packed with many fun-filled activities, and I hope that you and your families would be able to join in.

Focus Singapore’s Efforts and FamChamps

Building a Singapore Made For Families goes beyond the Government. It really requires a whole-of-societal shift in mindsets. We need everyone to play a part, to foster a culture that values and puts families first. In the context of businesses, we understand that they too have concerns about revenue and productivity, so the question is how this balance can be achieved.

This is where organisations like Focus Singapore come in. Focus Singapore has provided extensive programmes and services to strengthen families and family values throughout the years. These include marriage preparation programmes, regular dialogues on parenting, and counselling services for parents and children, amongst others. Focus Singapore has also partnered FFL to organise activities such as the recent I Still Do Couples’ picnic.

Most notably, and one of the reasons we are here today, is to celebrate Focus Singapore’s community youth movement, FamChamps. This is an upstream initiative targeted at youths and young adults to inculcate pro-family mindsets from young, and train up Family Champions who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to forge strong familial ties. This helps our youth to build longer-lasting and deeper parent-child relationships, which contribute to their wellbeing.

Since it was introduced, FamChamps has reached out to more than 44,000 youths through 80 schools and community organisations. Individuals, corporates and members of the community have also offered their support and contributed to FamChamps’ success.

There were a few individuals and organisations that stood out, and will be receiving the Family Champion Award this year. We have, Mr and Mrs Rodney Chng, who contributed to ensure a steady stream of potential funding and sponsorship opportunities for FamChamps. There is also Autobahn Motor’s Ten Square, which availed the billboard screens on their iconic car vending machine building to showcase Focus Singapore’s campaigns and initiatives. Queenstown Baptist Church, which actively connected with families in the Queenstown community, by organising family life workshops and mentoring students at Queensway Secondary School as part of the FamChamps Camp Experience. A special mention to OUE Limited as well, whose generous support made many of Focus Singapore’s events possible.

I understand that Delia will be announcing the launch of a new initiative later, for preschool children and their families. I am encouraged by Focus Singapore’s continuing efforts to instill family values at earlier ages, to lay the foundation for stronger and resilient families.

Striving Towards A Singapore Made For Families Together

While each family is unique, with their own histories and circumstances, family values such as love, care and concern, commitment and respect remain the glue that holds families together. We need to continue to empower parents to impart these values to their children, create quality opportunities for families to practice these values and to develop stronger bonds over time.

I would like to end off by acknowledging Focus Singapore’s donors and corporate partners. Your unwavering support has been crucial to sustaining Focus Singapore’s work over the years. It takes many helping hands to foster a culture that celebrates and champions family life. I hope that those of you in attendance today will continue to lend your support, as Focus Singapore presses on with their good work in raising family champions from young.

I would like to congratulate Focus Singapore again on your 22^nd anniversary. Thank you for inviting me to this dinner.