Is it a coincidence or a response to NSP's Malay Bureau?
Sep 18, 2010
Yaacob's goal: New leaders in 10 years
Malay-Muslim community urged to groom young and talented professionals
By Zakir Hussain, Political Correspondent
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National youth footballers (from left) Firdaus Sham, Sunny Ng and Jonathan Tan get to meet (from right) Dr Yaacob, Speaker Abdullah Tarmugi, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, MP Fatimah Lateef and other leaders. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
MINISTER-IN-CHARGE of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim has proposed a deadline for his community's leaders to rope in young and talented Malay-Muslim professionals and groom them to take over.
He wants it done within 10 years.
His challenge to about 500 community and youth leaders at a Hari Raya get-together last night comes as successful young Muslims increasingly prefer setting up their own groups or joining multiracial ones rather than be involved in the established organisations of their community.
Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, believes their invaluable capabilities, when harnessed to lead, can give a fillip to the community. 'I am confident that as a community, we can excel even further and perhaps faster if we provide opportunities for our young to achieve their potential and assume leadership roles within the community and beyond,' he said at the dinner in Shangri-La Hotel.
The need for leadership renewal in the community organisations was highlighted two years ago, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pointed out to the established organisations that they are a training ground for Malay leadership at the national level.
Dr Yaacob alluded to it last October when, in his Hari Raya dinner speech, he expressed concern that middle-class Muslims could leave the less well-off in the community behind.
Last night, his message was directed at the young and talented, who welcomed it. Association of Muslim Professionals chairman Nizam Ismail, 43, said the challenge for community groups is to create enough platforms for young people who feel strongly about wider issues, like the environment, and want to do something about them.
Added Mendaki Club volunteer Eman Lim, 30: 'It is a challenge to break the negative perception the young have of government-funded groups, but I believe we are still willing to contribute out of concern for the beneficiaries we help.'
The community, noted Dr Yaacob, has a wide spread of talent. There are 400 Malay-Muslim students in the specialist schools and programmes that have emerged in recent years, 16 university graduates who got elusive first class honours this year, and the medallists at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games last month.
He wants this younger generation to be 'plugged into the entire human enterprise of building a strong and vibrant community and a great nation'.
It was the underlying reason in the Malay MPs' decision to rope in, through the Community Leaders Forum, more than 90 young Muslim leaders to reflect on the community's future and engage their peers on how best to deal with its problems.
But several organisations have taken steps to bring in the young, noted Dr Yaacob, citing the management boards of mosques, which also have more women. He reminded the young that they owe much of their success to the efforts of past and present leaders. And he proposed that the Malay Heritage Foundation, which runs the Malay Heritage Centre in Kampong Glam, consider enhancing the documentation of the community's struggle to acknowledge the contributions of its pioneers and inspire the young.
Dr Yaacob also noted that the community had done well in education: The proportion of Malay students in a cohort going on to post-secondary education rose from 70 per cent to more than 85 per cent in the last 10 years.
At the same time, the proportion heading to polytechnics and universities had risen too, from 26 per cent to more than 35 per cent.
He now wants this figure to go up to at least 40 per cent by 2020.
[email protected]
REALISE POTENTIAL
'I am confident that as a community, we can excel even further and perhaps faster if we provide opportunities for our young to achieve their potential and assume leadership roles within the community and beyond.'
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim
Sep 18, 2010
Yaacob's goal: New leaders in 10 years
Malay-Muslim community urged to groom young and talented professionals
By Zakir Hussain, Political Correspondent
<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=35jcdwn" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/35jcdwn.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>
National youth footballers (from left) Firdaus Sham, Sunny Ng and Jonathan Tan get to meet (from right) Dr Yaacob, Speaker Abdullah Tarmugi, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zainul Abidin Rasheed, MP Fatimah Lateef and other leaders. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
MINISTER-IN-CHARGE of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim has proposed a deadline for his community's leaders to rope in young and talented Malay-Muslim professionals and groom them to take over.
He wants it done within 10 years.
His challenge to about 500 community and youth leaders at a Hari Raya get-together last night comes as successful young Muslims increasingly prefer setting up their own groups or joining multiracial ones rather than be involved in the established organisations of their community.
Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, believes their invaluable capabilities, when harnessed to lead, can give a fillip to the community. 'I am confident that as a community, we can excel even further and perhaps faster if we provide opportunities for our young to achieve their potential and assume leadership roles within the community and beyond,' he said at the dinner in Shangri-La Hotel.
The need for leadership renewal in the community organisations was highlighted two years ago, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pointed out to the established organisations that they are a training ground for Malay leadership at the national level.
Dr Yaacob alluded to it last October when, in his Hari Raya dinner speech, he expressed concern that middle-class Muslims could leave the less well-off in the community behind.
Last night, his message was directed at the young and talented, who welcomed it. Association of Muslim Professionals chairman Nizam Ismail, 43, said the challenge for community groups is to create enough platforms for young people who feel strongly about wider issues, like the environment, and want to do something about them.
Added Mendaki Club volunteer Eman Lim, 30: 'It is a challenge to break the negative perception the young have of government-funded groups, but I believe we are still willing to contribute out of concern for the beneficiaries we help.'
The community, noted Dr Yaacob, has a wide spread of talent. There are 400 Malay-Muslim students in the specialist schools and programmes that have emerged in recent years, 16 university graduates who got elusive first class honours this year, and the medallists at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games last month.
He wants this younger generation to be 'plugged into the entire human enterprise of building a strong and vibrant community and a great nation'.
It was the underlying reason in the Malay MPs' decision to rope in, through the Community Leaders Forum, more than 90 young Muslim leaders to reflect on the community's future and engage their peers on how best to deal with its problems.
But several organisations have taken steps to bring in the young, noted Dr Yaacob, citing the management boards of mosques, which also have more women. He reminded the young that they owe much of their success to the efforts of past and present leaders. And he proposed that the Malay Heritage Foundation, which runs the Malay Heritage Centre in Kampong Glam, consider enhancing the documentation of the community's struggle to acknowledge the contributions of its pioneers and inspire the young.
Dr Yaacob also noted that the community had done well in education: The proportion of Malay students in a cohort going on to post-secondary education rose from 70 per cent to more than 85 per cent in the last 10 years.
At the same time, the proportion heading to polytechnics and universities had risen too, from 26 per cent to more than 35 per cent.
He now wants this figure to go up to at least 40 per cent by 2020.
[email protected]
REALISE POTENTIAL
'I am confident that as a community, we can excel even further and perhaps faster if we provide opportunities for our young to achieve their potential and assume leadership roles within the community and beyond.'
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim
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