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Home » Singapore Budget » Expenditure Overview » Social Development» Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

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Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS)

MCYS’s mission is to build a cohesive and resilient society.

MCYS aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• socially responsible individuals;
• strong and stable families;
• a caring and active community;
• inspired and committed youth; and
• a sporting people.

A total budget of $1.83 billion will be voted to MCYS in FY2011 to achieve its mission. In addition, the ComCare Endowment Fund is projected to provide another $44.9 million of interest income to supplement the funds available for various social assistance programmes for needy families, while the Sporting Singapore Fund is projected to provide a sum of $91.9 million to help fund sports programmes.

Socially Responsible Individuals

MCYS aims to help Singaporeans take responsibility for looking after their personal and family welfare. Programmes for the needy, juvenile delinquents, vulnerable families, elderly and disabled, will ensure that they remain integrated within our society and work towards self-reliance. MCYS also works with relevant public agencies and community partners to prepare Singapore for an ageing population, so that Singaporeans are prepared for their golden years and are able to age actively.

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) came into force and was implemented on 1 March 2010. It introduces a new decision-making mechanism, allowing financial, welfare and health care decisions to be taken on behalf of a person who lacks mental capacity to make such decisions. The Office of the Public Guardian supports the Public Guardian in maintaining registers of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) and court orders appointing deputies. The Public Guardian also plays an essential role in investigating into any alleged violation of any provisions of the MCA, including complaints about the way in which donees and deputies exercise their powers.

For the Needy

$111.8 million (including the ComCare Interest of $44.9 million) will be set aside to help low-income Singaporeans who need financial assistance. Help is given to enable vulnerable families to undertake employment and work towards self-reliance. Those who are unable to work and have little or no family support are also extended a helping hand. From 1 April 2011, the Public Assistance (PA) rates will be increased from the current $360 per month to $400 per month for a single-person household. The additional assistance for children in PA families will be increased from the current $130 per child per month to $150.

Targeted assistance is also available to help lower-income families place their children in pre-school. From 1 April 2011, the monthly household income thresholds for Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC) and Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) will be raised from $1,800 to $3,500. This is to ensure that all children will be able to access early childhood education regardless of their financial circumstances. It also complements the Government’s efforts to encourage more mothers to work by supporting them with child care subsidies.

Through the Many Helping Hands approach, community organisations will also continue to other provide assistance (e.g. food rations and befriending services) to the needy in Singapore. This complements government assistance provided through ComCare.

A sum of $127.9 million has been budgeted to support voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) to provide community-based and residential services to the needy, including the disabled, elderly, families, children and the destitute. Another $6.8 million is also been set aside for the community self-help groups.

Strong & Stable Families

MCYS promotes strong and stable families and aims to make Singapore the best home whereparents can raise their children and enjoy the warmth of family life.

$548 million will be set aside for the Baby Bonus Scheme ($304 million), Government-Paid Maternity Leave Scheme ($159 million), and the Government-Paid Childcare Leave Scheme ($85 million) to encourage and support married couples to have more children. Another $8.5 million will be allocated to promote marriage.

$234 million will be allocated for childcare and infant care subsidies to enhance parents’ access to quality childcare and infant care in a centre-based environment. To raise the quality of childcare and infant care, $31.3 million will be set aside to provide scholarships for childcare teachers and recurrent grants for eligible not-for-profit childcare operators. $4.9 million will also be set aside for eligible not-for-profit childcare operators to set up more child care centres.

$8.1 million will be allocated for family education efforts carried out via community partnership programmes, such as Parent Education in Pre-schools, School Family Education and Family Life Ambassador programmes to support individuals in different life stages and to enrich the quality of their family life. Family education programmes cover marriage, parenthood, parenting and personal work-life effectiveness. Another $2.6 million will be set aside to support efforts to promote the building of resilient families, strengthen the institution of marriage, and encourage businesses to be family-friendly.

A Caring and Active Community

MCYS works towards bringing the different segments of society closer together to forge a common identity. To achieve this, MCYS encourages citizens to be actively involved in helping others through volunteerism and philanthropy. MCYS also works actively with religious and community groups to foster mutual understanding and maintain racial and religious harmony in the community. In addition, MCYS facilitates the growth of the non-profit sector.

Preserving Harmony in the Community

Over the next five years, the People’s Association (PA) and its grassroots organisations (GROs) will focus on building social capital by widening outreach and deepening engagement amongst residents. A budget of $352.1 million, inclusive of development funding of $28 million, will be allocated to PA to build greater social capital within the community, through the following three strategic thrusts:

• Making Friends, Promoting Neighbourliness;
• Connecting Youth and the Community; and
• Building an Active Community.

The PA and its GROs aims to bridge diverse communities through community sports, arts, integration and others. It will focus on providing more platforms for residents from different backgrounds to meet, form friendships and build trust and reciprocity, including bringing online relationships into real world engagement. More will be done to reach out to more youths to engage them so that they can form friendships and involve them in the local community. The aim is to form a Youth Chapter in every Residents’ Committee and Neighbourhood Committee to facilitate deeper local youth engagement. To reach out to the elderly, PA’s Wellness programme will be further expanded. In growing social capital, PA also aims to work with more partners, volunteers and getting residents’ involvement to build an active community, towards making Singapore a Great Home and A Caring Community.

$3.6 million will be allocated to the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), a part of which goes to promote community engagement and the Singapore Muslim Identity.

Nurturing Active Citizens and Building a Strong Community Network

$24.1 million will be set aside to promote volunteerism, support philanthropy and build a strong network of community. This amount comprises $15.3 million to the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), $5 million to the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and $3.8 million to build governance and management capabilities in charities through training, consultancy, ICT, finance and accounting shared services.

Inspired & Committed Youth

Through MCYS’ youth development and engagement programmes, the youth have a say in national and community issues. MCYS also supports youth–led projects to improve social conditions, and programmes that create opportunities for youth to develop their diverse talents, strengthen their resilience and pursue their dreams.

$9.1 million will be set aside for youth development initiatives in the following areas:

• Provide support to out-of-school youth and youth-at-risk through Enhanced STEP-UP programme, a streamlined programme that adopts a more client-centric approach to strengthen these youth resilience and to help them realise their potential. In addition, to increase the employability of out-of-school youth through a Youth Apprenticeship programme;
• Provide common youth spaces e.g. *scape and Xtreme Skatepark for youth events and programmes to encourage youth exploration of their interests and expression; and
• Provide an avenue for youth to express themselves through an internet portal, youth.sg which features articles on events and projects organised by youth, youth lifestyle and interests, links to relevant online resources and services, as well as a blog and discussion forum.

The Central Youth Guidance Office (CYGO) was formed in June 2010 as an inter-ministry (MCYS, MOE and MHA) setup to look into early intervention strategies to prevent youth-at-risk from committing offences. As the central coordinating agency, CYGO keeps an overview of the current youth-at-risk programmes and services offered with the aim of developing an integrated approach towards prevention and early intervention strategies to help youth-at-risk.

Other than addressing service delivery gaps, developing a centralised database for identification and tracking and leading in collaborative research on youth-at-risk, CYGO will also work with social service agencies and community organisations to build up their capabilities in relation to youth-at-risk work.

A Sporting People

Sports can transcend boundaries through Singaporeans’ participation in sporting activities and celebration of our sportsmen’s achievements. MCYS seeks to inculcate resilience, the will to succeed, a sense of national pride, and bond Singaporeans as a community through sports.

A total of $218.3 million, inclusive of an estimated $91.9 million from the Sporting Singapore Fund (SSF), will be allocated to support sports initiatives. This comprises:

$83.6 million will be allocated to promote regular sports participation among Singaporeans. This includes operating the national network of public sports facilities, collaborating with schools and PA to promote sports, supporting community partnership programmes, public education, promoting wellness in a targeted manner to groups such as women and the elderly, and other initiatives. In addition, new sports facilities will be developed to cater to the needs of the public.

$57.9 million will be set aside to develop the sports industry in Singapore, such as through organising international sports events like the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, and the development of the Sports Hub.

$56.8 million is allocated to support sports excellence through developing structured training and support schemes for our national athletes and coaches, establishing a better integrated and sustainable youth sports development strategy for our junior athletes, enhancing the operational capabilities of National Sports Associations, and providing up-to-date sports science and medicine and other services to our national athletes.

The Singapore Sports School will receive $20 million to provide an environment where our student athletes can balance intensive sports training with a flexible academic curriculum so as to develop into sports champions of the future.

To find out more about the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and our initiatives, please visit our website.