Malay community urged to set more ambitious educational target - Yaacob Ibrahim

Singapore's Malay-Muslim community have been urged to increase the percentage of students progressing to tertiary education from the current 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the cohort by 2020.

Speaking at an annual Hari Raya get-together, Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said there are now increasingly more families wanting their children to do better in their educational pursuit.

So he has called on the community to catch this momentum and set a more ambitious educational target for the next ten years. MORE

Groom young talent (Straits Times)

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 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.