Home Ownership Schemes for Malay/Muslim Community

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for National Development with regard to Project DIAN@M3 which helps Malay families in public rental flats to achieve home ownership, how will these efforts (i) complement existing efforts by HDB’s Home Ownership Support Team (HST) to avoid duplication and (ii) be resourced to achieve intended outcomes of integrating assets towards enhancing home ownership of the Malay/Muslim community.

Mr Speaker, uplifting lower-income and vulnerable families, including supporting families staying in rental flats to attain and regain home ownership, is a whole-of-society effort.

On the Government’s part, we have a suite of housing grants and priority schemes to ensure that public housing continues to be affordable and accessible to all Singaporeans. We have also enhanced our measures to provide additional support to families staying in rental flats in recent years. In addition to generous housing grants, families in public rental can receive one-to-one guidance from the Housing and Development Board's (HDB’s) Home Ownership Support Team (HST) as they work towards buying a flat.

Within the Malay/Muslim community, the M3 network has various programmes that complement the Government’s initiatives in supporting lower-income and vulnerable families. Project DIAN@M³ aims to provide more effective and integrated support for Malay/Muslim families staying in rental flats by connecting them to the wide range of national and community programmes for education, employment, social support and health.

Project DIAN@M³, which focuses on Malay/Muslim families, will focus on the following aspects.

First, we want to improve inter-generational mobility by giving more attention to families with children staying in rental flats. Project DIAN@M³ will see the coordination of M³ outreach efforts with other Government programmes such as the Ministry of Social and Family Development's Community Link or ComLink, Early Childhood Development Agency’s KidSTART and Ministry of Education’s UPLIFT, including facilitating access to pre-school education and ensuring the children can attend school regularly.

Second, we want to help families staying in rental flats improve their employment outcomes and earn a stable income, so that they can work towards buying an HDB flat. This includes helping these families utilise their SkillsFuture credits and linking them up with career counselling programmes under MENDAKI SENSE. We also want to encourage more women to join and remain in the workforce. For Malay women who wish to continue working after marriage or childbirth, the Back-to-Work Women programme by MENDAKI SENSE connects them to potential employers and prepares them to take on new jobs.

Third, we will ensure that families have access to social support that can help them to grow a positive family environment. This is done through programmes such as Bersamamu and Project ARIF, which support newly wed couples for family life, maternal wellness and child development.

In terms of resourcing, Project DIAN@M³ will be led by the M³ Engagement Coordination Office (ECO) and tap on its existing resources. For example, ECO will equip volunteers reaching out to families staying in rental flats with the knowledge and skills to perform last-mile outreach. We welcome more who wish to be part of Project DIAN@M³, and partner us on this important effort. Ultimately, we hope the concerted support will enable the vulnerable families to achieve home ownership.