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AWARD FOR LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER: PM Lee presents the Outstanding Dedication to Service award to Mr Boimin Wakiman, 72, at the Malay Youth Literary Association's 60th anniversary charity dinner. Looking on is its president Izzuddin Taherally. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
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SINGAPOREANS who spend beyond their means and have to go to their MPs for help were placed under the spotlight by none other than Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
He noted that as MPs, 'we often see families who have over-committed themselves financially' - for instance those who have been 'extravagant in doing up their homes using renovation loans', or 'bought expensive furniture or large-screen TV sets on hire purchase'.
'The ones with the most serious problems have bought homes which are larger than they can afford, and taken mortgages which they are then unable to pay,' he said.
Mr Lee was speaking at the 60th anniversary dinner of the Malay Youth Literary Association (popularly known by its Malay acronym 4PM), a community welfare organisation that helps young Malays.
While families who live beyond their means come from all races, 'quite a few are Malay families', he noted.
'It is a sensitive matter to raise, but all MPs and social workers know that it is a real issue that needs to be tackled,' he added.
Contacted by The Straits Times, Tampines GRC MP Masagos Zulkifli said he sees at least one such case a week - for example, a family living in a flat it cannot afford, or one that needs help preventing its TV or stereo sets from being repossessed. Some come with the latest mobile phones, a clear sign they have wrong priorities, he said.
Another MP contacted, Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad, sees young families who need help staving off illegal moneylenders or servicing credit-card debt or car loans.
Mr Lee said Malay-Muslim organisations like 4PM play a critical role in shaping the young.
They could promote sound personal values like living within one's means and planning for the future, as well as the right attitudes towards race, religion and national issues.
Another important area they should work on: leadership renewal.
More successful young Malay professionals were setting up their own groups or joining multiracial ones rather than the traditional Malay-Muslim organisations, he noted.
While this was to be encouraged, it also meant that the latter have to 'move more boldly to put promising ones into leadership positions', he said.
This is because these organisations are a training ground for Malay leadership at the national level, he said, citing senior parliamentary secretaries Hawazi Daipi - a former honorary general secretary of 4PM and now its adviser - and Masagos Zulkifli, who ran Perdaus and started its humanitarian offshoot Mercy Relief.
zakirh@sph.com.sg
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