Greater support to help divorced Malay-Muslim families cope

SINGAPORE — While the divorce rate among the Malay-Muslim community has come down, the figures are still high. Hence, greater support to help divorced parents and their children deal with their emotional and mental needs will be rolled out in April, through the Parenting PACT programme.

The programme comes under the umbrella of the Divorce Support Specialist Agencies (DSSA) recommended by the Family Justice Committee, which were kickstarted in January. The DSSAs provide support to separated families, centred on the needs of the children, through two main programmes: Parenting PACT and Children in Between, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim told the media today (Feb 26).

Malay-Muslim parents who are divorced or undergoing divorce will be referred to the DSSAs by the Syariah Court. The centres are located at Blk 62B Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, Blk 37 Circuit Road, Blk 570 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, and Blk 322 Ubi Ave 1.

Speaking to reporters in English and Malay after a networking session with Cinta Abadi educators, Dr Yaacob said that the Parenting PACT programme will help divorced parents deal with co-parenting issues, while the Children in Between programme will help children under age 14 deal with living with separated parents. Cinta Abadi is a marriage preparation programme for Malay-Muslims.

“We recognise that these are very difficult challenges, especially (for) those with young children...Even though (divorce-related issues) can be resolved legally - such as in terms of custody - there are other emotional issues (separated families) need to deal with.

“We will start (the Parenting PACT programme) for parents with children below 14, and over time we will extend this to parents with children below the age of 21,” said Dr Yaacob, who is also Minister for Communications and Information.

The minister said that DSSA facilitators are specially trained in divorce issues, and that more centres will be opened if there was a need.

Dr Yaacob said that even though efforts by various government bodies to bring down the rate of divorce, particularly among the Malay-Muslim community, has borne fruit, it still remains a challenge.

Government statistics show that while divorce numbers for Malay-Muslim marriages have gone down slightly since it peaked at 1,412 in 2003, it still remains high at 1,211 as of 2013.

Ms Nooraini Razak, who will manage the DSSA centre in Ubi Ave 1, said that the initiative will streamline support for separated families and provide more effective help, especially to children of divorce.

“In any divorce, the greatest casualties are the children. Unlike adults, children do not know how to find help when they need it,” she said, adding that the support for children would include teaching them to convey how they feel to their parents.