Page 8 - MENDAKI Annual Report 2019

GETTING YOUTHS READY FOR THE FUTURE Our Future Ready Department continues to engage our youths through various programmes to prepare them to face the many uncertainties and disruptions brought on by advancements in digital technology. The Future Ready toolkit was launched in May 2019 with the main aim of providing a simple, quick guide for youths to access information on the future operating landscape. Included in the toolkit are simple graphics highlighting the range of skillsets that will be highly sought after, sunrise industries and new type of jobs that will be available. Close to 2,000 toolkits have been distributed to students in 2019. To further drive this message, a total of four engagement sessions were held with students from the institutes of higher learning together with their parents. These sessions provided an overview of the future landscape and the many opportunities that lay ahead. In attendance at these sessions were groups of professionals who volunteered their time, taking on the role of human libraries, sharing their experiences and providing insights into their respective industries. We hope these sharing sessions is a first step towards building social capital for our youths as they network with the professionals and other students. Parents also had the opportunity to seek clarifications on issues relating to their children’s education. More than 450 students and parents attended the engagement sessions in 2019. Beyond these engagement sessions, mentoring will be introduced as a tool to inspire our youths to succeed as embodied in the 3Cs – character, competency and citizenry. Adapting from the evidence-based Gift-Centred Mentoring approach, students and youths will be matched to mentors for a period of nine months. Together with the M3 partners, various outreach and engagement sessions were held to encourage older youths and young professionals to support this initiative as volunteer mentors. Beyond the many meetings and sharing sessions, MENDAKI embarked on an intensive social media campaign leveraging on human interest stories, videos and posters on both Facebook and Instagram to recruit volunteers as mentors. Through these efforts, about 700 volunteers had signed up to be mentors. We will continue this effort to grow this group of mentors. More focus will be given to training and deploying these mentors next year. CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY We continue to enhance our presence in the heartlands and at major touchpoints of the community. Early in January 2019, MENDAKI was instrumental in launching the M3 joint office strategically located on the second floor of Wisma Geylang Serai (WGS). Called the M3@WGS, the office brings together the programmes and services under the ambit of M3 (MUIS, MENDAKI and MESRA). The M3@WGS enables us to reach out and engage the community more effectively providing the last mile service delivery. With the expansion of services, and to better serve our community residing in and around Jurong, we moved the operations of our satellite centre from Assyakirin Mosque to a bigger space located within the National Kidney Foundation Integrated Renal Centre at Corporation Road in October 2019. Ideally located close to several institutes of higher learning, MENDAKI@Jurong hopes to be a focal point of youth engagement. To further leverage its location, the office also houses the Youth Mentoring Office. Together with the other M3 agencies, we organised a series of networking sessions to connect and engage various groups of professionals. As assets in the community, our professionals are great resource that we can tap on as we build a Community of Success. In May 2019, Chairman, Mr Masagos Zulkifli hosted about 170 professionals from various sectors including those from the ministries, uniformed groups and engineers, among others, to a breaking of fast. This networking session provided an opportunity for the professionals to be introduced to the various initiatives by M3 agencies. It also acts as a platform for M3 agencies to provide volunteering opportunities for these professionals, many of whom were looking at ways to give back to the community. Two other networking sessions were also held with professionals from the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) industry and the Media and Creative Industry. Moving forward, we hope to create more platforms and opportunities to engage and connect with the different segments of the community. As we forge ahead, I urge you to join us in engaging and connecting with our community to ensure that no one is left behind. TRIBUTE TO MDM RAHAYU BUANG Mdm Rahayu Buang had helmed MENDAKI as its ninth Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan MENDAKI from January 2017 to March 2020. Under her tenure, Mdm Rahayu was instrumental in raising the profile of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) through her innovative fundraising initiatives such as the Climbathon. It was no surprise that she personally led the expeditions to Mount Fansipan, Vietnam in 2018 and to the Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal in 2019. Under her leadership, more than $1.1 million was raised for the ETF. Her dedication and perseverance were evident in ensuring that MENDAKI was able to enhance its presence in the heartlands with the setting up of MENDAKI@Choa Chu Kang, MENDAKI@ Jurong, expansion of YouthSpaces at all the Institutes of Technical Education, joint spaces at Vibrance@Yishun and M3@WGS. She also played a key role in M3 and the setting up of MENDAKI-Malay/Muslim Community Heritage Gallery and the success of the inaugural Raikan Ilmu. Our greatest appreciation to Mdm Rahayu for all her contributions. We wish her the best in her endeavours. CEO’S MESSAGE MENDAKI ANNUAL REPORT 2019 06