Despite progress, long-term reoffending in Malay community still a concern
Despite the progress made by the Malay community, the five-year recidivism rate of former offenders is an area of concern, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Jan 25.
He was speaking at the first Malay/Muslim Organisation Rehabilitation Network conference held at the Singapore Expo.
More than 50 organisations were in attendance at the conference organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Singapore Prison Service (SPS).
Mr Shanmugam noted that the two-year recidivism rate for Malay offenders fell from 34.1 per cent among those released in 2010, to 24.7 per cent for those released in 2020.
In the broader community, he also noted progress in education and jobs over the years.
He said it was “extremely significant” that 85 per cent of Malay households own their own homes and that more than 60 per cent live in four-room or bigger flats.
“What does four-room in Singapore mean? To me, four-room is a marker of middle class.”
He added that this is because those who retain such flats bought from the Government for some years, would likely have equity of between $150,000 and $250,000.
But Mr Shanmugam highlighted the five-year recidivism rate as one of the challenges.
It is the proportion of inmates released from prison who end up reoffending and getting detained, sentenced to jail, or being given a day reporting order within five years of their release.
He said: “If we look at it over five years, and whether they reoffend, that remains quite high. That’s 50 per cent – one in two go back to jail within five years.”
Annual statistics released by SPS in 2023 showed the overall five-year recidivism rate was at 45.2 per cent.
Another challenge, Mr Shanmugam added, is the increasingly difficult battle against drug abuse, with the growing global supply of drugs, and liberal attitudes towards drugs in other countries that are influencing Singaporeans, especially young people.
Noting that inter-generational offending is also a challenge, he said: “These are problems that can be solved. Now, we know the statistics. We know who are the children at risk.
“We should be able to intervene and help them before they get into trouble. So, we need to work together to deal with these; learn from each other, tap each other’s experiences, skills and resources.”
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