MTFA Celebrates 118 Years of Service and 60th Anniversary of Darul Ihsan Orphanage

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MTFA Celebrates 118 Years of Service and 60th Anniversary of Darul Ihsan Orphanage

MTFA aims to provide more, extend its reach, reconnect with old ties,

and make new connections.

Muslimin Trust Fund Association (MTFA) is celebrating 118 years of its service to the community with a gala dinner, entitled MTFA ‘In Bloom’ 2022 . The event, which also commemorates the 60th anniversary of Darul Ihsan Orphanage, will take place at Flower Field Hall, Gardens by the Bay, on 29 October 2022. The Guest of Honour gracing the event will be President Halimah Yacob.

MTFA’s Vice President Mr Abdul Rahman Mohd Hanipah shared, “Praise be to God, 118 years on, MTFA is still going strong and charging ahead to serve the underprivileged in the community. This celebration serves as more than just a reminder of how far we’ve come—and how thankful we are to be blessed with such support from the community—it is also a means of reflecting on the future and how we can reengineer ourselves as an organisation to meet the challenges of the present day.”

MTFA aims to expand its services and outreach and celebrates all the milestones achieved so far. The milestones are listed in Annex A.

The gala dinner’s highlight will be the MTFA Tree. Captioned ‘Bloom With Us’, the tree symbolises MTFA’s growth, supported by donors, volunteers, and the staff handling its daily operations. During the event, all guests will be invited to hang up paper leaves filled with their messages and words of encouragement to the organisation’s staff, Darul Ihsan Orphanages residents, and its welfare aid beneficiaries.

Other highlights include performances by the First Asian Idol (2007), Hady Mirza, First Singapore Idol (2004), Taufik Batisah, and Silat performance by Iqbal Abdul Rahman, Gold Medallist for 31st SEA Games in Artistic Men's Tunggal (Single) and 2018 World Pencak Silat Championship.

Your journalist and photography/videography crew are invited to cover the event MTFA ‘In Bloom’ 2022. Details are as follows:

Date: Saturday, 29 October 2022

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Venue: Flower Field Hall, Gardens by the Bay

For further enquiries, kindly contact Ms Aida, Marketing & Communications Executive Officer, at 98894304 or email her at aida@mtfa.org.

____________________________________ ### ____________________________________

OPENING REMARKS BY MTFA VICE PRESIDENT MR ABDUL RAHMAN AT MTFA ‘IN BLOOM’ 2022

SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2022, 8PM, AT FLOWER FIELD HALL, GARDENS BY THE BAY

President Halimah Yacob

Mr Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee

Mr Waseem Majid, President of MTFA

Management Council of MTFA

Distinguished Guests

MTFA Staff

Good evening.

I am heartened to see all of you at this gala dinner to celebrate Muslimin Trust Fund Association’s 118 years of community service.

I am also pleased to share with you that this year, 2022, marks Darul Ihsan Orphanage’s 60th anniversary. Our 7 founders established MTFA with the mission to help the poor Muslims in Singapore. MTFA has come a long way since 1904 and I am proud to represent and serve the organisation as Vice President for the past 3 years out of the last 12 years of being a council member. Running the organisation was only made possible with the support of our council members and staff. On behalf of the council members, I would like to thank all staff for your dedication and unending efforts to improve our organisation. Thank you.

MTFA is the oldest Muslim organisation, if not, one of the earliest Muslim organisations set up in Singapore. Despite this, for a long time we have done work in the background without always showcasing ourselves in the public domain.

Be that as it may, last year, during the blessed month of Ramadan, we announced the official rebranding of MTFA and its subsidiaries, adopting a fresh, new image. We decided that we wanted greater involvement and support from the public as to the many initiatives we oversee. And as such, the rebranding was one that was timely.

Our new tagline, ‘Towards a sincere pursuit of Ihsan’, serves as a reminder of our purpose, to continue delivering excellent service to those who need us. We also hope that we are able to extend our hands to even more people . We want to ensure that no one is left behind.

Besides reengineering our logo, MTFA as a whole, has added several improvements and services. MTFA now has 4 subsidiaries under its wing.

In 2018, we opened MTFA Ihsan Kidney Care, then known as MTFA Dialysis Centre, to provide subsidised dialysis services for kidney disease patients who cannot afford treatment. Now, as of October 2022, our first centre is at full capacity and we have been receiving more requests from the public for subsidised dialysis treatment. I am pleased to share that we are currently working on opening additional centres across Singapore since our flag day last September. Getting funds for this project is not an easy task. Hence, I appeal to you to join us in building more dialysis centres so that more patients can afford dialysis treatment.

In 2020, we started MTFA Ihsan Casket, our first social enterprise to provide affordable Islamic burial services, where all of its proceeds finance the free burial services for indigent Muslims in Singapore.

Another milestone to add to our list, is setting up a pilot programme called the MTFA Ihsan Living. Our residents from Darul Ihsan Orphanage come from underprivileged backgrounds. Some of them are orphans, and some are youths-at-risk. Even after they age out of our residential care, we would like to ensure that they continue to have support. This also helps our residents through their transitioning phase as they integrate back into society. Before Ihsan Living, residents without a next-of-kin or a safe environment at home to return to did not have anywhere to go and had to survive on their own without proper guidance. We strive to assist them to overcome this hurdle.

It is imperative for charities such as us to explore collaborations with other partners to organise even more impactful and innovative programmes for our beneficiaries. For many decades, our welfare aid team has been providing food and financial support to the indigent. Recently, MTFA explored working with several specialised agencies to develop our own unique Empowerment Programme aimed at low-income individuals seeking self-sufficiency. Through this program, participants will be taught a variety of life skills including bolstering self-confidence, how to craft a practical business or career plan, as well as basic management skills.

I am pleased to share that our first batch of empowerment programme graduates are here with us today. In fact, one of them baked the delicious tarts you see on your tables tonight, and I hear that she has begun taking orders now. I applaud these participants of the MTFA Empowerment Program for taking the first step towards achieving greater financial security. I take this opportunity to invite more agencies to also approach us with innovative ideas on how we could work together for the greater good of our people.

I would also like to draw your attention to the left of the stage. As you may wonder why there is a tree in this event, I’d like to introduce to you, on my left near the stage, The MTFA Tree. The theme ‘Bloom With Us’ symbolises the growth of our organisation, nourished by the support of our donors, volunteers, and staff handling its daily operations. This tree is tonight’s highlight. You may write messages of your support and encouragement to our organisation and its staff, residents, and beneficiaries on the leaf shaped card prepared at your seats.

Despite being more than a century old, MTFA is still growing. We are continuously looking for more beneficiaries to help, and for more ways to expand its services. As we grow, we are continuing what our founding fathers started 118 years ago. Alhamdulillah, as of the year 2022, we have helped 1182 beneficiaries, funded the dialysis treatment of 35 kidney patients on a monthly average, and financed the education of over 500 students.

With this, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our donors, supporters, and volunteers. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. Surely, we need more than a village to raise the children and youths under our care and the whole community to help our people in need.

Thank you.

Mr Abdul Rahman Bin Mohamed Hanipah

Vice President

MTFA

MTFA hopes to raise more than $250,000 to build its second dialysis centre

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MTFA hopes to raise more than $250,000 to build its second dialysis centre

MTFA to hold online fundraising effort and street collection to expand Ihsan Kidney Care

Muslimin Trust Fund Association (MTFA) is organising an islandwide street collection on Saturday, 10 September 2022, to build its second dialysis centre under its subsidiary, MTFA Ihsan Kidney Care (IKC).

Currently more than 80% of MTFA IKC’s patients receive treatment without any outof-pocket payment at IKC’s sole centre located at 21 Norris Road. However, due to an overwhelming response, the centre is now operating at its full capacity and is unable to take in any new patients in the meantime. In order to meet this increasing demand for dialysis services among the lower-income population, MTFA is determined, more than ever, to rise to the occasion by building a second dialysis centre — a noble yet costly endeavour.

Executive Director of MTFA, Dr Abdul Qader al-Aidaroos said, "Currently, we strive to make cutting-edge dialysis treatments affordable for the lower-income population by offering various internal subsidies and financial assistance programs. While it is heartwarming to see our efforts so well-received and appreciated by the community, we are now struggling to meet the surge in demand for dialysis treatments. As a result, many of our needy patients remain on our waitlist, as our sole dialysis centre is unable to accommodate more patients. It is regretful, as we do not wish to turn anyone away…therefore, having a second IKC centre would definitely go a long way towards our goal of extending the best and affordable care to kidney failure patients in our community."

MTFA Ihsan Kidney Care was officially launched as MTFA Dialysis Centre (MDC) by Her Excellency President Halimah Yacob in 2018. Presently, IKC has 65 patients who are receiving regular dialysis treatment at its centre.

MTFA IKC patient Mr Airon Tahir, 40, shares, “I was worried about not being able to fulfil my role well as a father to my 4-year-old son. When my wife is out for work, I have to look after him when I'm not on dialysis. However, with IKC's treatment, I am able to have a normal life, similar to a healthy individual. Furthermore, with the recent upscale of my subsidy, I'm very happy to relieve some of our financial constraints. Praise be to God… I have MTFA Ihsan Kidney Care to thank for their dedicated care and support that has brought me this far….”

The fundraising will begin on Saturday, 10 September 2022, in the form of a one-day islandwide street collection. More than 150 volunteers, including 60 Madrasah Aljunied students, will participate in the street collection. Dubbed MTFA Flag Day 2022, the theme ‘Your Change, For Change’ promotes the idea that giving—even one’s modest spare change—can bring about a positive change in another’s life.

Individuals may also contribute to the cause via MTFA’s online fundraiser at

mtfa.org/flagday2022.

For further enquiries, kindly contact Ms Aida, Marketing & Communications Executive, at 98894304 or email her at aida@mtfa.org.

____________________________________ ### ____________________________________