SINGAPORE: A long-established women's organisation in the Malay-Muslim community is looking into setting up a centre to help reconstituted families.

These are families formed after a re-marriage, following an earlier divorce.

This was announced at an event to celebrate the Young Women Muslim Association's (PPIS) 55th-year anniversary on Friday.

Joining in the celebrations was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and leaders from the Malay-Muslim community.

The association's president, Sapiah Molla, said it already has a centre catering to single parents. This will be expanded to cater to the needs of reconstituted families and step-children from these families.

She said: "Rather than just provide normal 'before-and-after-school care', we are going to provide programmes that will look into the individual needs of the children. They will see if they need a social worker to counsel them, if they need financial help.

"There are many low-income families who do not send their children to pre-school because they do not have money. So what we do is - we partner with other organisations and foundations, which have been helping the low-income groups, to get their children into our centres so that they can be looked after by our qualified professionals."

In his message in the association's commemorative book, PM Lee noted that the association plays an active role in equipping women for the workforce and reaching out to the young.

Over the years, many have benefited from the programmes, especially single mothers needing crucial support in times of need.

Mr Lee added that the association is one of the pioneers of early childhood education and care, and it has continued to stay at the forefront of providing quality pre-school education in Singapore. - CNA/ir