Sekolah Ugama Radin Mas (SURM)
About SURM
Sekolah Ugama Radin Mas (SURM) is the first full-time tahfiz madrasah in Singapore. SURM offers a holistic education curriculum that focuses on Quran memorisation for secondary level students.
A full-time tahfiz madrasah school in Singapore, (SURM) is a registered with Ministry of Education, Singapore since 1956. (MOE Reg. No 118).
SURM core philosophy of education is memorization and appreciation of the Quran. In hopes of developing Hamalatul Quran as an asset to society.
Vision
Developing Hamalatul Quran as an asset to the society.
Mission
An institute which is committed in preparing a holistic education system in a Quranic environment to produce an exemplary generation.
Brief History
In 1968, Radin Mas surau was proposed to become a mosque. With the larger space, more students were able to attend the classes in SURM. When the Radin Mas mosque gave way to the developments of the country, SURM was shifted to Al-Amin mosque, situated only 2km away from the old Radin Mas mosque. Up till now, it is estimated that there is about 10,000 students who have participated the religious classes in SURM since it was first established.
Radin Mas Religious School was established in the early 1950s as a religious class designed for parents and teenagers. The classes were led by a renowned teacher; Kiyai Zuhri Mutammim (1905-1985) at his mother-in-law’s place at 47 Radin Mas. Quran recitation and fardhu ain classes that were specially catered for children were held at the Radin Mas Surau situated infront of Kiyai Zuhri’s in laws house. The surau is built upon a plot of land which was donated by his father-in-law Haji Abdul Halim Bin Karto.
As the number of students at the surau increased, Haji Sujai Bin Haji Mansur realized the need to build a school to conduct the religious classes. He suggested that idea to the leaders of Radin Mas Kampung, namely, Haji Abu Bakar Haji Abdul Halim, Ahmad Jabri, an UMNO figure at that time, Said bin Ali and Mohd Salleh Kechut. Upon Kiyai Zuhri’s agreement, SURM was built under the leadership of Haji Sujai and the other leaders. In 1956, SURM was registered under no.11 and obtained its license under the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore. Haji Sujai bin Haji Mansur was then elected as the first principal in SURM
Initially SURM catered only for primary level ranging from primary 1 to 6. The students’ age group varied from 6-18 years old. The syllabus of the school and the books used were taken from religious schools in Johor Bahru. This system enabled a primary student to pursue their education at a ma’had in Johor or Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah in Singapore.
SURM also acts as a place to conduct social activities that strengthen ties between Radin Mas villagers and the community at large. Religious talks, sacrificial acts and all the other activities attracted both the muslims and non-muslim crowd.
At the beginning, SURM served as a half-day school. Its objective was to cater for secular school students who are either studying in the morning or afternoon session. At that point of time SURM operated for two and a half hours daily. The morning session started from 8-10.30am whereas the evening session from 2.30-5pm. Classes were held 5 days a week.
