RPD Bites (Jun 2021)
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RPD Bites is a monthly report by Yayasan Mendaki's Research and Planning Department, analyzing media coverage relevant to the Malay/Muslim community across various sectors including education, economy, and employment. In June 2021, the report highlights trends such as the impact of COVID-19 on employment, rising concerns over gender equality, and insights from Singapore's 2020 census, showing growth in education and household income among Malay families. The document also outlines various community support initiatives and government actions addressing current social challenges.
RPD Bites (Jun 2021)
- 1. June 2021
- 2. What is RPD Bites? RPD Bites is a monthly scan covering issues and trends surfaced in various local mainstream media sources that would be of relevance to the Malay/Muslim community. It is produced by the Research and Planning Department (RPD) of Yayasan MENDAKI. RPD Bites begins with an article count across different media sources which are categorised into these main areas: education, economy, employment and employability, social and community, and Malay/Muslim affairs. Other salient areas for the month are also highlighted. It then delves into emerging themes and trends observed. We hope you find this month’s RPD Bites insightful and useful for your needs. We look forward to your continued partnership and support, and welcome any suggestions you might have. You can reach us at RPD@mendaki.org.sg to feedback. RESEARCH & PLANNING DEPARTMENT 2
- 3. Overall Coverage • With a total of 200 articles, Community (29), Employment (22) and Economy (20) news were widely reported in June 2021. This reflects Singapore’s growing concerns over trending issues such as gender equality and support for workers who have been affected by Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions which was imposed in May. 29 22 20 20 8 25 13 14 7 7 54 35 34 27 15 Community Employment Health Economy MMA No. of Articles ST BH/BM Total 3
- 4. Emerging Themes & Trends 4
- 5. Community Census 2020 (ST, 18 June) • Over the past 10 years, Singapore's total population grew by 1.1 per cent each year - the lowest decade of growth since independence in 1965. • Among those aged 25 years and above, 58.3 per cent attained post-secondary or higher qualifications, up from 46.5 per cent in 2010. • Malay households registered the highest growth in median household income from work per household member. The figure rose 4.3 per cent per annum from $1,043 in 2010 to $1,594 in 2020. • The proportion of married couples with a working wife increased from 52.9 per cent in 2010 to 60 per cent in 2020. • Average household size decreased from 3.5 to 3.2 persons over the last decade, with households with fewer members becoming more commonplace. • The proportion of households with at least one member aged 65 and above, and the number of seniors living alone, both increased over the last decade. Source: ST Source: ST 5
- 6. Community Youths • Increasingly liberal youth attitudes on drugs a key challenge for CNB: Minister of State for Home Affairs Faishal Ibrahim (ST, 1 June) • Youth need to remain open to differing views, maintain common space for discussion: Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman (ST, 1 June) • New digital campaign to help youth with thoughts of suicide (ST, 7 June) Family • Couples planning their wedding will be given support throughout the pandemic (BH, 3 June) • More Singapore couples chose to foster last year amid pandemic (ST, 7 June) • More support needed for low birth weight babies, pregnant mums with diabetes, maternal mental health: Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli (ST, 7 June) Source: ST Source: ST 6
- 7. Community Social Assistances • SMRT has partnered with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) and SPD, a charity which serves people with disabilities, to conduct training for its staff (ST, 4 June) • $4.2m raised for Palestinians in Gaza, Singapore charity's highest in a single campaign (ST, 4 June) Support for Lower income • Keppel donates laptops for home-based learning to students from lower-income families (ST, 9 June) • CDAC spent record $33.5m in 2020 to help 18,600 households in need (ST, 18 June) • SP Group donates $1 million to support children from low- income families (ST, 23 June) Source: ST Source: ST 7
- 8. Community Arts, Culture & Heritage • Preparations under way for NDP 2021 to be staged at Marina Bay floating platform (ST, 1 June) • Despite differences, Singaporeans can come together to create a better nation: Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing (ST, 1 June) Housing • Energy-saving standards for certain home appliances to be raised from January 2022. The new minimum standards for casement and window air-conditioners, clothes dryers and refrigerators will be two ticks on the Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (Mels) (ST, 8 June) Source: ST Source: ST 8
- 9. Community Gender Equality • Whole-of-society effort needed to change norms and practices on women's roles, says President Halimah Yacob (ST, 3 June) • Men wanted: All need to play a part in pushing for gender equality says Minister for Law and Home Affairs, Shanmugam (ST, 3 June) • 'Digital safety gap' for women in S'pore must be addressed: Senior Minister of State Sim Ann. This was in response to an offensive online poll involving female religious leaders that came to light in May. A Singapore Together Alliance for Action will also be launched later this year to deal with online harm, especially the kind targeted at women. (ST, 5 June) • Gender roles, expectations need to change to better support mothers: Senior Minister of State, Sim Ann (ST, 12 June) Source: ST Source: ST 9
- 10. Community Covid-19 • Singapore to ease Covid-19 rules in 2 phases: Group sizes upped to 5 from June 14; dining in to resume from June 21 (ST, 10 June) • Indoor mask-off activities to resume in gyms, fitness studios from June 21 (ST, 10 June) • Taxis, private-hire cars can take more than two passengers from Monday: LTA (ST, 11 June) • Jewel to reopen on June 14; Changi Airport piloting breathalyser tests for workers (ST, 11 June) • Covid-19 restrictions, visitor capacity in public libraries, National Archives to be relaxed (ST, 11 June) • Live shows, weddings, worship services to be capped at 250 people with pre-event Covid-19 testing (ST, 11 June) Source: ST Source: BH 10
- 11. Employment Source: ST Source: ST 11 Support for Workers • New Professional Conversion Programme to nurture local specialists for interior fitting services (ST, 2 June) • Hawkers to get more help to tap online delivery platforms: Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo (ST, 5 June) • Cleaners in Singapore to see wages increase over 6 years from 2023 under progressive wage model (ST, 5 June) • 7,000 market stallholders to get rental waivers to cope with decline in business during Covid-19 curbs (ST, 5 June) • Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme to continue for sectors allowed to reopen only from June 21 (ST, 10 June) • $15m fund to help Changi Airport workers adjust to stricter Covid-19 safety measures (ST, 11 June) • Subsidies to help Singapore F&B businesses offset delivery costs extended by another month (ST, 13 June) • Up to 13,000 drivers and riders to get $200-$650 cash payout from NTUC amid Covid-19 (ST, 21 June) • $2.2b in JSS payouts to support wages of more than 2 million workers from June 30 (ST, 22 June) • Lower-skilled and older workers in aviation sector set to benefit from $3 million training grant (ST, 22 June)
- 12. Employment Source: ST Source: ST 12 Employment Trends • Singapore aiming for better jobs and safer workplaces in post- pandemic recovery: Minister of Manpower, Tan See Leng (ST, 16 June) • Singapore's labour market continues recovery into 1st quarter; total employment grows by 12,200 (ST, 17 June) • Rise in workplace injuries from slips, trips and falls a concern and needs to be addressed: Senior Minister of State, Zaqy Mohamad (ST, 17 June) • Youth unemployment rate climbed higher last year amid Covid-19; annual average resident youth unemployment rate hit 10.6 per cent: MOM report (ST, 17 June) Gig Economy Workers • New GrabFood delivery riders have to complete two-day training programme (ST, 4 June) • Private-hire car drivers and cabbies to get cash support for three more months from July (ST, 10 June) • Gojek cuts its commission by half till at least end-2022 to improve drivers' earnings (ST, 14 June)
- 13. Education Technology • Nanyang Polytechnic to co-develop AI and data engineering course with industry partners (ST, 2 June) • Students devise tech solutions to help people with disabilities (ST, 3 June) Institutes of Higher Learning • NUS and NTU named best universities in Asia; NTU moves up to 12th place globally behind NUS’ 11th (ST, 9 June) • NTU serving up new undergrad course on meat alternatives (ST, 21 June) • Singapore's NTU tops global ranking of Times Higher Education Young University Rankings (ST, 23 June) Home-Based Learning • Primary 1 to 3 pupils will continue with a week of home- based learning (HBL) from June 28 when Term 3 begins. (ST, 14 June) • Secondary 1 and 2 students will be on HBL for three days till June 30, and return to school on Thursday, July 1. (ST, 14 June) Source: ST Source: ST 13
- 14. Economy Source: ST Source: ST 14 Economic Trends & Developments • Covid-19 has not slowed down space industry, many opportunities in the sector: Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean (ST, 7 June) • Vegetable prices in Singapore jump due to wet weather, Covid-19 curbs in Malaysia (ST, 12 June) • Port of Singapore regains momentum despite disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic. Container throughput has since grown by 4.6 per cent from January to May 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. (ST, 18 June) • New $18m lab in Singapore to boost digital manufacturing, aiming to make factories more efficient and productive (ST, 17 June) Support for Singaporeans • 1.4m lower-income Singaporeans to receive GST Voucher cash payouts from June 23 (ST, 1 June) • Civil servants to get 0.3-month mid-year bonus as economic outlook improves (ST, 18 June) • $278 million in MediSave top-ups for Pioneer, Merdeka Generation seniors in July (ST, 18 June)
- 15. Health COVID-19 Updates • DIY Covid-19 test kits to be sold at some retail pharmacies from June 16 (ST, 10 June) • F&B staff, workers in higher-risk settings with unmasked customers to undergo regular Covid-19 testing (ST, 10 June) • As Covid-19 becomes endemic, Singapore will shift focus from daily case numbers to their clinical condition (ST, 10 June) • Second Covid-19 breathalyser system approved in Singapore (ST, 10 June) • DIY Covid-19 test kits go on sale in S'pore, prices range from $10 to $13 (ST, 16 June) Research • Singapore researchers create blood test to identify effectiveness of cancer treatment within 24 hours (BH,7 June) • New workgroup set by MOH to craft a holistic programme to improve the health of minority groups. The workgroup will first focus its efforts on the Malay community (BH, 7 June) Source: BH Source: ST 15
- 16. Health Vaccination • Walk-in Covid-19 vaccinations start for seniors aged 60 and above (ST, 1 June; BH, 1 June) • MOH allows special access to Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine through private healthcare sector (ST, 2 June) • Covid-19 vaccination drive for 400,000 students aged 12 and above kicks off (ST, 3 June; BH, 3 June) • Over 80% sign-up rate for Covid-19 vaccine among S'pore students in graduating cohorts (ST, 5 June) • Pregnant women start getting Covid-19 jabs at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (ST, 8 June) • Singaporeans aged 12 to 39 can book vaccination appointments from Friday (ST, 10 June; BH, 10 June) • Vaccination begins for ITE students as 3 out of 4 MOE centres open (ST, 14 June) • More than half of 52,000 students invited for Covid-19 vaccination have booked their slots: MOE (ST, 1 June; BH, 1 June) Source: ST Source: ST 16
- 17. Health Mental Health • Care groups see spike in mental health crises in Singapore amid heightened alert curbs (ST, 15 June; BH, 16 June) • President Halimah Yacob: Support should be given for those with mental health issues (BH, 6 June) • Minister for Social and Family Development, Masagos Zulkifli: More support needed for the mental health of mothers (BH, 7 June) • Covid-19 pandemic brought women's mental health needs to the forefront: Muslim women's association. Following the circuit breaker period from April to June 2020, the Singapore Muslim Women's Association (PPIS) saw an increase in clients seeking mental health support at their social service centres (ST, 5 June) • New programme launched to improve mental wellness of migrant workers in Singapore (ST, 27 June; BH, 28 June) Source: ST Source: ST 17
- 18. Environment Green Economy • Aetos, DBS to convert fleet of 42 vehicles to electric vehicles by 2026 (ST, 4 June) • New e-waste recycling bins in some supermarkets and Harvey Norman outlets (ST, 4 June) • GIC joins other investors in new programme to green Asia's electricity sector; the aim of the new engagement programme is to work with utilities in Asia to cut their carbon footprint (ST, 7 June) • SMRT subsidiary ties up with China's biggest electric vehicle digital platform (ST, 8 June) • CapitaLand sets up $50m fund to spur sustainable innovations, help green its buildings (ST, 11 June) • Singapore exploring hydrogen, carbon capture technologies in decarbonisation goal (ST, 23 June) • Help workers and companies transition to a green economy: President Halimah Yacob (ST, 18 June; BH, 5 June) • The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) commits $2.4 billion to green investments (ST, 10 June; BH, 10 June) 18 Source: ST Source: ST
- 19. Malay/Muslim Community • Religious leaders cannot be ambivalent on jokes harming women: Singapore Mufti (ST, 2 June; BH. 2 June) • Registration for modified korban ritual opens at 51 Singapore mosques (ST, 8 June; BH, 8 June) • Four Singapore mosques to offer more Friday prayer spaces from June 25 under pilot (ST, 12 June) • Muslims worldwide have been steadfast and adapted to challenges amid Covid-19: Minister for Social and Family Development, Masagos Zulkifli (ST, 15 June) • Dependable leadership by Asatizah is important when facing crisis (BH, 12 June) • Office of the Mufti: Transfer of asset ownership is the contemporaneous way of handling wakaf (BH, 23 June) • Census 2020: Malays chart improvement in education. The amount of Malay university graduates doubles in the last decade; from 5.5% in 2010, to 10.8% in 2020. (BH, 17 June) Source: BH Source: BH 19
- 20. MENDAKI/M³ MENDAKI • Mendaki gave out $45m in tertiary fee subsidies in 2020 (ST, 12 June; BH, 13 June) • Mendaki will help graduates enter emerging sectors (BH, 13 June) • 482 families “graduate” Mendaki’s KelasMateMatika (BH, 28 June) • New research workgroup set up by Mendaki and NIE to help underperforming Malay/Muslim students (ST, 30 June; BH 30 June) Source: BH Source: ST 20
- 21. MENDAKI/M³ M³ • “Tunas Bersama M³ ” aims to nurture the next generation of Malay/Muslim leaders (BH, 14 June) • New scheme to help Malay families in rental flats own their own homes. Called Project DIAN@ M³, the scheme will be rolled out in Geylang Serai, Bedok and Jalan Besar. (ST, 19 June) • M³ aims to continue developing programs to equip Malay/Muslim students with the skills needed to get through the education system in Singapore. (BH, 19 June) • Lawyers@M³ offer free advice for victims of sexual assault. Called Defence Guild SG, the initiative was launched on June 5th in collaboration with the Government's M3 programme (ST, 6 June; BH, 7 June) Source: ST Source: BH 21
- 22. Published by MENDAKI Research and Planning Department (June 2021) 22