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 compiled by the Research and Planning Department (RPD) of Yayasan MENDAKI. The key highlights for this month are: • More than half of the primary schools and over 90% of secondary schools would have scrapped mid-year examinations for some levels by 2020 – a year ahead of schedule. • More than 5,500 children aged six and below were diagnosed with developmental problems last year, up from an average of 4,362 new cases each year from 2015 to 2017. • The POFMA Bill is designed to give the Government the tools to deal with falsehoods on the Internet that can go viral in a matter of minutes and cause untold harm. Your feedback is important for us to continuously improve our resources and publications for our readers.

1. May 2019

2. What is RPD Bites?
2
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
compiled by the Research and Planning Department (RPD) of Yayasan MENDAKI.
The ‘Food For Thought’ section seeks to raise thought-provoking
questions to stimulate discussion, with the hope of complementing our efforts to
support the Malay/Muslim community as a whole.
RPD Bites begins with an article count across the different media sources, including
the number of articles that fall within four main areas: (1) Education, (2) Economy, Employability &
Digitalisation, (3) Social and (4) Malay/Muslim Affairs. Other salient areas for the month are also
highlighted. It then delves into emerging themes and trends observed, before culminating in a
‘Food For Thought’ section.
We welcome any feedback or comments you might
have. You can reach us at RPD@mendaki.org.sg

3. Overall Coverage
3
 A total of 146 articles were collated. The Social (56 articles) category occupies the top spot in
terms of article count with coverage on health and community issues, followed by the
Malay/Muslim Affairs (29 articles) category. The Governance & Economy (27 articles) comes
next with the passing of new bills.
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90

4. Overall Coverage
4
 The Social category has 56 mentions in May,
covering articles on Community (30), Health (8),
Youth (7) and Family & Elderly (6).
 Articles on the Community highlighted
developments in the population demography of
Singapore: updates on community grants; housing
and CPF usage; as well as perception surveys
regarding marriage.
 Whilst Health issues are significantly on the rise
of dengue cases, and developments in the
Healthcare sector.
Social
Community Family & Elderly Youth Health

5. Emerging Themes & Trends
Based on Coverage

6. Education
6
 More than half of the primary schools here and over 90% of secondary
schools would have scrapped mid-year examinations for some levels by
2020 – a year ahead of schedule.
 Some primary school principals have already made the changes this
year – two years ahead of schedule – and other schools are also
removing mid-year exams at other levels (ST & BH, 29 May).
 Minister Ong Ye Kung has launched OpenCerts, an online platform that
serves like a tamper-resistant digital archive for academic certificates
starting from the N, O and A levels, all the way through to other post-
secondary qualifications such as polytechnic diplomas and university degrees,
as well as Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (ST, 4 May).
 Following Minister Ong Ye Kung calling National University of Singapore
(NUS)’ "second strike and you are out" approach for sexual misconduct cases
as "manifestly inadequate”; the committee reviewing NUS’ disciplinary
framework for such cases has proposed amongst others, to set-up a
dedicated Victim Care Unit. The final report will be published by mid-
June (ST & BH, 16 May).
Education news and trends

7. Education
7
 More than 5,500 children aged six and below were diagnosed with
developmental problems last year, up from an average of 4,362 new
cases each year from 2015 to 2017.
 A group of 35 early childhood leaders have called for more to be done
to help these children at the margins, as well as those from low-
income families.
 Lien Foundation has published a second publication seven years after
the first study of the pre-school sector called “Vital Voices for Vital
Years”, where the group called for the Government to be in charge of
pre-school.
 The report suggests that career pathways of pre-school teachers
and early intervention professionals should be reviewed, so that
both groups of practitioners can better work together to meet a child's
holistic needs.
 Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has announced last
month that it would be setting up a workgroup to look at how to better
integrate children with learning needs into pre-schools (ST, 10 May).
‘Vital Voices for Vital Years’
• You may download
the full report here:
https://drive.google.c
om/file/d/1aI8_jSW8r
bXvclghbsRkIspNPyHP
xijx/view

8. Education
8
 Voluntary welfare group AWWA - which
launched Singapore's first inclusive
pre-school Kindle Garden four years
ago - surveyed more than 200 pre-
school educators and professionals
last month.
 Half felt they do not get proper
training, and only about 29% felt
they had enough training to
implement inclusive strategies (ST,
20 May).
Early childhood care and education
 Associate Professor Faishal Ibrahim highlighted that Ministry of Social and Family Development
(MSF) will integrate monitoring of early intervention services for pre-school children under
ECDA, progressively starting July 2019. All early intervention services will be subject to ECDA by the
end of 2020 (BH, 9 May).

9. Education
9
 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued guidelines for Early
Childhood Education - no screen time for babies younger than two
and up to one hour a day for those aged two to five.
 A study conducted by the National University of Singapore Saw Swee
Hock School of Public Health, which involved a cross-sectional study
of 714 Singaporean children aged two and below, who were recruited
during their polyclinic visits; raised similar concerns.
 Children who had more than one hour of screen time a day slept 1.5
hours less than those who did not have any screen time.
 Dr Jennifer Kiing, Senior Consultant at the National University
Hospital's (NUH) Child Development Unit, further commented that the
association between longer screen time and shorter sleep was also
found to be the case for older children with developmental disabilities.
 It also negatively impacts growth and some measures of cognitive
development (ST, 13 May).
Early childhood care and education

10. Education
10
 Republic Polytechnic (RP) has launched Alumni Skills Advancement Programme (ASAP) and will
run until the end of May 2022. The courses are industry-relevant training programmes that focus on
emerging skills and typically last from just one day to a few days.
 Alumni will be able to attend up to three SkillsFuture Series courses offered there at no charge,
starting from June 2019 (ST, 3 May).
 The Early Admissions Exercise – an aptitude-based exercise that allows students to receive
conditional offers for admission before getting their final grades - will be expanded this year to include
working adults.
 The Polytechnic Foundation Programme – a one-year programme that caters to Normal
(Academic) students – is also increasing enrolment to take in the top 15% of the cohort, up from
10%.
 The post-secondary school posting system will be reviewed "with a view to streamlining
admissions and injecting more flexibility, recognising all-rounders as well as students with specific
talents and strengths".
 Pathways for poly students after graduation have also opened up. Across the six autonomous
universities, more than one-third of undergraduates are poly graduates (ST, 4 May).
Higher education news

11. Economy
11
Economic news and trends
 The economy recorded its slowest quarter of growth in nearly a decade
on the back of an anaemic manufacturing sector beset by global trade
tensions and an electronics slump.
 Growth clocked in at just 1.2 per cent for the three months to March 31,
prompting the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to narrow its full-year
growth forecast to between 1.5% and 2.5%, down from 1.5% to 3.5%.
 This is the smallest year-on-year growth for any quarter since the second
quarter of 2009, when the global financial crisis drove expansion down to
shrink 1.2% (ST & BH, 22 May).
 The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is studying whether a digital-
only bank – no branches, no tellers, no queues – can operate in
Singapore (ST, 8 May).
 At least two 5G networks will be rolled out in Singapore by 2020, to enable
the first next-frontier commercial applications, such as driverless cars and
virtual reality content-streaming services (ST, 8 May).

12. Governance
12
On Singapore’s Future
 In his first interview as Deputy Prime Minister, DPM Heng stated that his priority is to engage citizens
from different segments of the population, so they can better understand the diversity in society, and
continue building on the strengths of Singaporeans by working together with them, from tripartite
relationships to community partnerships.
 The structure of the Future Economy Council and the National Research Foundation (NRF)
Board will be streamlined to provide a clear structure to drive the economic changes Singapore
needs.
 The Government will look to help small and medium-sized enterprises, which may be too small
to adopt expensive technologies on their own, to tap platform solutions.
 DPM Heng said, "The changes are not just economic; it is also social. If we can create better jobs
for our people, it will allow our people to have a better standard of living and better quality of work
life (ST, 5 May).
 In another related news, PM Lee has stated Singapore's next GE must be held by April 2021 (ST, 5
May).

13. Governance
13
Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)
 In response to WP MP’s queries, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam stressed that POFMA
is to address the current situation whereby courts are limited to tackle false news due to the
time-sensitivity (ST, 9 May).
 The POFMA Bill was passed with 72 MPs saying "yes", nine Workers' Party (WP) MPs saying "no", and
three Nominated MPs abstaining.
 The new law is designed to give the Government the tools to deal
with falsehoods on the Internet that can go viral in a matter of minutes
and cause untold harm.
 Minister Iswaran assuaged that the Government is working with
technology companies on a code of practice that will prevent their
platforms from being misused to ramping up media literacy through
education.
 Minister Ong Ye Kung stressed that the Government will stay true to
science and empirical evidence, and engage in vigorous public debate
over opinion-based research (ST & BH, 9 May).

14. Employability
14
Employment news and trends
 PM Lee noted that Singapore's efforts to retrain workers to handle new technology and different jobs
have made a difference – the retrenchment rate last year was the lowest in more than 10 years.
There were 5.1 layoffs per 1,000 employees last year, down from seven in 2017 (ST, 1 May).
 DPM Heng announced that starting from April 1 2020, companies will be able to tap an extra 10%
in funding support through the Enterprise Development Grant. The grant currently provides up to
70% of project costs for such efforts.
 The extra funding is from the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and applies to unionised
companies and partners of the Employment and Employability Institute which set up company
training committees (CTCs) (ST & BH, 2 May).
 In a survey published last month by PersolKelly that covered around 7,000 people across the Asia-
Pacific, 6% of Singapore-based respondents said there were benefits when working with
colleagues aged 55 years and above.
 But 51% saying their older colleagues tended to be more close-minded and stubborn, while 43%
reckoned they were less adaptable to change.
 Only 34% of respondents agreed that firms have a culture that encourages or promotes hiring of
people over 55 (ST, 8 May).

15. Employability
15
Employment news and trends
 Minister of State for Manpower and National Development Zaqy Mohamad said Singapore companies
classified incorrectly an average of 100 workers annually in the last three years. In total, 308 such
alleged cases were received by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Central Provident Fund (CPF)
Board during this period, with 160 cases involving workers being misclassified as self-employed.
 Self-employed people do not receive benefits that employers are legally obliged to provide for their
workers, like CPF contributions (ST, 9 May).
 A poll conducted by Monster.com revealed that 71% of men and 76% of women surveyed here want
to work more flexible hours. The poll also noted that 55% of men already had flexibility at work while
43% of women are in the same position.
 Almost 75% of the men polled here said they are seeking a job change as work-life balance is a
top priority. About 42% of these respondents are millennials – aged between 26 and 31 (ST, 21
May).

16. 16
 While Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore's (IMDA) Tech Immersion and
Placement Programme addresses a skill gap, the shortfall remains. According to the 2018
Infocomm Media Manpower Survey, the demand for infocomm professionals in areas such as IT
development, data analytics and the Internet of Things is set to grow by 28,500 by next year.
 Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said that as Singapore shifts to a digital economy,
this skills gap will widen (ST, 2 May).
 The Ministry of Law (MinLaw), the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc), Enterprise Singapore and IMDA
launched a new Tech-celerate for Law programme. Law firms in Singapore will get a $3.68 million
boost to help them adopt technology in their practices. Law practices can get funding support of up
to 70% for the first-year cost of adopting baseline and advanced technology solutions (ST, 3 May).
 A HR Industry Transformation Advisory Panel will make recommendations on how to further develop
the HR services sector here (ST, 9 May).
Digital Transformation
Future Ready

17. Social
17
 Minister Indranee Rajah cited broad-based schemes that are for all
Singaporeans, regardless of the type of housing they reside in. These include
education assistance and being able to go to polyclinics for healthcare,
as well as the Merdeka Generation Package to help citizens born in the
1950s with their healthcare costs (ST, 9 May).
 Buyers can now use more from their Central Provident Fund (CPF) and
get bigger Housing Board loans for ageing flats, so long as the
property's remaining lease covers the youngest buyer till the age of 95.
 But restrictions will still be in place to ensure buyers have sufficient funds
for retirement: HDB flats must have at least 20 years left on their leases -
down from 30 years - for CPF monies to be used for the purchase (ST &
BH, 10 May).
 An ongoing survey of more than 4,500 Singaporeans and permanent residents
preliminarily revealed that proportion of older Singaporeans who could
meet their monthly household expenses and have some money left over
increased by about half to 30% from 2009 to 2017 (ST, 10 May).
Community news and developments

18. Social
18
 Bless Our City, a joint two-year initiative by the Far East Organization
(FEO) and Central Singapore Community Development Council, had
invited at least 50 social service and community organisations to
apply for a new $1 million grant set up specially to help communities
which are often overlooked.
 It aims to strengthen groups that help former offenders, people with
mental health issues, those with special needs, migrant workers and
vulnerable families and individuals.
 Each applicant can expect to receive up to $20,000 to fund existing
and new projects (ST, 14 May).
 Two series of new documentaries featuring the life of a family of
zakat recipients will be aired on television and social media – Jangan
Abaikan Mereka (in Malay), Living with Less (in English).
 Apart from the story of their lives, the two documents will also
include zakat aid from mosques and the Singapore Islamic Religious
Council (MUIS) received by the individual or family (BH, 6 May).
Community news and developments

19. Social
19
 A survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) on
perceptions and attitudes towards social and moral
issues found there is greater acceptance of gay sex,
gay marriage and adoption by gay couples
compared with five years ago when the same
survey was done (ST, 3 May).
 In a related news, among those aged 18 to 25, about
47% indicated they were not opposed to premarital
sex. Among those older than 65, only 16% felt the
same way.
Youth
 On homosexual sex, about 49% of those
in the younger age group thought it was
not wrong, compared with only 10% in the
older age group.
 The survey found that over time, younger
respondents were more likely to become
more liberal in their views on such issues
compared with older people (ST, 3 May).

20. Social
20
 Overall findings from a MHA survey show strong
support against cannabis legalisation. More than 80%
agree consumption of cannabis is addictive,
harmful and should remain illegal in Singapore.
 About 70% of young respondents believe
consuming cannabis is harmful, compared with
84% in the older age group (ST, 18 May).
 There is a growing group of young working
professionals among our youths who rent a room
in an apartment shared with other tenants, usually
strangers, in an arrangement called co-living. Co-
living companies like Hmlet help to match flatmates
according to their preferences and personalities (ST, 11
May).
Youth

21. Social
21
Family
 A HSBC survey polled around 11,000 people across 10 countries and territories, including 1,000 in
Singapore found that Singaporeans spend three times longer on property searches than on
reading bedtime stories to their children or speaking to their parents, according to the survey.
 Singaporeans spend an average of 3.29 hours a week on property-related window shopping,
reading real estate magazines or trawling through online listings, even when not in the market for a
new home.
 By contrast, the respondents said they spend just over an hour reading bedtime stories to their
children and just under an hour speaking to their parents each week (ST, 3 May).
 MUIS has declared a new fatwa (ruling) on joint tenancy contracts that seeks to reduce the family
dispute and describe the problem that occurred when one of the co-owners died. The new fatwa also
makes it easy for the surviving owner to own a fully-owned home, without having to file additional
documents (BH, 17 May).
 The Criminal Law Reform Bill has been passed, among the sweeping changes proposed in the bill is
the much-anticipated repeal of marital rape immunity, more protection for vulnerable adults and
young children as well as decriminalising attempted suicides (BH, 7 May).

22. Social
22
Health issues and healthcare developments
 In the north and central areas of Singapore, 20% of public healthcare
patients account for 84% of healthcare expenditure. But patients in the
north are, on average, six years younger than those in the central areas (ST,
6 May).
 There were 43 measles cases in the first four months of this year,
nearly three times the number seen during the same period last year (ST, 8
May).
 The Transitions in Health, Employment, Social Engagement and
Intergenerational Transfers in Singapore Study which is being carried out by
the Duke-NUS Medical School's Centre for Ageing Research and
Education, together with the Ministry of Health, revealed that the
proportion of older adults with three or more chronic diseases nearly
doubled from 2009 to 2017 (ST, 8 May).
 The number of dengue infections has crossed the 3,000 mark this year
after rising for six consecutive weeks. By the end of this month, the
number of infections will likely top last year's total of 3,285 (ST, 10 May).

23. Social
23
Health issues and healthcare developments
 The Ng Teng Fong Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI) opposite Tan Tock Seng Hospital
(TTSH) in Novena is a new centre to promote innovation across the public healthcare sector.
It aims to transform healthcare operations, help healthcare workers turn their ideas into working
prototypes and increase access to information and knowledge (ST, 10 May).
 Findings based on more than 252,000 NHG patients treated for these conditions between 2010
and 2017 revealed Malay and Indian women have a higher progression rate to chronic kidney and
coronary heart diseases than men, while Chinese women have a higher progression rate to chronic
kidney disease (ST, 15 May).
 Fewer people have been using the government subsidy for treatment at private general practice
(GP) and dental clinics in the past two years. The amount given out under the Community Health
Assist Scheme (Chas) fell from a peak of $169 million in 2016 to $152 million last year, with 55,000 fewer
people using it.
 But Chas usage is expected to go up again when 500,000 people from the Merdeka Generation,
who were born between 1950 and 1959, join the scheme this November (ST, 21 May).

24. Malay/Muslim Affairs
24
News from Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs)
 Mr Farid Khan, will replace technopreneur Shamir Rahim, to be the new president of the
Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI). He hopes to groom more young
entrepreneurs and continue digitalisation efforts to help businesses transform (ST & BH, 2 May).
 The 194-year-old Masjid Bencoolen will undergo a 15-month-long upgrading programme to
provide more prayer spaces to accommodate a growing number of congregants. Work on the
upgrade, estimated to cost $4 million, will start in the fourth quarter of this year. The Mosque Building
and MENDAKI Fund will provide $1 million, and the mosque will raise the rest (ST & BH, 15 May).
 The Mobile App CollabDeen is the first technology platform that can ease communication and
collaboration, specially designed for the Muslim community. In Singapore, the application has been
used by An-Nur Mosque, Assyafaah, Al-Istighfar, Darul Arqam, Jamiyah and MENDAKi (BH, 5 May).

25. Malay/Muslim Affairs
25
News from Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs)
 As much as $ 1 million is targeted to be collected by PPIS this year. Mdm Rahayu Mohamad
said, "For example, some donations given to us are used to support adopted children with additional
transportation allowances, developing women-related activities and other programmes to strengthen
families” (BH, 7 May).
 MUIS will distribute zakat worth more than $42 million to recipients under the list of eight
asnaf, or those eligible for zakat, this year. Of these, $2.2 million is divided into this Ramadan,
including $2 million bonus to more than 6,650 families and individuals (BH, 22 May).
 PM Lee joined the fasting banquet at the Upper Serangoon Alkaff Mosque, and interacted with
students with visual impairment in the Qur’an 'Braille' class in the mosque. The mosque is the
first mosque in Singapore to offer such a class, and was involved in training asatizah learning the
Qur’an 'Braille‘ (BH, 29 May).
 President Halimah who will be organizing the inaugural International Conference on Cohesive
Societies (ICCS) in Singapore from June 19 to June 21, on “Many Communities, One Shared
Future”. The Inter-Religious Organization (IRO) will be conducting tours that bring participants from
abroad to places related to Singapore's religion and culture. ICCS will explore the role of
interrelationship between religions in maintaining social harmony (BH, 29 May).

26. Malay/Muslim Affairs
26
 M3 has launched Bersamamu. Muslim couples applying to register their marriages from July 1
must first meet a naib kadi, or wedding solemniser, before their solemnisation ceremony.
 The naib kadi will continue engaging the couple over the next two years, offering support and advice
to help them lay the foundations of a strong and stable marriage.
 Besides sharing advice and useful information on marriage and parenthood, the couples would be
referred to programmes and services aimed at enhancing their marital relationships, or when they
need professional help (ST & BH, 3 May).
 Based at An-Naeem Mosque in Hougang, the Family and Inmates Through-care Assistance Haven
(Fitrah) programme organised by M3 together with MHA and Singapore Prisons Service, provides
services such as religious counselling to Muslim former offenders (ST & BH, 13 May).
 M³ @ Chua Chu Kang which was launched on 11th May, focuses on strengthening family ties,
significantly on early childhood education and collaborating with the Yellow Ribbon Project to
approach families and prisoners. M³ @ Chua Chu Kang is the sixth M³@Towns launched, aimed at
bringing together the expertise and strength of Malay/Muslim volunteers and community leaders to better
serve the community (BH, 12 May).
M3: MUIS-MENDAKI-MESRA

27. Malay/Muslim Affairs
27
 MP Rahayu Mahzam commenting on The Tech Mosque Challenge organised by MENDAKI Club at An-
Nur Mosque on 19 May, “The platform organised by MENDAKI Club (Mclub) is a good platform as
it provides space and opportunities for youths to explore and think of possibilities to solve the
problems faced by the community. But more than that, such platforms can also support the
aspirations of youths and give them the chance to contribute back to society” (BH, 20 May).
 The Harun Ghani Education Fund (HGEF) in collaboration with MENDAKI, the Singapore Prisons
Service (SPS) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), as part of its Pelita Hati programme, had
organized for 50 families to receive Hari Raya greeting card from a family member who is in
prison. The words of parents in custody through the greeting cards is hoped to be a stimulus for the
children to be more diligent in the lesson.
 In addition to receiving the greeting card, they received a dress like baju kurung, cakes and
vouchers to ease the burden for the Hari Raya.
 SPS Amrin hopes that the Hari Raya card project will strengthen the relationship between
prisoners who are in custody with their families. He said the family played an important role in the
rehabilitation of the offender besides returning to the community. At the same time, families are the
first fort in preventing crime (BH, 20 May).
Yayasan MENDAKI

28. Food For Thought
28
1. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued guidelines for Early Childhood
Education - no screen time for babies younger than two and up to one hour a day for
those aged two to five.
• How can we spread the awareness, and public education to more Malay/Muslim parents
on the best practices and guidelines in Early Childhood Education?
1. A HSBC survey polled around 11,000 people across 10 countries and territories,
including 1,000 in Singapore found that Singaporeans spend three times longer on
property searches than on reading bedtime stories to their children or speaking to their
parents, according to the survey.
• What more can be done to support Malay/Muslim parents in cultivating “learning culture”
at home, and as the first parents to their children?