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.

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