1.
December 2018

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 202 articles were collated. The Social (88 articles) category occupies the top spot in
terms of article count with coverage on health and community issues, followed by the Economy,
Employability & Digitalisation (48 articles) category. The Education (35 articles) and
Malay/Muslim Affairs (21 articles) categories come next.
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90

4.
Overall Coverage
4
Economy, Employability & Digitalisation
Digitalisation & Technology Economy Employability
 The Economy, Employability & Digitalisation
category covers articles on Digitalisation &
Technology (13), Economy (8) and Employability
(27).
 The Social category covers articles on
Community (17), Elderly (8), Health (37),
Housing (4), Family & Youths (16) and ‘Others’
(6).
Social
Community Elderly Family & Youths Health Housing Others

5.
Emerging Themes & Trends
Based on Coverage

6.
Education
6
 To meet the needs of Singapore's ageing population, plus the expansion of
Changi Airport, the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) is introducing a
new four-year Dietetics and Nutrition degree programme and a three-year
Air Transport Management course, from September 2019 (ST, 27 Dec).
 The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will be offering two new, two-year
Nitec courses from January 2019 to meet changing industry needs. They
include a new video production Nitec course at ITE College Central (ST, 18
Dec).
 More students from the Normal streams in secondary school have made the
cut for higher education in the last decade. New MOE figures show that more
than 10% of Secondary 1 Normal (Academic) students move on to publicly
funded universities, up from 5% 10 years ago (ST, 16 Dec).
 Adults can now apply to polytechnics for full-time studies under a new
scheme that gives more weight to their work experience. Previously, mature
students were admitted for full-time studies based largely on academic results
(ST, 17 Dec).
Education news and trends

7.
Education
7
 In an op-ed, S Gopinathan and Edmund Lim argue that while Singapore tops Asia in an index on
preparing youth for the future, more needs to be done to enhance students’ understanding and
knowledge of world issues, as well as to avoid stigmatising those less academically inclined and
special-needs children in mainstream schools (ST, 20 Dec).
 The National University of Singapore (NUS) Presidential Young Professorship scheme offering million-
dollar research funds is designed to enable NUS to compete for good academic talent, not to chase
rankings, said its senior deputy president and provost Ho Teck Hua. It is created to ensure that NUS
remains competitive in global talent recruitment (ST, 9 Dec).
 The number of kindergartens affiliated with Christian and Catholic churches has fallen in recent years,
as some convert to offering childcare and families’ needs change. There are now about 80 such faith-
based kindergartens, down from about 120 in 2012 (ST, 3 Dec).
 The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) has received
an endowment gift of $50,000 from the friends and relatives of
late social work pioneer K.V. Veloo, which will fund two book prizes
for undergraduate students at the university (ST, 15 Dec).
Education news and trends

8.
Education
8
 Education Minister Mr Ong Ye Kung said independent school fees will be reduced for children from
low- and middle-income families to increase diversity at Singapore's top schools. At Raffles Institution for
instance, children from households with a gross monthly income of $2,751 to $4,000 will pay the same
$25 fee as at government schools (ST, 28 Dec).
 Underperforming students from disadvantaged families will be given more holistic support by the
Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) from next year. CDAC will expand its student
programme to help develop motivation and resilience (ST, 3 Dec).
 NTUC First Campus will be embarking on a study to determine how preschoolers from disadvantaged
backgrounds and their families can be best helped. The three-year study is a collaboration with the
National Institute of Education (NIE) (ST, 6 Dec).
Helping disadvantaged students
 Specialised schools for Normal (Technical) students and those
who did not pass the Primary School Leaving Examination
(PSLE) help students develop higher levels of intrinsic
motivation and learn new and deeper skills, says the Ministry of
Education (MOE) (ST, 16 Dec).

9.
Economy
9
Economic news and trends
 While trade tensions between the United States and China could ease, key economists shaved
more off their forecast for 2019 economic growth, the latest Monetary Authority of Singapore
(MAS) survey shows. Protectionism is a risk in the global economy (ST, 13 Dec).
 A Straits Times commentary argues that slower economic growth and rising political risks will prove
challenging in 2019. Already, in US dollar terms, Asian equities are down 11% despite the recent
bounce while Asian credits have fallen 1.8% as of 5 December (ST, 10 Dec).
 In an op-ed, former minister Mr Lim Boon Heng argues that the wage
component of GDP offers a useful glimpse of the overall structure of an
economy, but cannot be a complete guide to its complexities and
longer-term trends (ST, 12 Dec).
 An op-ed argues that young firms are increasingly agreeing to be
acquired, rather than trying to grow into large public firms. At the same
time, exit rates within many industries have remained relatively flat
despite an increase in productivity dispersion (ST, 12 Dec).

10.
Employability
10
Wages and upskilling
 The labour market in Singapore continued to improve in the third quarter of 2018, but there are signs
that hiring may be slowing. Total employment, excluding foreign domestic workers, grew by 16,700 from
July to September 2018. This was the fastest rate in four years (ST, 14 Dec).
 Landscape maintenance workers are the latest group of low-wage employees to get a wage boost, and
will receive a bonus of at least two weeks’ pay if they have worked for their employer for at least a
year (ST, 1 Dec).
 Security Association of Singapore (SAS) president Mr Raj Joshua Thomas said security companies
should base their security contracts on outcomes which provide more effective solutions, integrating
manpower and technology. This is in view of the impending rise in labour costs in the security industry
with the implementation of the Progressive Wage Model (ST, 1 Dec).
 Tech companies are now open to hiring undergraduates even before they
finish school. This is due to a talent shortage in areas such as robotics
and automation. At the same time, such students are exposed to valuable
industry knowledge and skills (ST, 19 Dec).

11.
Digitalisation &
Technology
11
 PM Lee Hsien Loong urged governments to help workers displaced by new technology take on new
jobs, in his speech on the future of work at the Group of 20 summit. He said companies and industries
must adapt, while workers should embrace lifelong learning (ST, 2 Dec).
 The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) rolled out a new training initiative to help marine and
offshore workers and companies raise their skills, in the form of a digital readiness framework. It acts
as a guide to increase productivity through the use of technology (ST, 4 Dec).
 Cleaning firms in Singapore are tapping technology to lift productivity, using tools such as virtual reality
(VR) goggles to upskill workers and raise their wages (ST, 11 Dec).
Tapping technology for productivity
 Some firms in Singapore screen a jobseeker’s resume with
machines, while others use chatbots to conduct preliminary
interviews. Such use of artificial intelligence helps speed up the
hiring process (ST, 12 Dec).
 A group of secondary school students from the School of Science
and Technology, Singapore (SST) have developed a Chinese
learning mobile app called PortableCL for primary pupils (ST, 3
Dec).

12.
Social
12
 The minimum legal age for the use of tobacco products will be raised from
18 to 19 years old from 1 January 2019, said the Health Ministry (MOH). It will
be raised progressively every January until 2021, when smokers will have to
be at least 21 (ST, 31 Dec).
 The number of new charities here hit a 10-year low in 2017 due to the rise of
informal groups performing charity work and the sector reaching a saturation
point. The Commissioner of Charities' latest annual report showed only 39
groups registered as charities in 2017 (ST, 9 Dec).
 President Halimah Yacob said collaborations among patients, social care
workers, volunteers and local businesses can develop local networks that aid
in building a supportive community for those with mental health issues (ST,
9 Dec).
 Charities interviewed report that collections from their donation boxes have
fallen in recent years, due to people carrying less cash and loose change to
donate. This could stem from the observation that cashless modes of payment
have become more prevalent (ST, 14 Dec).
Community news and developments

13.
Social
13
Family, youth and elderly issues
 An ongoing 10-year-old study that tracks mothers and their children from birth has found that the pre-
academic performance of four-year-olds has a strong link to their performance in the early primary
school years (ST, 5 Dec).
 Tampines West Community Club hosts a mentorship programme for youths aged 9-12 years old. They
are mentored by students from Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and Singapore University of Technology and
Design (SUTD), under a programme called Youth Engaged at Heartlands (Yeah) (BH, 3 Dec).
 Under the new integrated general hospital model, elderly patients will be cared for by the same team
from admission to discharge and stay under the same hospital roof, said MOH and Alexandra Hospital
(ST, 15 Dec).
 An NUS study of 130,000 households found that when the weather is hot,
lower-income households tend to use more water, while higher-income
households consume more electricity (ST, 21 Dec).
 The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) will disburse $2.5
million at the end of 2018, benefitting 4,459 low-income families who are
also recipients of MUIS’ financial assistance (BH, 7 Dec).

14.
Social
14
Health issues and research
 MOH is considering to ban the sale of packaged drinks with high sugar content, as part of efforts
to cut the high sugar intake among Singaporeans – a major contributor to obesity and diabetes (ST,
5 Dec).
 More Singaporeans are choosing healthier food options when they dine out, according to the
Health Promotion Board (HPB). Under the HPB’s Healthier Dining Programme, about 83 million
healthier meals were sold by operators between April and September (ST, 12 Dec).
 A new online calculator has been launched by MOH to help people work out how much they will
have to pay under the disability insurance scheme CareShield Life (ST, 27 Dec).
 Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School found that significant
weight gain or loss among middle-aged and elderly Chinese
Singaporeans is linked with an increase in their risk of an early death,
(ST, 19 Dec).
 Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Home Affairs Mr Amrin
Amin said the government will tailor specific policies and programmes to
help low-income Singaporeans who tend to have carbohydrate-
heavy diets (BH, 17 Dec).

15.
Social
15
 70 families have been placed under the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) Fresh Start Housing
Scheme, since it started two years ago. The Scheme aims to help second-timer families with young
children own a 2-room Flexi flat (BH, 16 Dec).
 HDB will launch fewer new flats in 2019, with around 15,000 Build-To-Order (BTO) units planned for
neighbourhoods such as Sengkang and Jurong West. It launched 15,800 flats in 2018, which was lower
than its initial estimate of 17,000 flats (ST, 8 Dec).
 Eligible residents can apply for two types of ramps - portable and customised - under HDB's
Enhancement for Active Seniors (Ease) programme. This will benefit elderly residents in older flats
who have to navigate multiple steps at the entrance to their homes (ST, 4 Dec).
Housing and other developments
 Private housing supply for the first half of 2019 will be cut by
nearly 20%, said the Ministry of National Development (MND) (ST,
7 Dec).
 From 2019, MPs will be charged $250 a year if they want to
park at Parliament House for official business. MPs will have to
pay the prevailing HDB parking charges (ST, 1 Dec).

16.
Governance
16
Leadership changes and public consultation
 Former Public Service Commission chairman Mr Eddie Teo will succeed Mr J.Y. Pillay as head of the
Council of Presidential Advisers on 2 January 2019. The President's Office said Mr Teo will chair the
council till 1 June 2020 (BH, 18 Dec).
 PM Lee said changes to the Cabinet to put younger ministers in key posts will be announced some
time after the Budget debate in 2019. The Budget debate ends in March 2019, and PM Lee hinted the
changes could be made in April or May (ST, 4 Dec).
 The fourth-generation (4G) ministers will launch their planned series of discussions with
Singaporeans in 2019, said Finance Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat. This will build on the Our Singapore
Conversation national feedback drive he spearheaded in 2013 (ST, 3 Dec).
 The views of Singaporeans are being sought in preparation for Budget 2019, by the Ministry of Finance
(MOF) and government feedback unit Reach. Opinions are sought on topics like making our businesses
more competitive, and caring for fellow citizens (ST, 3 Dec).
 Transport Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan tells Malaysian ships to back off as he outlined how the
incursions stemmed from Malaysia's unilateral decision in October 2019 to extend the Johor Baru port
limits into Singapore's territorial waters (ST, 7 Dec).

17.
Malay/Muslim Affairs
17
 Participating in the KelasMateMatika@CC (KMM) programme, which is spearheaded by MENDAKI,
allows parents to learn basic numeracy concepts as well as techniques to build their children’s self-
esteem and confidence as they learn. There are also interactive activities for children to pick up
mathematical concepts (BH, 3 Dec).
 Minister of State for National Development and MENDAKI Deputy Chairman Mr Zaqy Mohamad said
parents feel they are now more confident in coaching their children in mathematics, after attending
KMM. The aim is to have 1,500 Malay parents and children go through the programme. Families with
household per capita income of $450 or less a month are eligible (ST, 3 Dec).
 50 students, who are MENDAKI beneficiaries, received free haircuts and grooming tips in time for the
new school year from PlusSixFive Barbers at MENDAKI @ Choa Chu Kang. This is the second time
PlusSixFive has partnered with MENDAKI to give back to the community (BH, 29 Dec).
MENDAKI programmes and services

18.
Malay/Muslim Affairs
18
 MUIS will be headed by a new chief executive and a new senior management team from January 2019.
Mr Esa Masood, currently the council's deputy chief, will take over from Mr Abdul Razak Hassan
Maricar. Mr Abdul Razak is retiring after 43 years in the public service, said the Ministry of Culture,
Community and Youth (MCCY) (ST, 3 Dec).
 As the new chief executive, one of Mr Esa's top priorities is to continue building on the momentum of M³
collaboration between the three Malay/Muslim organisations - MUIS, self-help group MENDAKI and
the People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (MESRA) (ST, 6 Dec).
MUIS leadership change
 In a statement, MENDAKI paid tribute to Mr Abdul
Razak, crediting him for steering MUIS to be a strong
partner to various Malay/Muslim organisations (ST, 5
Dec).
 In an interview with Berita Harian, Mr Abdul Razak
said the system that separates the executive and
board functions in MUIS has worked well and
ensured accountability (BH, 7 Dec).

19.
Malay/Muslim Affairs
19
News from Malay/Muslim Organisations (MMOs)
 Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Mr Masagos Zulkifli said placing the office of various Malay/Muslim
organisations, including those of the M³ collaboration will create opportunities for synergy between
them, benefitting the community (BH, 1 Dec).
 The Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) has appointed three additional directors to its board.
They are: Mr Muhammad Tarmizi Abdul Wahid, Mr Khairulnizam Massuan and Mr Fathurrahman M
Dawoed. This brings the total number of its board members to 13 (BH, 11 Dec).
 AMP's Development and Reintegration Programme is a structured approach to providing a
reintegration programme for Muslim offenders, from incarceration to post-release. It now serves 185
offenders and 685 family members (BH, 9 Dec).
 The Malay Youth Literary Association (4PM) celebrated its 70th anniversary
in 2018. It published a commemorative book: 'Dian Masyarakat: A Dedication
to Serve, Celebrating 70 Years of 4PM‘ (BH, 3 Dec).
 NUS Law Faculty has successfully conducted the inaugural Muslim Law
Practice Course (MLPC) for legal practitioners, a collaboration
involving the Syariah Court and MUIS Academy (BH, 2 Dec).

20.
Food For Thought
20
1. Tech companies are now open to hiring undergraduates even before they finish school.
This is due to a talent shortage in areas such as robotics and automation.
• How can we expose more of our children to IT fields such as robotics and automation so
that they can be better positioned for the technologically-driven workforce?
2. Adults can now apply to polytechnics for full-time studies under a new scheme that gives
more weight to their work experience. Previously, mature students were admitted for full-
time studies based largely on academic results.
• What can be done to encourage more eligible working adults in our community to sign up
for full-time polytechnic studies and earn qualifications that could boost their career
prospects?