News 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 Design Department (R&D) of Yayasan MENDAKI. The key highlights for last month are: • Govt looking into further prioritising BTO flats for those with more urgent housing needs: Desmond Lee (ST, 21 Nov) • Health tech start-ups sprout up to aid S’pore’s ageing population (ST, 21 Nov) • New national centre in Singapore designated to drive adult education sector further forward (ST, 3 Nov) • Surge in demand for green, digital, care skills in Singapore in last 4 years: SkillsFuture report (ST, 22 Nov) • Allowances for tutors under the MENDAKI Tuition Scheme (MTS) will be increased by 20 percent from $50 an hour to $60 an hour from January 1 next year. Yayasan MENDAKI will also give financial incentives between $300 and $1,200 annually to tutors who are able to encourage their students to attend MTS classes consistently and achieve good results in their studies. Title: Elaun tutor Mendaki akan dinaikkan (BH, 28 Nov)

1. November 2022

2. 2
What is News Bites?
News 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 Design Department (R&D) of Yayasan MENDAKI.
News 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 News 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 &
DESIGN
DEPARTMENT

3. Overall Coverage
• With a total of 257 articles, Community (69), Employment (42) and Economy (33) news were
widely reported in November 2022. This reflects Singapore’s growing support within the
community, discussions on inflation and the upcoming GST hike and conversations revolving
around employment in hard times.
34
17 14
3
10
24
35
16 17 18 13 18
69
33 31
21 23
42
Community Economy Health MMA Education Employment
No. of Articles
ST BH/BM Total
3

4. Emerging Themes & Trends
4

5. Community
Social Assistance
• Give more generously to low-income families, as they’re hardest
hit by pandemic: President Halimah (ST, 1 Nov)
• More people making police reports on family violence since 2020
(ST, 2 Nov)
• Commuters can tap ez-link cards to donate to lower-income
families at MRT stations, bus interchanges (ST, 15 Nov)
• Low-income families applying for public rental flat to get
automatic ComLink support (ST, 19 Nov)
• Non-profit calls for independent body to monitor and promote
social mobility in S’pore (ST, 19 Nov)
• New national plan launched to support, uplift S’pore families at
different stages of life (ST, 9 Nov)
• Family violence victims can get help from 24-hour emergency
response team from April 2023 (ST, 17 Nov)
• Extra.Ordinary People to launch programme to help special needs
youth integrate into society (ST, 17 Nov)
• New one-stop hub offers services for people with intellectual
disabilities and their caregivers (ST, 17 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
5

6. Community
Housing
• Condo, HDB rents up in Oct; strong demand for bigger flats in
landlord’s market (ST, 10 Nov)
• New private home sales slump on lack of fresh major condo
launches, rising mortgage rates (ST, 16 Nov)
• HDB to launch 9,500 BTO flats on Nov 23; 3 projects under
prime location housing model (ST, 18 Nov)
• HDB to offer short-term stay to shop tenants with expiring 30-
year leases, updates tenancy guidelines (ST, 20 Nov)
• Govt looking into further prioritising BTO flats for those with
more urgent housing needs: Desmond Lee (ST, 21 Nov)
• HDB offers 9,655 BTO flats in mega launch; application period
extended to 9 days (ST, 24 Nov)
• Mortgage debt manageable for most S’pore households but
interest rate shocks pose risks: MAS (ST, 26 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
6

7. Economy
Trends & Outlook
• S’pore manufacturers more gloomy on outlook while
service sector less upbeat: Surveys (ST, 1 Nov)
• Singapore and China reach 19 deals, boosting ties in green
financing, digitalisation (ST, 2 Nov)
• Fintech firms must focus on sustainable growth as sector
faces headwinds: Industry players (ST, 3 Nov)
• Singapore saw record $448 billion inflow of new money in
2021: MAS data (ST, 3 Nov)
• Singapore non-oil exports shrink for first time in nearly 2
years with 5.6% drop in October (ST, 18 Nov)
• Singapore sees economic growth slowing to 0.5-2.5% in
2023 from 3.5% this year (ST, 24 Nov)
• S’pore trade growth expected to dip in 2023 with forecast of
-2% to 0% (ST, 24 Nov)
• S’pore factory output falls 0.8% in October, snapping year of
growth as pharma slumps (ST, 26 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
7

8. Economy
Inflation & GST
• Assurance Package to help households offset GST hike to get
$1.4b boost, will now total $8b (ST, 8 Nov)
• Tourists, foreigners living here paid half of net GST in 2018 and
2019: Chee Hong Tat (ST, 9 Nov)
• About 40,000 businesses face GST rate hike for first time; IRAS
reminds all firms to update systems (ST, 10 Nov)
• Consumers are driving inflation in Singapore by purchasing non-
essentials (ST, 2 Nov)
• Blame bad weather, rising labour and fuel costs for higher fish
prices (ST, 6 Nov)
• Easing inflation: More time needed for tighter monetary policy
to affect prices, says Alvin Tan (ST, 10 Nov)
• "About 2.5m S’poreans to get up to $700 in GST, inflation aid
from December, says MOFRemote video URL (ST, 16 Nov)"
• Singapore core inflation eases to 5.1% in October, first drop in 8
months (ST, 24 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
8

9. Health
COVID-19 Updates
• No new curbs in recent wave, but they cannot be ruled out if
new nasty Covid-19 variant hits: Ong Ye Kung (ST, 1 Nov)
• Covid-19 infections in hospitals and nursing homes form less
than 1 per cent of reported community cases (ST, 8 Nov)
• Hospitals will stop setting aside whole wards for Covid-19
patients, freeing up beds: Ong Ye Kung (ST, 9 Nov)
• More than 1.5 million households will each receive 12 ART
kits; distribution started Monday (ST, 25 Nov)
Developments in Healthcare
• Proton beam therapy for cancer to be available in Singapore
by early 2023 (ST, 26 Nov)
• Health tech start-ups sprout up to aid S’pore’s ageing
population (ST, 21 Nov)
• Cancer test developed in Singapore can indicate if targeted
treatment is suitable (ST, 23 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
9

10. Environment
• S’pore records wettest October in 40 years, rainy weather will
persist into November (ST, 2 Nov)
• Young Singaporeans call for action ahead of COP27 climate
summit (ST, 3 Nov)
• Some companies in S’pore to get allowances to adjust to
carbon tax hikes (ST, 9 Nov)
• S’pore to peak carbon emissions between 2025 and 2028 at
around 65 million tonnes (ST, 9 Nov)
• Western Catchment forest clearing: PUB to set more
measures to blunt impact on wildlife after public feedback
(ST, 17 Nov)
• Expanding Singapore’s climate finance contributions to be
negotiated: Grace Fu (ST, 21 Nov)
• Loss of coastal and marine habitats in Singapore has slowed:
Study (ST, 21 Nov)
• Adoption of electric light goods vehicles in Singapore picking
up speed (ST, 21 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
10

11. Education
Ministry of Education (MOE) & Early Childhood Education
• Applications for direct admission to secondary schools rising
steadily: MOE (ST, 13 Nov)
• Schools and businesses to work on exposing more students to
industry needs (ST, 20 Nov)
• Up to 4,000 NTUC First Campus pre-school places to be
added in the next two years (ST, 10 Nov)
IHLs & Adult Education
• New national centre in Singapore designated to drive adult
education sector further forward (ST, 3 Nov)
• Training courses by S’pore a boost for careers, knowledge-
sharing, say alumni (ST, 6 Nov)
• Asia’s top universities: NUS slips to 2nd place, NTU ranks 5th
(ST, 9 Nov)
• Fully automated facility at ITE to train students in high-
productivity urban farming (ST, 11 Nov)
• NUS makes list of global top 20 universities by reputation for
first time (ST, 17 Nov)
• NUS graduates ranked 8th most employable in global survey
(ST, 25 Nov)
• NTU think-tank can serve as bridge between China and rest
of the world: DPM Heng (ST, 26 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
11

12. Employment
Employment and Employability Trends
• Career progress is like taking care of one’s health: Tan See
Leng (ST, 3 Nov)
• Singapore ranked second globally for best talent, only Asian
nation in top 20 (ST, 4 Nov)
• Businesses welcome wage guidelines but say pay hikes
should be backed by productivity boost (ST, 15 Nov)
• Over 78% will consider switching jobs if their pay rise is lower
than inflation rate: Survey (ST, 26 Nov)
• Over 700 public sector tech roles on offer under new
initiative (ST, 26 Nov)
• Rollbacks in flexi-work likely to taper off in Singapore:
Experts (ST, 28 Nov)
Civil Servants
• 22,000 MHA officers to get pay increase of 3% to 10% from
Jan 1 (ST, 1 Nov)
• DPM Wong to public service officers: Be candid and forthright
in sharing views (ST, 2 Nov)
• Civil servants to receive 1.1-month year-end bonus (ST, 25
Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
12

13. Employment
Lifelong Learning & Opportunities
• S’pore needs lifelong learning system that helps all workers:
Tharman (ST, 2 Nov)
• Upskilling: Workers need help to identify skills they lack, but
information is scarce, say experts (ST, 8 Nov)
• Tech retrenchments: IT community bands together to help laid-
off workers find new roles (ST, 12 Nov)
• Surge in demand for green, digital, care skills in Singapore in last
4 years: SkillsFuture report (ST, 22 Nov)
• Important for mid-career workers in 5 job types to upskill to stay
versatile: SkillsFuture report (ST, 28 Nov)
Platform Workers & Gig Economy
• Modest pay, long hours: IPS survey highlights vulnerability of
food delivery workers in S’pore (ST, 5 Nov)
• Proposals to protect gig workers to be released next week; CPF
contributions likely on the table (ST, 16 Nov)
• Cabbies, private-hire drivers can make deliveries until March (ST,
21 Nov)
• Riders and drivers wary ahead of proposed CPF, workplace
insurance roll-out (ST, 27 Nov)
Source: ST
Source: ST
13

14. Malay/Muslim Affairs
Yayasan MENDAKI
• Allowances for tutors under the MENDAKI Tuition Scheme
(MTS) will be increased by 20 percent from $50 an hour to
$60 an hour from January 1 next year. Yayasan MENDAKI will
also give financial incentives between $300 and $1,200
annually to tutors who are able to encourage their students to
attend MTS classes consistently and achieve good results in
their studies. Title: Elaun tutor Mendaki akan dinaikkan (BH,
28 Nov)
Support for Malay/Muslim Community
• To support families caring for foster children, PPIS
Oasis launched the publication of its first book titled
Nurturing Relationships – A Collection of Best Practices by
Foster Parents and
Professionals. Title: Buku panduan PPIS bagi sokong keluarga
asuh anak titipan (BH, 5 Nov)
• EX-offenders and families of inmates serving prison terms
can now go to all mosques for rehabilitation and family
support, employment, financial and educational
assistance. Title: Masjid buka pintu bantu pesalah, keluarga
banduan (BH, 27 Nov)
Source: BH
Source: BH
14

15. Malay/Muslim Affairs
• In order to ensure that more comprehensive support can be
provided to families in need, Ustaz Muhammad Hafiz Abdul
Rashid, former Executive Chairman of the Assyakirin Mosque,
ensured that the mosque's social service officers were
equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide support to
those affected by family and domestic violence. Title: Usaha
mantan pengerusi masjid bantu tangani isu keganasan
keluarga diiktiraf (BH, 18 Nov)
• Rumah Kebajikan Muhammadiyah (RKM) inaugurated
its new premises at 101 Pasir Ris Road yesterday, whose
facilities have been improved to support the personal
development of the residents as well as their transition
process when they return to their family or the
community.Title: Kemudahan dipertingkat bagi penghuni RKM
di premis baru (BH, 14 Nov)
• Many have benefited from the 'Bersamamu'
programme, which offers guidance by Naib Kadi to couples
before and up to two years of marriage, since it was launched
three years ago. Title: Kajian ROMM dapati ramai pasangan
raih manfaat program 'Bersamamu' (BH, 9 Nov)
Source: BH
Source: ST
15

16. Malay/Muslim Affairs
M3
• With the rapid growth in the technology industry, M3 @ Pasir Ris-
Punggol has organised the "#Hashtech" program to encourage
youth to build useful technology skills. Title: Program #Hashtech
M3 Pasir Ris-Punggol galak belia minati bidang teknologi (BH, 25
Nov)
• A total of 325 students out of a total of 327 grade 6 madrasah
students, or 99.4 percent, have passed the Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE) this year. Title: 99.4 peratus pelajar madrasah
lulus PSLE: MUIS (BH, 23 Nov)
• A total of 38 trust accounts have been established under
the Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC) scheme sponsored by
the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). The MUIS-
sponsored scheme offers financial support to Muslim
families who care for people with special needs. Title: Skim tajaan
Muis sokong keluarga Muslim jaga golongan keperluan khas
kini punyai 38 akaun (BH, 22 Nov)
• Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Mufti
Nazirudin Mohd Nasir and the Fatwa Committee of the Islamic
Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) on receiving the Imam Al-
Qarafi award for Excellence in Fatwa from the General Secretariat
of the World Fatwa Authority, headed by Dar al-
Ifta Egypt. Title: Usaha jawatankuasa fatwa bantu Singapura
hidup harmoni, PM Lee (BH, Nov 18)
Source: BH
Source: ST
16

17. Published by
MENDAKI Research and Design Department
(November 2022)
17