Tag: Singaporeans

Yaacob: S$1.5 million Set Aside To Support Teaching Of Maths, Science At Madrasahs

The Government will provide S$1.5 million from this financial year to support the teaching of secular subjects like maths and science at madrasahs, announced Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim on Thursday (March 9).

This will be matched by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) for the teaching of religious subjects.

The bulk of the S$1.5 million each year (S$1.4 million) will go towards financial incentives for teachers. Each of the 127 teachers of secular subjects will receive S$4,200 to S$8,700 a year in cash and Central Provident Fund savings, with the amount depending on their qualifications.

The financial incentives from Muis for teachers of religious subjects, as well as training, will amount to S$1.1 million a year. This is a lower amount because the number of teachers of religious subjects is 112.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had first announced greater support for the six full-time madrasahs in the teaching of secular subjects at the 2015 National Day Rally.

New training grants of S$1,000 per teacher per year will also be available, and Muis and the madrasahs will identify the training needs and priorities for eligible teachers.

For madrasah students who do well or show the most improvement, the Government and Muis will set aside S$100,000 each annually for student awards.

The money from the Government will be for secular subjects, and about 350 awards will be given per year. A similar number of student awards for religious subjects will be funded by Muis.

On the Mandatory Asatizah Recognition Scheme, which came into effect in January, Dr Yaacob said about 2,500 asatizah – estimated to be 90 per cent of the Islamic religious teachers in Singapore – have been registered. This year alone, 280 applicants have come forward and 117 of the applications have been processed.

The scheme started in Dec 2005 and was voluntary. Muslim community leaders called for it to be made mandatory last year amid a more diverse socio-religious landscape, and for more assurance that religious guidance would be compatible with the values of multi-cultural Singapore.

Meanwhile, to help Malay Muslim professionals, managers, executives and technicians (Pmets) who may be affected by economic changes, a new committee co-chaired by Parliamentary Secretaries Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and Amrin Amin will be set up. The committee will help Malay Muslim PMETs to retrain, tap their SkillsFuture credits and bounce back from employment setbacks.

Providing an update on mosque building Dr Yaacob said the Yusof Ishak Mosque in Woodlands will open to the public in April.

Source: TodayOnline

March 9, 2017
Parliament: New Committee To Help Malay/Muslim PMETs

Malay/Muslim professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) can soon turn to a new committee for help to weather the headwinds from an uncertain economy.

Its focus is to help this growing group to retrain, and rebound from employment setbacks, said Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim on Thursday (March 9). The committee will be chaired by Parliamentary Secretaries Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and Amrin Amin.

Dr Yaacob also said in Parliament that the community’s take up of the national SkillsFuture initiative has room for improvement. As of December 2016, out of the 126,000 Singaporeans who have used their SkillsFuture credits, only 8.4 per cent are Malays.

“More can be done to explain and link them to SkillsFuture and other national schemes. We will push hard to encourage more to try, and for those who do, we want to support them,” he said.

He was responding to Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC), who flagged lower-middle income PMETs as a group in need of greater support.

Mendaki’s training arm, Mendaki Sense, will step up its efforts to provide good employment opportunities, said Dr Yaacob.

“But at the same time, more must be done to make continual learning and training a social norm or a natural impulse of our community,” he added, pointing to Mendaki’s efforts to empower the community through education.

The self-help group, which turns 35 this year, has been tapping on technology.

For instance, it last month piloted its Digital Learning@MTS initiative to heighten the learning experience of students in its flagship Mendaki Tuition Scheme, said Dr Yaacob. This involved 150 students at three centres, but will be expanded into a full-fledged programme for all if successful.

Mendaki is also working to get the community ready for the challenges of the future.

Its Future Ready Unit, launched last year, has reached out to more than 1,000 students and young adults to promote SkillsFuture, particularly among students and parents.

This year, it will launch a new Future First programme to help Malay/Muslim students in Higher Nitec courses develop IT skills and competencies, like critical thinking.

Dr Yaacob also laid out moves to strengthen and safeguard families. Vista Sakinah, which was launched in 2011 to provide specialised marriage education and support programmes for remarrying couples and step-families, has helped more than 1,600 couples through its remarriage preparation programme, and more than 1,200 families through its post-marriage support, he said.

Plans are afoot to expand its outreach efforts and enhance its services. One strategy involves working with asatizah to engage these families, said Dr Yaacob: “We want to encourage our asatizah to broaden how they can serve the social needs of the community, and remarriages and step-families are one group who require support.”

He also spoke of changes in the Syariah Court, which administers Muslim family law relating to divorce and inheritance matters.

Two new presidents – Ustaz Muhammad Fazalee Jaafar and Ustazah Raihanah Halid – came on board last year, he said.

Both are on secondment from Muis – part of a broader collaboration between Muis and the Syariah Court to ensure a robust talent pipeline is in place to lead Muslim statutory institutions.

The duo’s are mentored by Senior President Ustaz Mohamad Haji Rais and President Zainol Abeedin Hussin, both of whom will retire on June 30.

Between them, they have served for close to five decades. Dr Yaacob thanked them for their long years of service, adding that the Syariah Court will continue to tap on their services even after they leave.

In the next two to three years, the Syariah Court will have a new system to boost efficiency. It will include new e-services, like being able to make appointments online, and a new case management system.

Source: ST

March 9, 2017
Legal Smoking Age In Singapore To Be Raised To 21

The minimum legal age to smoke will be raised from 18 to 21, announced Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor in Parliament on Thursday (March 9).

Proposed changes to the law will be tabled in Parliament within a year, and the change will be phased in over a few years after the law is passed. Youths above 18 who are already smokers will not be affected by the change.

The Government wants to cut, if not eliminate, opportunities for the young to be tempted to take up smoking before they turn 21.

It is raising the minimum legal age to smoke, buy and possess tobacco because most smokers start before the age of 21 and a habit is established between the age of 18 and 20, said the Ministry of Health. In Singapore, 19 out of 20 smokers in the National Health Surveillance Survey 2013 had their first puff before age 21. The minimum legal age of 18 for smoking has been in force since 1993.

The prevalence of smoking in Singapore has improved over the years — from 18.3 per cent in 1992 to 13.3 per cent in 2013, but the smoking rates among young men are still high, while the smoking rates of young women are creeping up.

Research has also shown adolescent brains to be more vulnerable to nicotine, as they have a heightened sensitivity to the rewarding effects of nicotine. Studies also show the younger that youths are when they first try smoking, the greater the levels of nicotine addiction, intensity of smoking and likelihood of continuing to smoke into adulthood, said the MOH.

Singapore has rolled out other anti-smoking measures in recent years. The import and sale of e-cigarettes and products such as nasal snuff and oral snuff are not allowed, and Dr Khor told Parliament last week that there is no compelling reason or practical benefit in allowing heated tobacco products as it could draw a much larger group of users, especially among youth.

Last year, the government extended smoking prohibition to areas around reservoirs and more than 400 parks. More than 32,000 premises are now smoke-free in Singapore and Dr Khor said on Wednesday it will look into progressively extending the smoking prohibition to other areas.

Singapore is also taking steps to standardise tobacco packaging, as Australia, France and the United Kingdom have done, said Dr Khor on Thursday.

“We have closely studied the experience of these countries, and see significant value in moving in this direction, so as to reduce the appeal of tobacco products, particularly to youths, and raise the visibility and effectiveness of health warnings,” she said.

“We will conduct a further public consultation on standardised packaging this year to seek additional and more detailed views on possible standardised packaging measures. We will carefully review relevant considerations including public health, intellectual property and international law perspectives and ensure that any measures taken are consistent with our domestic law and international obligations.”

The authorities will continue to monitor international best practices in tobacco control and will adopt appropriate measures to control tobacco use, she said.

Source: TodayOnline

March 9, 2017
What You Need To Know About Rape In Singapore

So what does rape constitute of? Here’s a (general) flowchart, it is subject to a variety of specific incidences and evidence though.

Basically, rape consists of two components: the act of inserting a penis into a vagina and the absence of consent.

“Statutory rape” refers to the ability of a girl to consent. If she is above 16, she can consent…but it is still an illegal act. If she is below 14, the laws deem her unable to consent at all, hence “statutory rape”.

Source: FiveStarsAndAMoon

March 9, 2017
Commentary: Don’t Take The Meaning Literally!

You know what I find funny?

Almost everyone assumed and equated the word triumph with violence and hatred. But have they really check or even bother to check the arabic word for that supplication and in what context it is used?

And even more funny all these people who decide that its violent do not even have the slightest background and knowledge in arabic to even know what the word exactly means in its original language source and the context.

Its like an english teacher who do not possess malay language tell a native malay teacher that his or her malay is wrong. LOL.

Even I who have limited arabic knowledge do not dare to assume the arabic words in its translation because the moment you translate a word to another language such as english, it has slightly lost the actual essence of the original meaning.

And thats why we cannot take the meaning literally.

If you want to be a fair judge, then you must know your arabic, and understand islamic context deeply only then you can judge fairly who is wrong and right otherwise the judgement is one-sided and not just.

Source: Siti Kate

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March 9, 2017