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SINGAPORE – Malaysian / Muslim Singaporeans acted responsibly during the Covid-19 outbreak this year and helped prevent the virus from spreading further, Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said last Friday (December 18). .
Mr. Masagos, who is also the Minister of Social and Family Development, highlighted how the community not only stepped up to help each other, but also played its role in reducing the spread of the virus in Singapore.
During an interview with Malaysian / Muslim leaders on December 18, the minister highlighted the adjustments the community made to their way of life to prevent the coronavirus situation from getting worse here.
These include accepting the closure of mosques, the suspension of congregational prayers, the postponement of the Haj pilgrimage and the inability to visit loved ones during Hari Raya celebrations in the middle of the year.
At the same time, Malaysian / Muslim Singaporeans worked to help those most in need.
Masagos said the community raised $ 3 million in April, which was both the fasting month of Ramadan and the start of the Singapore circuit breaker this year.
This grassroots effort, called SGUnited Buka Puasa, distributed food to 20,000 frontline people and families in need on a daily basis.
“All of these are great results of the spirit of togetherness in our community: the level of achievement, having been educated in an open society, being able to bring the community together,” Masagos said.
“Not only because of what he needs for himself, but also to help avoid spreading the virus to other people through the practices we are used to.”
Mr. Masagos said that through good advice and cooperation from religious authorities and community medical experts, clear guidelines for religious social activities could be quickly given.
Large-scale religious activities are known to be critical points for the development of Covid-19 clusters.
One notable one was a Muslim missionary movement at the Seri Petaling Mosque on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur from February 27 to March 1, which reportedly involved up to 10,000 people from various countries and resulted in several imported cases of the virus.
Following this, the Singapore Islamic Religious Council (Muis) decided to close the mosques in Singapore at the end of March. Mr. Masagos said that this decision could only have been made thanks to cooperation within the community.
He said: “This could only be possible because the doctors gave good advice to the religious teachers that congregations where the intensity of the interaction, the high density of people joining (and) the distancing that could not be controlled at that time , they were going to be flash points that could result in more infected people. “
When asked if it would be possible to resume special congregational prayers, known as terawih prayers, in mosques during Ramadan next year, Masagos said authorities hope to allow them to continue and that multiple and shorter sessions could be considered.
On Tuesday, the Communications and Information Ministry issued a clarification to Muis’ The Straits Times, saying: “For the terawih prayers, it is premature now (to say whether they would be allowed) and would depend a lot on the situation in April.”
During the December 18 interview, other Malaysian / Muslim leaders also shared updates on various initiatives that are underway for the community.
State Minister for Human Resources and Defense Zaqy Mohamad said that CariKerja, a dedicated hotline and app for job seekers that was launched in April by continuing education and training provider Mendaki Sense, has been downloaded nearly 35,000 times.
Zaqy, who is also vice president of the Mendaki self-help group, added that the tuition scheme offered by the group has improved attendance rates since it went online this year.
A spokesperson for Mendaki told ST that average attendance at its online tuition program increased by 8 percent compared to last year, and Zaqy said the group will take advantage of this momentum to carry out such programs in a hybrid way. .
Education Deputy Minister Maliki Osman said he is currently leading a review to see what his ministry can do to ensure graduates of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and the five polytechnics, including those in the community, are prepared to the world of work.
“One of the things that we would like to encourage and see (and create) more of is work study diploma programs so that our ITE students, many of whom are also our Malaysian students, have another avenue to obtain diplomas.” . he said.
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