Minister Masagos Leads SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce To Provide Targeted Support To Malay/Muslim Community Through COVID-19

Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli has convened the SGTeguhBersatu¹ Taskforce, which will strengthen the last-mile delivery of national support measures under the Resilience Budget and lead targeted initiatives that support the Malay/Muslim community through the COVID-19 situation.

Minister Masagos will be supported by Malay/Muslim Members of Parliament:

a) Dr Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence;

b) Mr Zaqy Mohamed, Minister of State for Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Manpower;

c) Assoc Prof Dr Faishal Ibrahim, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Social and Family Development and Ministry of Education;

d) Mr Amrin Amin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health; and

e) Ms Rahayu Mahzam, Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC.

The SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce also includes representatives from M³ agencies [Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Muis), Yayasan MENDAKI and People’s Assosciation’s Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (PA MESRA)] as well as representatives from Malay/Muslim organisations [AMP Singapore, Federation of Indian Muslims, Pergas, PPIS and SMCCI] and NTUC.

Objectives

The SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce aims to:

a) Strengthen the last-mile delivery of national COVID-19 support measures outlined in the Resilience Budget to the Malay/Muslim community, in areas such as support for employment and upskilling, families and students, and the religious sector.

b) Develop and coordinate the implementation of community measures to complement national measures for vulnerable groups.

c) Strengthen social resilience to ensure the Malay/Muslim community remains steadfast and continues to uphold the Community of Success values of Character, Competence and Citizenry during this challenging period.

The SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce aims to harness the Malay/Muslim community’s ‘gotong royong’ spirit. Representatives from the M³ institutions will work with invited representatives of NTUC and a number of Malay/Muslim organisations to work out initiatives and programmes that the community’s key organisations may be interested to collaborate and participate in. By leveraging on the strengths and mobilising the assets and resources of the community, we aim to help the community overcome the challenges brought on by this COVID-19 crisis.

One key sector that has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis is our religious sector. Muis will work closely with the SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce to explore ways to support our mosques and affected asatizah such as:

a) Enable donations to the mosque via electronic means, such as GIRO contributions and PayLah. This will allow the community to continue regular donations to mosques and allow mosques to sustain programmes (i.e. via online channels) during this period;

b) Enable asatizah to continue to remain relevant, by moving their classes and talks online, as well as to benefit from the various initiatives under the Resilience Budget, such as the Self-Employed Person Relief Scheme and opportunities for skills upgrading;

c) Work with asatizah, counsellors as well as therapists and medical professionals to embark on initiatives to strengthen the psychological resilience of the community and support the mental well-being needs of the community during these challenging times.

We will also look into the needs for our students and our workers to support them to continue their education and remain employable. MENDAKI and MENDAKI SENSE will work closely with SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce to enhance assistance to affected students and workers. These include:

a) Provision of digital devices for MENDAKI Tuition Scheme (MTS)/Collaborative Tuition Programme (CTP) students to ensure they can continue to access their online lessons;

b) Reopening of Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) applications to Malay students in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLS);

c) Enhancing support and connecting workers to national initiatives for them to remain employable.

The SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce will announce more details on broad initiatives for the Malay/Muslim community during the Supplementary Budget Debate next week.

SGTeguhBersatu Taskforce Members

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¹Teguh Bersatu means Resilient in Unity in Malay