The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) has announced that the Asatizah Youth Network (AYN), formed in 2017 to prepare Singapore's asatizah (religious teachers, singular 'ustaz') to be more proactive in engaging Singapore youth on social media, will grow from 11 to 30 asatizah by the end of 2018.
"Over the next years, asatizah in this network will be trained in digital media engagements and counselling techniques to build resilience in our youth against online radicalisation," MUIS said in a Facebook post.
"Drop-in sessions will also be conducted at Masjid Al-Falah to engage youth in a safe space and allow them to clarify any doubts and concerns on problematic ideologies that they may come across online."
Asatizah in AYN are chosen for their online presence and influence. The focus on AYN was shared by the Singapore Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, during the Committee of Supply debate for 2018.
Explore:
Read the Suroor Asia blog post about Dr Yaacob's speech.
Hashtag: #SGBudget2018