SINGAPORE: Although the Saudi government gave the green light to an increased number of Singaporean pilgrims for Hajj, more and more younger Singaporeans are placing the pilgrimage on their bucket list.
Singapore is a multicultural nation nestled between Malaysia and Indonesia in the Malay Archipelago. About 14 percent of its 5.89 million population are Muslims, the majority being Malay-Muslims.
This year, the Singapore Pilgrims’ Affairs Office (SPAO) had its annual pre-departure briefing on July 7, whereby 900 pilgrims from Singapore will be performing Hajj.
The briefing was aimed to “prepare pilgrims to meet the challenges of the Hajj.”
The number is a jump from last year’s 850 pilgrims, with 90 percent of them first-time pilgrims.
From Hajj registrations to the appointment of Hajj travel agencies, the SPAO is the one-stop hub for Singapore’s Hajj affairs under the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), a government body that handles Muslim concerns in the country.
Traveling to Makkah for Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, but unlike the other pillars, it is only mandatory for those who can afford it. A typical Hajj package costs between $8,430 and $5,128.
As one of the most expensive cities in the world, Singapore has an average household income of S$6,600 per month, the highest in Southeast Asia. Most Muslims in Singapore enjoy the conveniences of a modern city.
Affandi Salleh, the chief operating officer of SSA Group, wrote a coffee table pictorial book to showcase the emotions of people who performed Hajj. He had performed Hajj twice, in 1983 and 2017.
“Ten to 20 percent of the pilgrims are younger than 40,” said Salleh, adding that going for Hajj has helped him “to have a spiritual balance in life.” Salleh wrote his book especially for those who have not performed Hajj yet or have no chance to go to Makkah and Madinah.
“In my opinion, yes, the young Singaporeans, even from 1983 till now, want to perform their Hajj. Starting from young does give you a sense of closeness to God. In my first trip in 1983, I was only 23 and unmarried,” he said.
Despite applying for Hajj, Hidayah Amin, an author and publisher of Helang Books, has yet to get called for Hajj because of the strict quota system where they give priority to the elderly first.
However, she has performed Umrah twice. “Once was with my parents during my late teens and the second time was in 2015 during Ramadan,” said Amin.
An increasing number of young Singaporeans go for Umrah because of the relatively low cost in comparison to Hajj. A person would only need to fork out $3,500 for a trip.
“It’s cheaper than Hajj and one does not need to be on the Hajj visa. Hence it’s easier to go,” said Amin.
Muslim Singaporeans in the civil service who are performing Hajj or Umrah can take a month’s unpaid leave.
Most Muslim Singaporeans have a higher purchasing power and spend more during Hajj. They also tend to stay in luxury hotels nearer the Grand Mosque.
“Singaporeans have higher spending power to perform Hajj. Most of these people save their money for these trips. It is not cheap compared to the neighboring countries,” said Salleh. He spent around $1,400 on souvenirs and gifts during his last Hajj trip.
“My package included a stay at the Hilton, which I consider luxurious,” said Amin. Most Umrah or Hajj packages take care of everything, including accommodation.
“I think most Singaporeans prefer hotels that are nearer the mosque. And these tend to be more expensive than those further away,” she added.
Meanwhile, Siraj Aziz, a writer, recently performed Umrah and sees going for Hajj as a “rite of passage.” He said going for pilgrimage is more and more appealing to the younger crowd, especially for exploration of self and religion.
“Not in the near future. Maybe in five to 10 years?” said Aziz regarding Hajj. He is a young man just starting a family. “I’m not that stable and secondly due to the quota system it may take a while.”
Despite bigger quota, more young Singaporeans are dreaming of Hajj
Despite bigger quota, more young Singaporeans are dreaming of Hajj
- The number is a jump from last year’s 850 pilgrims, with 90 percent of them first-time pilgrims
- A typical Hajj package costs between $8,430 and $5,128
Russia says downed 8 US-supplied ATACMS missiles
- Outgoing US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use the 300-kilometer-range arms against Russia last year
Outgoing US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use the 300-kilometer- (190-mile-) range arms against Russia last year, in a move the Kremlin denounced as a grave escalation.
“Air defense systems downed eight ATACMS US-made missiles and 72 drones,” the Russian defense ministry said.
The ministry also said it had captured the Ukrainian village of Nadiia, one of the few settlements in the eastern Lugansk region still under Kyiv’s control.
Moscow advanced by almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,540 square miles) in Ukraine in 2024, according to an AFP analysis, as Kyiv’s army struggled with chronic manpower shortages and exhaustion.
Both sides have accused each other of fatal attacks on civilians since the year began.
A Russian strike on a village in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region earlier on Saturday killed a 74-year-old man, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
Chinese dams to be discussed in India visit of US national security adviser
- Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counter to China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond
- New Delhi says it has conveyed concerns about China’s plan to build a hydropower dam in Tibet on Yarlung Zangbo River
WASHINGTON: US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi from Jan. 5-6 is expected to include discussions with Indian counterparts about the impact of Chinese dams, a senior US official said late on Friday.
Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counter to China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond.
“We’ve certainly seen in many places in the Indo-Pacific that upstream dams that the Chinese have created, including in the Mekong region, can have really potentially damaging environmental but also climate impacts on downstream countries,” a senior US official said ahead of Sullivan’s visit.
The official added that Washington will discuss New Delhi’s concerns in the visit.
The Indian government says it has conveyed its concerns to Beijing about China’s plan to build a hydropower dam in Tibet on the Yarlung Zangbo River which flows into India. Chinese officials say that hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies.
The construction of that dam, which will be the largest of its kind in the world with an estimated capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, was approved last month.
Washington also expects that topics such as civilian nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence, space, military licensing and Chinese economic overcapacity will be brought up in the visit, the US official said.
American officials will not be meeting the Dalai Lama during the visit, another US official said.
Washington and New Delhi have built close ties in recent years with occasional differences over issues like minority abuse in India, New Delhi’s ties with Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists on US and Canadian soil.
Myanmar junta to release nearly 6,000 prisoners in annual amnesty
- The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup
- The ruling junta said it ordered the pardons ‘on humanitarian and compassionate grounds’
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar’s embattled junta government on Saturday said it would release almost 6,000 prisoners as part of an annual amnesty to mark the country’s independence day.
The military has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its February 2021 coup that ended Myanmar’s brief democratic experiment and plunged the nation into turmoil.
More than 5,800 prisoners — including 180 foreigners — will be freed, the junta said in a statement on Saturday, when the country marks 77 years of independence from British colonial rule.
It did not give details of what the prisoners had been convicted of or the nationalities of the foreign detainees who were set to be deported on release.
The military said it ordered the pardons “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.”
The junta also announced that 144 people who had been sentenced to life in prison would have their sentences commuted to 15 years.
Myanmar frequently grants amnesty to thousands of prisoners to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals.
Last year, the junta announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners to mark independence day.
The annual independence day ceremony held in the heavily guarded capital Naypyidaw on Saturday morning saw around 500 government and military attendees.
A speech by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing — who was not present at the event — was delivered by deputy army chief Soe Win.
Soe Win reiterated the junta’s call to dozens of ethnic minority armed groups that have been fighting it for the last four years to put down arms and “resolve the political issue through peaceful means.”
He repeated a military pledge to hold delayed democratic elections and called for national unity.
South Korea in political crisis after impeached president resists arrest
- Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity
- But his presidential guards and military troops shielded him from investigators trying to arrest him on Friday
SEOUL: South Korea’s political leadership was in uncharted territory Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the warrant expires.
In scenes of high drama on Friday, Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidential guards and military troops shielded the former star prosecutor from investigators, who called off their arrest attempt citing safety concerns.
The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the bungled martial law declaration — a political move swiftly overturned by parliament — with a separate warrant later issued for his arrest.
“There was a standoff. While we estimated the personnel blocking us to be around 200, there could have been more,” an official from the investigation team said Friday on condition of anonymity.
“It was a dangerous situation.”
Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.
If carried out, the warrant would make Yoon the first sitting president ever arrested.
Since his impeachment, Yoon has holed up in his presidential residence in the capital Seoul, where he has refused to emerge for questioning three times.
The unprecedented showdown — which reportedly included clashes but no shots fired — left the arrest attempt by investigators in limbo with the court-ordered warrant set to expire on Monday.
Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said there could be another bid to arrest him before then.
But if the warrant lapses, they would have to apply for another from the same Seoul court that issued the initial summons.
The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.
Yoon’s lawyers decried Friday’s arrest attempt as “unlawful and invalid,” and vowed to take legal action.
Experts said investigators could wait for greater legal justification before attempting to arrest the suspended president again.
“It may be challenging to carry out the arrest until the Constitutional Court rules on the impeachment motion and strips him of the presidential title,” Chae Jin-won of Humanitas College at Kyung Hee University told AFP.
South Korean media reported that CIO officials had wanted to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.
After that, he could have been held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would have needed to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
Yoon has remained defiant despite the political impasse he initiated with his December 3 decree.
He told his right-wing supporters this week he would fight “to the very end” for his political survival.
By the time investigators attempted to execute the warrant for Yoon’s arrest, he had layered his presidential compound with hundreds of security forces to prevent it.
Around 20 investigators and 80 police officers were heavily outnumbered by around 200 soldiers and security personnel linking arms to block their way after entering the presidential compound.
A tense six-hour standoff ensued until early Friday afternoon when the investigators were forced to U-turn for fear of violence breaking out.
The weeks of political turmoil have threatened the country’s stability.
South Korea’s key security ally, the United States, called for the political elite to work toward a “stable path” forward.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to maintaining bilateral ties and readiness to respond to “any external provocations or threats.”
Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to hold talks in Seoul on Monday, with one eye on the political crisis and another on nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea.
US plans $8 billion arms deal with Israel, Axios reports
- Israel has killed at least 45,658 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable
- President Joe Biden is due to leave office on Jan. 20, when Donald Trump will succeed him
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has informally notified the US Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms sale to Israel that includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters, Axios reported on Friday, citing two sources.
The deal would need approval from House and Senate committees and includes artillery shells and air-to-air missiles for fighter jets to defend against threats such as drones, the report said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The President has made clear Israel has a right to defend its citizens, consistent with international law and international humanitarian law, and to deter aggression from Iran and its proxy organizations,” a US official was quoted by Axios as saying.
The package also includes small-diameter bombs and warheads, according to Axios.
Diplomatic efforts have so far failed to end the 15-month-old Israeli war in Gaza. President Joe Biden is due to leave office on Jan. 20, when Donald Trump will succeed him.