SINGAPORE —  It is a simple 10-minute walk from her home in Jurong West to the nearby mosque, one that her family would typically make every evening during the holy month of Ramadan, and it is the thing that Dian Nuratika will miss most this year.

“You would see so many Muslims around the neighbourhood heading to the same location as you. You see the elderly, families with young kids and groups of friends, young and old. You see everyone from different walks of life coming together to pray as one. It is heartwarming. It is an indescribable feeling,” said the 29-year-old sales administrator. 

This year, with mosques closed indefinitely and circuit breaker measures to stem the spread of Covid-19 extended until June 1, her family will stay home for the nightly “terawih” prayers that Muslims perform during the fasting month.

Muslims greeted Ramadan at dawn on Friday under unusual circumstances, as circuit breaker restrictions proscribe the things that are so typical of fasting months past. These include getting together with the extended family to break fast, communal prayers at the mosque, and thronging bazaars such as the ones in Geylang Serai and Woodlands.

The bazaars have been cancelled this year.

“From the first week of Ramadan, that is the place you would feel the Hari Raya vibe,” said Ms Dian.

Like Ms Dian, Ms Shrabonti Alam said she would miss the community spirit surrounding the terawih prayers.

“To me, the month of Ramadan is all about togetherness. But that is something we cannot have now. There is a different kind of joy in praying in a group. It seems less tiring, and everyone repeating the same verses at the end of the prayer is the most amazing, relaxing and reassuring feeling,” said the 24-year-old postgraduate student.

After the prayers, Ms Shrabonti and her family would often find themselves at a nearby hawker centre catching up with friends they had made at the mosque, she recalled.

“Since there is not much we can do to be with our loved ones, we are trying to make Ramadan exciting this year by coming up with a fun concept for iftar (breaking fast)," said Ms Shrabonti.

"We are planning to order iftar for our family friends without them knowing what food is coming for them and they will do the same for us. That way, even though we cannot meet or pray together, we are still connected somehow." 

In the past years, Ms Shrabonti’s father, Mr Mohammed Towheed Alam, 59, would usually spend his days during Ramadan at the mosque where he would pray, read the Quran and seek advice from the ustaz, or religious teacher.

“Plans are under way for us to read the Quran together and understand its meaning via Skype. It will not be the same as we cannot interact directly, but it will have to do,” said the engineer.

THIRSTY AND HOT, BUT FOOD DELIVERIES MUST GO ON

For some, such as food delivery riders, this Ramadan will bring extra challenges as the work has become more demanding. With Singaporeans largely confined to their homes, delivery orders have risen sharply. 

Over the past few days, part-time Foodpanda rider Muhammad Huzaifah Shafie, 24, has been chugging two litres of water every four hours. 

“I cannot imagine how it will be like during Ramadan. It will definitely be challenging,” he said, speaking to TODAY on Thursday.

“The weather has been crazy. Especially during the lunch period between 11am and 3pm, the sun is just unbearable,” said Mr Muhammad.

While he usually does deliveries for at least six hours daily, he plans to work just three hours a day in the first week of Ramadan to get used to it, and work longer hours in the evenings.

Mr Mohamed Nazrin, 27, is planning to do deliveries from 8.30am to 9pm every day, but said he is “nervous” knowing how thirsty he will get and tempted by the food he delivers.

“There will be more orders, more walking, more being stuck in traffic under the hot sun. We really will have to keep our willpower strong.”

CHARITY WORK CONTINUES AMID CONSTRAINTS

Charity organisations that tend to ramp up their activities during Ramadan are also facing greater challenges this year as the circuit breaker measures mean that they cannot recruit more volunteers as they typically would.

Ms Yasmin Osman, 46, founder of For The People and Community, makes monthly grocery deliveries to about 100 underprivileged families. During Ramadan, these bags, which are usually filled with rice, noodles and biscuits, are reserved only for Muslim families in need.

Last year, she had more than 70 volunteers who gathered at the multi-purpose hall of a Housing and Development Board block to help her pack the bags. 

This year, however, Ms Yasmin, her sister and their helper had to do the job themselves, packing some 370 bags in her flat. They started on Sunday and completed the packing only on Thursday, the day before Ramadan. Fortunately, she still managed to recruit 30 volunteers to deliver the bags.

“It was so stressful thinking about how I was going to handle Ramadan distribution this year without volunteers. There were also 680 applicants for the bags, but we received enough funds only for 370,” she said.

“I can understand that this year, many people might not have much to spare. They are going through hard times themselves.”

Every year during Ramadan, mosques around Singapore distribute free porridge daily. This year, with mosques shut, some are stepping up to fill the gap.

Among them is Ms Siti Nurani Salim, 38, founder of Project Goodwill Aid. 

“A restaurant owner approached me and told me that she can provide the porridge at a cost of S$1.50 per packet. As soon as I announced this, donations poured in,” said Ms Siti, who will be distributing 500 packets on Friday with 13 volunteers in 20 locations.

The packets, which usually go to seniors or those in rental flats, will also be distributed to Malaysian workers who are stuck in Singapore, she added. 

To abide by safe distancing measures, the restaurant will pack the porridge. She and her volunteers will then pick up the packets at staggered times before making the deliveries.

“This will be my first time hanging the packets at the door for contactless delivery. Usually, we will greet them and wish them a happy Ramadan and they will send their regards and well-wishes to us, too. This year, it will be very different… Quiet,” said Ms Siti.

MUIS' INITIATIVES

Meanwhile, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has launched the SGUnited Buka Puasa (Break Fast) initiative, which will distribute 15,000 meals a day to hospitals, community centres and homes of "zakat" beneficiaries. Zakat is an annual tithe contributed by Muslims.

And to bring the community together despite circuit breaker measures, the agency has launched SalamSG TV, a web-based channel on YouTube offering Ramadan content, including lifestyle and religious videos. The Ramadan-themed videos began on Thursday.

The lifestyle content will include videos on arts and crafts and storytelling for children, and workshops on Islamic calligraphy and Quranic recitation. Religious talks and videos in Bengali and Tamil will also be made available to provide messages of support for Muslim foreign workers.

The Office of the Mufti also launched the Ramadan 2020 handbook on April 14, titled Contemporary Irsyad Series Vol 2, to guide the community through the holy month in the midst of the pandemic. 

Muis said the handbook will touch on the role of Singaporean Muslims as citizens in practising social responsibility to curb the transmission of Covid-19. It will also address other religious queries raised by the public.