RI stands for "Remain Indoors", while NYGH means "Now You Go Home".

To cheer people up during this period of home-based learning (HBL), advertising agency Tribal Worldwide has created a meme that plays on the initials and slogans of schools, including Raffles Institution (RI) and Nanyang Girls' High School (NYGH).

Students in primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and the Millennia Institute switched to lessons at home last Wednesday following a recent spike in Covid-19 infections among the young.

Foreseeing this period to be a stressful one, a team from Tribal Worldwide decided to do something to encourage people amid the flurry of negative news.

The meme was partly inspired by an incident on May 15 at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) involving a woman who refused to wear her mask when asked to do so by a safe distancing ambassador, saying instead: "If you have no badge, why are you asking me to do something?"

Mr Jeff Cheong, deputy chief executive at Tribal Worldwide, said: "With HBL starting on Wednesday, and being inspired by the MBS incident, we thought it was quite apt to bring it all together in this meme."

The 45-year-old hopes the meme will provide respite and "bring out, in a light-hearted way, the message to stay at home and remain safe during this period".

The meme had about 14,000 viewers in the first three hours since it was posted on Facebook last Tuesday by the agency.

Ashlynn Teo, a Secondary 3 student from Nanyang Girls' High School, said she found the meme innovative and humorous, though she wondered whether some might take offence. While people feel disappointed at having to return to HBL, she said, the meme will help them "feel more positive about it".