SINGAPORE - Muslim organisations are using social media platforms this year to reach out to more Muslims, especially Muslim youth, about the significance of Ramadan. Ramadan, a month of prayer and reflection which Muslims commemorate by fasting, starts on June 29.

Muslims will be encouraged to use the hashtag #ramadansg to tag Ramadan-related pictures on Instagram. There will also be video clips and cartoons on the religious significance of Ramadan found on Facebook pages Ramadan.sg and IE4ALL (Islamic Education for all).

Volunteers will also be canvasing the streets to raise awareness on Ramadan by capturing "moments" using a Polaroid camera. These photos will then be uploaded to Instagram or Facebook. Muslims may also sign up to join a Whatsapp group that will help them study the Quran, with group administrators of the chat listening and correcting pronunciations of the Arabic scriptures using the voice note function on the mobile application.

There will also be other activities this Ramadan that are not related to social media. Called Touch of Ramadan, the activities were launched by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim on Sunday morning at the Ahmad Ibrahim Mosque in Sembawang.

This year's Touch of Ramadan celebrations is the first time that different stakeholders in the Muslim community will be involved.Community group Ikhlas Bikers, a group of Muslim motorcycle riders, for instance, will spread the word on Ramadan by distributing flyers at malls while Private Islamic Education Network (Pienet) will be conducting religious classes at their own centres and at some mosques.

The nationwide Ramadan programmes are jointly organised by the North West Mosque Cluster and the Ramadan Youth Challenge Committee 2014. It is supported by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis).