DPM Gan Kim Yong at the Launch of CDC Vouchers Scheme 2024 (June)

Minister Desmond Lee,
Senior Minister of State Ms Low Yen Ling,
Mayors Denise Phua, Desmond Choo, Alex Yam and Mohd Fahmi Aliman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for the launch of the 2024 CDC Vouchers Scheme. We announced this in the Budget in February earlier this year, as part of the enhancements to the Assurance Package to help households cope with cost-of-living concerns.

CDC Vouchers Scheme reflects the Government’s commitment to helping Singaporeans address cost-of-living concerns

The CDC Vouchers Scheme was first introduced in June 2020 during the pandemic to help lower-income households defray their daily expenses, while supporting local merchants and hawkers affected by the pandemic.

We expanded the Scheme to all households a year later, in December 2021, to thank Singaporean households for their solidarity during the pandemic, and to support heartland businesses as we emerged from the pandemic. Even after the pandemic, inflation continued to stay high as a result of persistent supply chain constraints and the war in Ukraine. Many Singaporeans continued to be concerned about their daily expenses and the impact of rising prices. We therefore decided to continue with the CDC Vouchers Scheme and enhanced the level of support to help Singaporeans cope with rising cost pressures.

I am heartened to see that the CDC Vouchers Scheme continues to be well-received by Singaporeans. One of my residents in Choa Chu Kang, Mr Jamil bin Md Amin, shared how the CDC Vouchers are important for him and his family as it has helped his family better manage their daily expenses, such as paying for meals at hawker centres and coffeeshops, and purchasing groceries and supplies from heartland shops and supermarkets in their neighbourhood.

I believe many Singaporean households also share similar experiences as Mr Jamil and recognise how the CDC Vouchers have helped to ease the burden of their daily expenses. In fact, about 1.3 million households have claimed the CDC vouchers disbursed in January. Of the claimed vouchers, more than $500 million have been spent at participating heartland merchants, hawkers and supermarkets. Singaporean households that have yet to claim and spend their January CDC vouchers don’t need to rush as they have until the end of this year to do so.

All in all, Singaporean households have used more than $1 billion of CDC Vouchers across the four tranches. The CDC Vouchers Scheme is testament to the Government’s commitment to help Singaporeans address cost-of-living concerns.

Impact of digital voucher adoption in the community

We have also come a long way, moving from physical vouchers to the digital vouchers scheme. It was not an easy journey, and I would like to thank all our Mayors, CDCs and People’s Association (PA), and our community partners such as merchant associations, local merchants, hawkers and supermarket operators, for your partnership over the past few years. It is also important to thank all our residents for taking the trouble to learn about the CDC voucher and to acquire the digital skills. As Mayor has explained, many of them did not know how to use their handphones for digital transactions. And we have our Digital for Life counters all over Singapore to help them install the app and help them to download the vouchers.

In fact, the digital CDC Vouchers Scheme has been a resounding success. I have received a lot of positive feedback. And am happy to see many seniors using the digital vouchers. More heartland merchants have also started to adopt e-payment transactions and build their online presence.

New tranche in June will help households cope with cost-of-living concerns

Cost-of-living will continue to be a concern amongst Singaporeans, even as our economy recovers.

I want to assure Singaporeans that the Government understands your concerns and stands ready to support you when necessary. This is why earlier this year, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced a $1.9 billion enhancement to the Assurance Package, to provide immediate support to our families. This brings the total support provided in the Assurance Package to over $10 billion.

A key pillar of this package is the additional $600 CDC Vouchers for all Singaporean households. The first $300 will be disbursed in June, starting today. This is on top of the $500 given out in January this year, making it a total of $800 for each Singaporean household this year. This is also the first time as Mayor mentioned where two tranches of CDC Vouchers are being given out in the same calendar year. These two tranches of vouchers will provide additional support to Singaporeans to defray daily expenditures. All in all, each household would have received $1,300 worth of CDC Vouchers to-date.

Households can also look forward to receiving the remaining $300 worth of vouchers in January next year.

The vouchers can be claimed digitally in the same way as the last four tranches, by visiting the website (go.gov.sg/cdcv) and logging in with SingPass. If you face difficulties claiming the vouchers, please approach the Community Centres for help.

The $300 vouchers can be split into two equal parts: Half of the vouchers, or $150, can be used at participating hawkers and heartland merchants. There are approximately 23,000 participating hawkers and heartland merchants, and CDCs have continued to onboard more. The other $150 CDC Vouchers can be used at participating supermarkets. There are now 8 participating supermarket chains with 415 outlets. So, you have many options to use the vouchers.

I am also glad that some participating hawkers, merchants, and supermarkets are also extending their own discounts and rebates when residents use CDC Vouchers at their shops and outlets. These will be publicised by the individual shops and supermarkets, so I will not steal their thunder.

Besides the CDC Vouchers, we are also providing assistance in various ways. For example: Next month, eligible Singaporeans households will receive U-Save and service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebates to help them offset their utility bills and their service and conservancy charges. They will also receive these rebates in October this year, and again in January next year. Singaporeans can also look forward to receiving Budget 2024 Cost-of-Living Special Payment in September.

As a society, we must each do our part to look out for those around us. These are our friends, our neighbours. Our fellow Singaporeans. Those who are better-off and do well in life should contribute and give back to society, to help those with greater needs and those who are more vulnerable. This is how we support one another and help each other through difficult times.

Today, we live in a very uncertain and volatile world. As a small and open economy, Singapore will naturally be affected by global developments. But I am confident that as long as we stay united, we can overcome any challenges to succeed and emerge stronger together.

Once again, I would like to extend my gratitude to all the stakeholders, partners, and individuals who have contributed to the success of the CDC Vouchers Scheme.

Thank you. Now, let me say a few words in Mandarin.

大家下午好。非常高兴来到西海岸，发放另一轮的社理会邻里购物券。新加坡和其他国家一样，面对物价上涨的挑战。国人当然会对生活费上涨担忧。

政府了解物价上涨给国人带来的压力。因此总理兼财政部长黄循财今年初宣布将进一步拨款19亿元，加强定心与援助配套，为家庭提供即时援助，减轻生活费的负担。定心与援助配套所提供的总支助金额达到100亿元。

其中，政府将给每户新加坡家庭提供600元社里会邻里购物卷。首笔300元邻里购物卷将从今天开始发放。加上今年1月发放的500元邻里购物卷券，每户家庭今年总共获得800元的社理会邻里购物券。

我鼓励大家多多善用这些购物券，减轻生活负担，也带动邻里商场的人气。

我相信只要我们团结一致，彼此扶助，我们可以携手前进，共同克服各种挑战， 建设更美好更温馨的明天。

谢谢大家。