January is the time of the year in which all Singaporean households can take a breather. We get $300 worth of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers from the government, half of which can be used in supermarkets and the other half used in hawker centres and food courts.
This is how the vouchers look like on my phone.
I choose a voucher from 3 choices ($2, $5 & $10) and show the stallholder the QR code. Once he scans it, I am deemed to have paid for my groceries or food with the voucher. It’s quite idiot-proof.
The vouchers are aimed at alleviating the pressures that arise from the rising costs of living. Erm, the increase in our GST is partly responsible for our noose-like living costs. It’s 9 per cent this year, a jump of 2% from 7 per cent as recently as 2022. I’m sure it’s a calculated political move to manage public displeasure about exorbitant prices. Mercer ranked us as the 2nd most expensive city to live in - worldwide.
Not sure how I feel about this dubious honour.
Anyway, just curious to know how this injection of economic stimulus is perceived by the larger world out there? A sound financial move or a stop-gap measure that fails to manage the repercussions that might arise later on? Let me know what you think.