Digital Distribution of Government's Tourism Vouchers to Singaporeans including the Elderly and Extension of Use of Vouchers to Arts-related Activities

Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether there are plans to help seniors utilise their SingapoREdiscovers Vouchers especially seniors who are staying alone with little family and social support; and (b) what are the safeguards put in place to prevent unscrupulous individuals or companies from misappropriating these vouchers from the elderly.

Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers can be extended to arts-related activities such as festivals and stage plays given the link between the tourism industry and Singapore's ambitions to become a global cultural hub.

Thank you. I would like to thank the hon Members Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Melvin Yong and Mr Leon Perera for their interest and questions about the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers.

The SingapoRediscovers Vouchers scheme aims to encourage Singaporeans to support our tourism businesses, which have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vouchers will be available for redemption from 1 December 2020 and will be valid until end-June 2021. Singapore Citizens will be able to redeem the vouchers via SingPass. And the Government is cognisant that some seniors may need help with accessing the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers or SRVs via SingPass, which is the question that Mr Melvin Yong had raised.

We just wanted to say that while we encourage all Singaporeans to register for a SingPass account, if they have not already done so, and redeem the vouchers digitally, we will provide some physical touchpoints for those who need them.

Klook Travel Technology with UOB Travel Planners, Changi Travel Services and GlobalTix, which are booking platforms for the SRVs, will offer both digital and physical touchpoints. Singapore Citizens who require help making their bookings for tourism products can seek assistance at the physical touchpoints provided by these platforms. These physical touchpoints will span the island to make it easier for people to access them. Currently, STB is working with the People’s Association or PA to supplement these with touchpoints at some community centres and STB will also set up a hotline to handle public enquiries and feedback.

STB is also working with the relevant Government agencies and appointed booking platforms on developing safeguards against fraud. The use of SingPass will provide secure authentication for the distribution of the vouchers and help mitigate fraud. Citizens are reminded to keep their SingPass account details confidential, not to share their one-time password or OTP with anyone and to be careful of unsolicited text messages or web links that direct them to suspicious portals claiming to be SRV booking platforms, to avoid falling prey to scams. Members of the public are advised to make purchases from only authorised platforms. And the ambassadors at the physical touchpoints will also remind seniors of the above safeguards.

STB will also conduct regular checks and audits and leverage data analytics to flag out suspicious transactions for further investigations. Cases of fraud will be reported to the Police.

To the hon Member Mr Leon Perera's question about the arts-related activities, I just want to remind the Member that the point here is that the vouchers are primarily targeted at businesses that derive most of their income from tourists, which include hotels, tourist attractions and tours.

And so, museums and galleries that cater to tourists are already eligible for the scheme as tourist attractions. Arts and cultural organisations which offer complementary products can work with eligible merchants, such as hotels, tourist attractions and tours, to develop bundles to qualify for the SRVs. They can also leverage marketing initiatives by STB to reach out to locals. For example, they could contribute deals and content for the SingapoRediscovers campaign.

I agree with the Member and affirm that the Government recognises the importance of the arts and culture sector here in Singapore. In fact, entities under this sector qualifies for the Jobs Support Scheme, JSS, Tier 2 support till March 2021. The Government has also rolled out the Arts and Culture Resilience Package or ACRP to safeguard livelihoods, retain capabilities in our eco-system and position the arts and culture sector for the post-COVID recovery.

Sir, I appreciate our Members' interest in the SRV scheme. I look forward to their support of our tourism establishments. If Members and members of the public want more information, the information of the redemption process and the list of authorised platforms will be mailed to Singapore Citizens prior to the planned roll-out later this month.

Mr Speaker, I think the Minister of State for his reply. I have one supplementary question. Mr Speaker, I have many seniors living in my Radin Mas constituency. It has been many months since they had been able to gather with their friends and go on community-led outings. Many of them tell me that they are really looking forward to these SRVs so that they can use this opportunity to go on local tours with their friends once again. I would like to ask if the Ministry has plans to work with vendors to create senior-exclusive tours that can be paid for with these vouchers and to hold these tours during off-peak hours where there are lesser crowds, so that our seniors can have a safe Singapore holiday with their friends?

I thank the hon Member Mr Melvin Yong for his questions. In fact, we hope that all Singaporeans will get to enjoy the SRVs and take some time off what is a very busy and difficult year for many of us. Specific to the Member's point, to help seniors who are staying alone or have little social support to use their vouchers, STB will explore working with social service organisations and the PA to facilitate of the usage of the vouchers such as by organising small group tours for seniors where permissible.

In addition to that, the booking platforms, where commercially viable and where there is a demand, are also very much welcome to come up with packages, for example, family packages or packages that are targeted at seniors, and bundle these with F&B and retail as well. These are all possibilities; and we also facilitate, particularly with the social service organisations and PA.

Mr Speaker, Sir, appreciate the opportunity to ask a supplementary question. I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. Could I clarify with the Minister of State, as we are very concerned that many seniors are still not very familiar with SingPass and they may go and reset the SingPass, so, how many community centres is MTI thinking of designating to help facilitate with SingPass and whether this will be extended to all the community centres because the numbers may be large? Perhaps the Minister of State would want to share how many Singaporeans will be eligible for this scheme and how many percentage of them do you think will need this kind of special service, where they would need a new SingPass account or need help from the ambassadors?

The second supplementary question is, if this scheme is popular – and we hope it is going to be popular – many attractions may be having problems coping with the demand, especially at the peak periods that people want to go. So, how would MTI work with the different attractions to increase the capacity during this period and without compromising the safety of Singaporeans?

I thank the hon Member Mr Ang Wei Neng for his questions. I will just take them in two parts. The second one first, with regard to the capacity at our tourist attractions, we have increased it to 50% for now. As the hon Member has mentioned, the health and safety of our people are paramount. So, we will look into how the COVID-19 situation is being managed.

Also, with regard to the spread of the vouchers, it is meant to be from December all the way up to June. So, we will also encourage Singapore Citizens to utilise the vouchers across the period of time – it covers the December holidays, it covers the March holidays and it also covers the June holidays. But also, in between, where there are off-peak periods, that is where potentially the seniors and potentially those who are not working, can utilise the vouchers.

With regard to the physical touchpoints, currently, STB is working with PA for about 40 community centres or CCs with SingPass counters, and up to 66 physical touchpoints, set up by the appointed booking platforms that I mentioned, or near the CCs to assist the Singapore Citizens to redeem their vouchers. They will also have SRV ambassadors appointed by STB. But we will look into the hon Member's suggestion to potentially expand it to more physical touchpoints so that Singapore Citizen can reset their SingPass and have more assistance in redeeming those vouchers.