National Servicemen Eligible for LifeSG Credits Announced in Budget 2024

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Defence (a) how many past National Servicemen above 60 years old will be eligible for $200 in LifeSG credits under the 2024 Budget; and (b) how will the Government reach out to less technically savvy past National Servicemen to assist them in claiming the $200 credits, beyond asking them to approach the digital ambassadors located at the 16 digital community hubs.

Mr Speaker, the NS LifeSG Credits recognise past and present National Servicemen (NSmen) from the Singapore Armed Forces and the Home Team for their contributions to Singapore's defence and security. In the month of November, more than one million NSmen would have received, via the LifeSG application, $200 worth of credits which can be used to purchase a range of household and lifestyle goods and services. Twenty-six percent, or more than a quarter of a million, of the recipients are above 60 years old.

Recipients who need help to claim the credits can contact the NS Call Centre or approach the digital ambassadors at the 36 SG Digital Community Hubs and nine ServiceSG Centres. Those who are unable to access the credits via the digital LifeSG mobile application or who are not comfortable with digital payments, may request the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for hard copy vouchers.

This approach is similar to the arrangement for the NS55 Recognition Package in 2022. And this had worked well and received positive feedback from past and present NSmen.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. I am not so sure we note that there is a WhatsApp message circulating around to allow the more IT-savvy Singaporeans to use PayNow to transfer the $200 LifeSG money to their savings account through some other payment apps. I am not so sure that is the intention of the Ministry to allow such easy transfers.

Secondly, I hope that with this $200 LifeSG movement, we will not increase the divide between the digitally-savvy and non-digitally-savvy Singaporeans, but rather to bridge the gap. So, we hope that beyond what you have done, maybe we can encourage more Community Centres to help make it easier for the non-IT savvy Singaporeans to get their $200 credits.

I thank the Member for his clarification. First and foremost, the LifeSG Credits are meant to recognise all our NSmen, past and present. And certainly, for those above 60, we want every single one of them to benefit, if possible. So, I want to assure the Member again that there is no intention to divide those who are digitally savvy and those who are not, because you have both options – the digital and the hard copies that you can request from MHA and MINDEF.

But if the Member would like to have a sense, based on the last disbursement that we had with the LifeSG Credits in 2022, about 88% of eligible NSmen who were above 60 years old had utilised their credits, and just 2% of them requested and received hard copy vouchers. So, the numbers are quite small. I would hope that after one round of experience, maybe more would have a positive experience this round as well and would be used to the LifeSG app.

But overall, if we look at the survey that we had done in the last poll – this was just about four months after the last campaign or the last disbursement in 2022 – about 95% of our NSmen indicated that they were supportive of digital disbursements. So, there is widespread support. But there are also the hard copies that members can request from MINDEF and MHA, if they cannot access digital payments.

One more point, Mr Speaker. On the Member's other point about potential scams or attempts on use of PayNow payments. If the Member has specific information on the WhatsApp messages, let us know, so that we can investigate and see if these are scams.