CDC vouchers worth SGD 300 brighten up the New Year for Singapore households, ahead of Budget 2025

A new tranche of CDC vouchers worth SGD 300, issued by the Community Development Council of Singapore, has brightened up the New Year for eligible Singapore households, as the nation continues to tackle cost-of-living issues through various support schemes.

By the first weekend of January 2025, at least 800,000 Singapore households have already claimed their CDC vouchers. A report by The Straits Times on Sunday night quoted a Facebook post from Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, and Trade and Industry. The post said: “We are glad that the CDC vouchers are coming to good use in the new year, especially with the start of school for many Singaporean families and the Lunar New Year round the corner.”

Singapore Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, preparing to present his Budget 2025 as the head of state, announced the CDC vouchers — redeemable at hawker stalls, heartland merchants, and supermarkets — in a video message on January 3.

“The [CDC] vouchers will be valid till the end of the year, and I hope this will go some way in supporting you and your family,” said PM Wong in the video message.

The ‘Get Started’ section related to the CDC vouchers explained that two sets of vouchers, worth SGD 150 each, could be redeemed at “participating heartland merchants and hawkers” and at “participating supermarkets” this year. The page asked Singaporeans to “Use your vouchers by 31 December 2025”.

The CDC website has provided a “Step-by-Step Video and Guide for Residents” for help with claiming and using the CDC vouchers. These vouchers can be claimed digitally using Singpass. Flexibility has been ensured by allowing anyone with the CDC voucher link to redeem a voucher; this enables family members to share the vouchers.

For not so tech-savvy people, there is help at hand. “If you need help in claiming your vouchers, please bring along your NRIC to the nearest Community Centre/Club (CC). All CCs are open daily from 10am to 6pm and 2pm to 6pm for void deck CCs. Closed on Public Holidays (PH),” said the CDC website.

Reporting on this new tranche of CDC vouchers, CNA said: “For this tranche, about 1.33 million Singaporean households can claim the vouchers.”

CNA added that “private coffee shop operators were recently onboarded as participating merchants”, with hundreds of them “providing budget meal options and accepting CDC vouchers”.

As for where to spend those vouchers, the ‘Go Where’ page enables a user to search for the nearest place accepting these vouchers.

There is even a map of Singapore showing all the areas where the CDC vouchers can be used. The number in the red circle for each area indicates the total number of participating hawkers, merchants, and/or supermarkets in that area. Clicking on each number further narrows it down.

CNA listed the following supermarkets as participants in the CDC vouchers scheme:

• NTUC FairPrice
• Cold Storage
• Giant Singapore
• Sheng Siong
• Prime Supermarket
• HAO Mart
• U Stars Supermarket
• Ang Mo Supermarket

Lapsed 2024 vouchers can be donated to charity within January 2025

CDC vouchers are issued from time to time by the Singapore Government in order to aid households with the cost of living. The extra money also stimulates economic activity, benefiting the participating hawkers, merchants, and supermarkets. Therefore, letting a voucher expire without being used makes no sense for anyone.

While the SGD 300 vouchers being issued now must be used up by December 31, 2025, some vouchers left over from 2024 could be donated to Singapore charities by January 31, 2025, reported CNA.

Of the 1.3 million households that claimed SGD 800 worth of vouchers in 2024, around 97 per cent have redeemed their vouchers. The remaining 3 per cent of households can donate their lapsed vouchers to Singapore charities, ensuring that the aid they received from the government is now paid forward.