The Buy Now, Pay Later Award goes to the SG Culture Pass initiative

SINGAPORE –

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services

have been accused of encouraging indiscriminate consumption and spendthrift habits among users.

But the Government is leveraging the concept for a good cause: encouraging Singaporeans to spend on home-grown arts and heritage experiences, thereby supporting local artists.

The

SG Culture Pass initiative

, announced in Parliament as part of Budget 2025, gives each Singaporean aged 18 and above $100 to spend on performances and exhibitions. Some $300 million has been allotted to the initiative, spread over three years.

The idea is that the Government will foot the bill first, giving people who have yet to sample home-grown arts that free push into theatres and galleries.

The scheme kicked off on Sept 1 and, if the numbers are any indication, Singaporeans seem to be taking the bait.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), as at Nov 28, more than $7 million worth of credits have been used by nearly 100,000 citizens and over 33,700 Singaporeans have maxed out their $100 entitlement.

Out of three million eligible for the scheme, more than 480,000 Singaporeans have registered for the credits, 70 per cent of whom have not attended a local arts and culture event in the past five years.

Arts groups have felt the box-office boost. Theatre company The Theatre Practice reported that audiences bought 1,300 tickets with Culture Pass credits for its Mandopop musical Partial Eclipse Of The Heart, while Malay theatre group Teater Ekamatra sold out its October run of Yusof: Portrait Of A President. It added four extra shows to its original three-show run to cater to demand. Sight Lines Entertainment, which specialises in interactive theatre, reported that 70 per cent of patrons to their latest Crack The Case: The Dreamcatcher show bought tickets with Culture Pass credits.

Arts programmes and workshops have also received a bump in bookings. Attendances tripled at the National Gallery Singapore’s programmes, while photography centre Objectifs and improv school Larks Improv Theatre sold out some workshops. 

Attendances at the Singapore Writers Festival, the first festival to qualify for Culture Pass,

rose 30 per cent over the previous year

. Organisers reported that the pass accounted for more than 40 per cent of ticket sales, 

With Acting MCCY Minister David Neo announcing that the scheme will extend to SingLit books from March 1 as well as home-grown films, the pass will be the biggest shot in the arm for the arts and heritage sector for the coming year. 

MCCY says nine out of 10 survey respondents who have attended a programme using their credits are willing to attend another local cultural offering beyond the SG Culture Pass.

It looks like the credit scheme has sparked more Singaporeans’ interest in home-grown arts and heritage. Here is hoping it will pay rich dividends over the next two years for the sectors.