SINGAPORE - The hassle of going to different websites and apps to access government services or completing multiple forms for transactions will be a thing of the past, with the launch of an upgraded version of a government app.

The Moments Of Life (MOL) app, which currently caters to young parents and the elderly, will be enhanced later this year to provide personalised services for more Singaporeans, said Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Feb 28).

The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) said that these services will include those relating to job hunting, tax management and CPF matters, as well as those for Singaporeans travelling and living overseas.

"As we expand the suite of services we provide through MOL, we will continue to improve the app through constant user testing and citizen engagement," said Dr Balakrishnan, who was speaking during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office, which the SNDGO comes under.

He was replying to MPs such as Miss Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson), who had asked how Singapore's Smart Nation efforts like MOL can be personalised, and Mr Cedric Foo (Pioneer), who had asked about how the efforts have benefited its citizens.

The upgraded MOL will draw upon the Government's information of Singaporeans to show information and services that would be most relevant to them, said SNDGO.

In response to queries from ST, an SNDGO spokesman said that after doing research, interviews were done with Singaporeans to understand what they liked and did not like about the app.

It decided to improve and enhance the app after receiving feedback that Singaporeans were finding it hard to find services they needed, or to understand what was available among the roughly 100 government apps.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "We will continue to improve our digital services for both citizens and businesses. At the last count, we have about 100 government apps.

"I don't take joy in that number, because citizens often tell me: 'There's so many, which one do I use?' To remedy this, we will systematically streamline the number of apps in our digital offerings."

When asked about how the app was tested for quality, an SNDGO spokesman said an initial prototype was developed to address the concerns from Singaporeans and was tested with nearly 500 Singaporeans.

The app development team then used its research findings to fine-tune MOL further.

The updated MOL , which was first launched in 2018, will have a new look and interface to help citizens better navigate the app, allowing them to have a better experience when dealing with government services.

In a fact sheet, SNDGO said the new MOL will have a dashboard to provide citizens with a one-stop overview of government information for quick reference and tracking, as well as a notifications inbox so that users can stay updated on things to know or do.

There will also be an exploration page for citizens to easily search for all government information and services.

For the two years since it was launched, MOL has been the one-stop app for parents to register for the birth of their child, apply for Baby Bonus and child library membership.

Application for these three services is done through just one form.

Before this, birth registration was paper-based, and done at hospitals or the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building. Separate forms were required for the different applications.

SNDGO said on Friday that the app, which has been downloaded 120,000 times, has managed to cut down the time spent on such applications from 60 minutes to 15 minutes.

It added that two-thirds of eligible births - births where one of the parents is a Singapore citizen - are now registered through the app.

Dr Balakrishnan said that in the past year, almost 20,000 births were registered using MOL.

One such app user is dietitian Charlotte Lin, 37, mother of two children aged three and one who used MOL to register the birth of her second child.

"With my first child, I had to register his birth directly at the ICA, but for my second child, MOL made it much easier by allowing me to do it remotely for a fuss-free experience," said Miss Lin.

Last September, MOL was expanded to promote active ageing among seniors by including services such as an events finder for them to sign up for government events, and a personalised information page that shows the benefits they qualify for, such as the Merdeka Generation Package or the GST Voucher Scheme.