Giant, Ang Mo Supermarket now accept CDC vouchers

Giant supermarket and Ang Mo Supermarket now accept CDC vouchers, along with FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Prime, Hao Mart and U Stars. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

SINGAPORE - Singaporeans can use their Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers at two more supermarkets – Giant Singapore and Ang Mo Supermarket – from Wednesday, South West District Mayor Low Yen Ling said on Facebook.

There are 55 Giant outlets and 12 Ang Mo Supermarket outlets which accept CDC vouchers, according to the CDC website.

The other five participating supermarket chains are FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Prime, Hao Mart and U Stars.

“Together, these seven supermarket chains offer Singaporean households over 360 outlets islandwide to spend their CDC vouchers. This is in addition to the over 20,600 participating heartland hawkers and merchants on the scheme,” said Ms Low on Facebook on Wednesday.

More than 1.1 million, or 90 per cent, of Singapore households have claimed their $300 in CDC vouchers for 2023 since the launch on Jan 3, she added. Half of the amount can be spent in supermarkets.

In less than a month, residents have spent more than $132 million at participating outlets.

Compared with the voucher tranches in 2021 and 2022, 15 per cent more Singaporean households claimed their CDC vouchers for 2023 within the first month of the scheme’s launch.

Ms Low said she was glad that Singaporeans were speedily claiming and spending the 2023 tranche of vouchers, as this was helping businesses in the heartland and defraying Singaporeans’ household expenses.

The CDC vouchers are part of a comprehensive package to cushion the effects of inflation and the goods and services tax (GST) increase in 2023.

Giant, a retailer under DFI Retail Group, said its participation in the CDC scheme would help customers “stretch their dollar” in times of inflation and economic uncertainty.

The supermarket chain said earlier that it would absorb the 1 per cent GST increase for more than 700 essential products for six months.

A CDC spokesman said in response to The Straits Times’ queries that Ang Mo had joined the CDC Vouchers Scheme in 2021 and 2022, and that the CDCs had been working with the supermarket chain to onboard it for the 2023 scheme.

“The process of onboarding supermarkets takes time to ensure a seamless and positive user experience for our residents when they use the CDC vouchers at participating supermarkets,” he said.

Grocery shoppers ST spoke to said they were happy with the latest supermarket additions to the scheme.

Freelance media artist M. Thiyagarajan, 58, said he was looking forward to redeeming his CDC vouchers at the Giant outlet in Jalan Membina, near his home.

He said: “I compare products and prices from different supermarkets. Sometimes, I see good deals at Giant that are bargains.”

A retired taxi driver, 74, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, welcomes the convenience of being able to redeem his vouchers at Ang Mo Supermarket’s Toa Payoh Lorong 4 outlet, which is only a three-minute walk from his flat.

Mr Tan said: “I go there almost every day and buy groceries like vegetables, made-in-Singapore sausages and frozen spare ribs from Brazil.”  

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