Coronavirus: More help for those in need
Grocery vouchers for 150,000 S'poreans in 1-and 2-room flats
They will also receive vouchers in Dec, as well as Oct next year, as part of Care and Support Package
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Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah making a house visit to Madam Velammal Chinan Rama-Samy's one-room HDB flat in Block 124 Kim Tian Place yesterday, where she helped to adjust an arm sling for Lakshan Kumar, Madam Velammal's 12-year-old grandson.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
About 150,000 adult Singaporeans living in one-and two-room Housing Board flats will each receive $150 worth of grocery vouchers by the end of this month.
They will also receive another $150 in grocery vouchers in December, and another set worth $100 in October next year, said the Ministry of Finance yesterday.
The first round of distribution of vouchers started on Oct 1, and they will be mailed to the NRIC-registered addresses of all recipients.
The grocery voucher scheme is part of the Government's Care and Support Package first announced in February under the Unity Budget to cover household expenses, with lower-income households getting extra assistance. The scheme costs about $46 million.
Only those aged 21 and above will receive the vouchers, which can be used at FairPrice, Giant, Prime and Sheng Siong supermarket outlets for now.
The $300 worth of grocery vouchers issued this year will expire on Dec 31 next year.
Under the Care and Support Package, all eligible HDB households will also enjoy the additional GST Voucher - U-Save, and rebates for service and conservancy charges, among other forms of support.
Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah, who visited grocery voucher recipients at Block 124 Kim Tian Place yesterday, said they were well received by the residents as it would help them cope with household expenses during the pandemic period.
"Since it is nearing the end of the year, and also the holiday period, we wanted to make sure that the lower-income households have something additional," added Ms Indranee, who is the MP for the Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru ward.
The block at Kim Tian Place comprises 288 one-room flats, and is one of seven rental blocks in the Tiong Bahru precinct.
The majority of the residents are elderly, and most of the working adults are daily-rated employees, said Mr Kenneth Seet, Tiong Bahru Community Centre's chairman.
"During these challenging times, job security is (the residents') top concern, followed by social stability. The focus is to retrain them to make sure that those who have lost their jobs can find alternative jobs," he added.
The community centre will host a career fair on Nov 17, in collaboration with the National Trades Union Congress' Employment and Employability Institute and Workforce Singapore, said Mr Seet.
Since last year, Block 124 resident Velammal Chinan Rama-Samy, 63, has seen her family's income fluctuate. She lives with her 43-year-old daughter and 12-year-old grandson in a one-room flat. Her daughter is the sole breadwinner.
For three months last year, Madam Velammal's daughter was unemployed.
The younger woman later secured a full-time job as a security guard, but her contract turned into a part-time one after the pandemic hit.
For the family, the grocery vouchers come at a good time as Deepavali is next month, and household expenses will be higher.
"We can buy what we need, like sweets, decorations and ingredients for cooking," said Madam Velammal.
