PERSPECTIVE: Why have only around one in four of the SingapoRediscovers vouchers been utilised in the last three months?

Many Singaporeans that Mothership spoke with expressed interest to use the vouchers. However, many didn't know what to do/haven't found the time to do something, or were reluctant to make a booking because the process seemed complicated.

In December last year, all Singaporeans over 18 received S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRVs).

Greater redemptions were seen during the school holidays in December, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said, adding that "strong demand" was expected during other holiday periods.

These vouchers are valid until June 30, 2021.

But as of March 1, only around one in four of the vouchers have been redeemed in the last three months.

(Over S$72.6 million in vouchers and payments had been redeemed as of Mar. 1, 2021 out of the S$320 million distributed at the end of last year.)

So, why are Singaporeans not utilising the free S$100 given to them?

Various reasons as to why people aren't redeeming SRVs

In a CNA commentary, the author noted that based on her observations, some of the common reasons why people are slow to redeem the vouchers include wanting to avoid crowds at attractions.

Others also haven't found something they would like to do yet.

Speaking to Mothership, a 29-year-old who only wanted to be known as Moses, admitted that he "completely forgot about it after the initial advertising push":

"When it was first advertised, places were really crowded because people rushed to use it. But now that it's less crowded, people may have forgotten about it."

He also said that he was "lazy" to browse through the list of SRV-redeemable activities, although he acknowledged that there is a very wide variety of activities available.

27-year-old Archana Gunalan, who is excited about the voucher and intends to use it, lamented that it is difficult to find a day to do something together given her friends' schedules.

"YES I would love to (use my SRV). There are so many fun things to do! But when you want to plan things with friends and everyone’s schedules are different, we have to wait until everyone is free on the same day."

Then, there are others like Parveen, 28, who had been excited about using the vouchers for an indulgent staycation, but later decided on a more "fuss-free" solution.

"Going for a luxury staycation, I would have [had] to shell out an additional S$400. The more I planned, the more miserable I became.

In the end, I decided to donate it to Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) ItsRainingRaincoats and let someone else enjoy this."

Redemption process complicated and troublesome?

A few people Mothership spoke to also considered the redemption process troublesome. At least at first glance.

"I thought it was (confusing) the first time I logged into SingPass," Archana said. "But I just went to check out the redemption process, it’s actually not so leceh (troublesome)."

Amanda Choo, 27, pointed out a potential problem for families looking to utilise their SingapoRediscover Vouchers together:

“I bought [Jurong] Bird Park tickets for my family of five, and had to buy each ticket individually so that we could use our own vouchers. I did five separate orders. If we had all bought together in one, then someone would have [had] to 'sacrifice' their voucher."

The voucher code generated is valid only for 15 minutes, after which it expires. While there are likely security reasons for such digital features, it does result in some inconveniences.

"Since the [voucher] code generated is of a certain value only, if halfway through ordering, you decide to change the amount you want to use, you have to wait for 15 minutes before you can generate another code. That took up time too."

Afiqah Syahira, 21, agreed on that particular inconvenience.

"It was a bit of a rush. When I planned to go USS, I didn't know [there was] a grace timing for the code before it’s expired. When I saw there was a timing, I panicked and bought the wrong ticket. Sian (frustrating) I imagined – what if [it were] not tech savvy aunties and uncles?"

Physical locations in Singapore

Moses said that his mother, who isn’t totally unfamiliar with technology, doesn't know how to redeem the vouchers.

"I think she finds the whole redemption process foreign and intimidating, like there’s a need to download the SingPass app and all.”

For the elderly or those who are unfamiliar with navigating the web, or using their SingPass, they can either:

1) Enlist the help of a more digitally-savvy family member or friend to make the booking on their behalf, or

2) Go to a physical counter available island-wide, many of which are located within Community Centres/ Clubs (CC) or within 5-minute walk from CCs.

For many of older folks that Mothership spoke to, it seems like they are looking to rely on the help of others for this redemption process.

"I’m waiting for my daughter to help me redeem it!"

Sara Heng, 61, told us she has not used her SRVs yet as she "doesn't know how to get it". She also didn't realise that these vouchers can be redeemed at physical locations, including CCs.

Although she's "not sure where to go", Heng said she intends to get someone to help with it.

As for Lilian, 73, she has not redeemed her vouchers because she's waiting for her daughter to check out the "best activity".

Does she hope to use her voucher eventually? "I’m waiting for my daughter to help me redeem it!"

Convenience over everything else

From our conversations, it seems like Singaporeans are mostly keen to use their vouchers.

However, for those who haven't done so, many can be broadly categorised into the following:

• Don't know what to do or haven't found the time to plan something
• Intimidated by the actual redemption process

The entire process that someone has to go through is sometimes perceived to be cumbersome too:

1) Look through a list of activities that are available on various platforms,

2) Coordinate with other people if necessary, and then

3) Make a booking on the site by generating a SRV voucher code using SingPass

Many experience inertia to get to Step 1, and Step 3 is also a hurdle given that people need to actually find out how to go about the redemption process.

Which begs the question: Is there a way to simplify it all?

Other redemption mechanisms?

Amanda opined that utilisation could become more convenient by allowing redemptions of multiple voucher codes in a single order.

She suggested mimicking the way Singapore Airline bookings currently work, where each individual member with a KrisFlyer membership can input their own membership code, to do so.

Others wanted to scrap this online redemption system altogether.

Moses suggested that the government could issue CEPAS cards for this purpose, with a stored value of S$100. These cards could then be used to make payment at various merchants islandwide.

"But this is high-effort and probably takes up even more resources," he added.

"They could mail us [physical] vouchers," Archana suggested, adding that this method would allow people to carry it with them and use it spontaneously if the opportunity arises.

But doing so perhaps wouldn't be very in line with Singapore's move to become a smart nation.

Tough.

Top photo via Guo Xin Goh/Unsplash