Those who mistakenly threw away pamphlet may have to wait 4-12 weeks to redeem their oximeter

Ho also called for patience and said that Temasek Foundation's call centre was ramping up its capacity.

Matthias Ang | July 10, 2021, 06:43 PM

People who threw away their oximeter pamphlets by mistake and have asked for help may have to wait four  to 12 weeks for investigations to be carried out, Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching wrote in a Facebook post.

Temasek Foundation had to deal with 10 times the number of expected calls

According to Ho, the Temasek Foundation's call centre has been dealing with 10 times the number of expected phone calls, with people reporting that they had either thrown away their pamphlets with the oximeters, or had yet to receive it.

She also noted that some members of the public had said that the call centre was busy while others had emailed Temasek Foundation.

As such, the call centre has been particularly busy on the first few days of the week.

Ho asks for patience, adds that call centre is ramping up capacity

Ho added that the number of calls has tapered down since then however.

In addition, the call centre staff are "working as hard as they can" and have been working to expand capacity, while handling "backend tie ups to Singpost and others", she said.

Ho then broke down how the various common issues would be addressed:

  • If it is a case of not receiving the pamphlet yet, the matter will be escalated to Singpost for investigation.
  • If it is a case of the pamphlet being thrown away, the matter will be escalated to the Temasek Foundation Oximeter team.

    • Here, Ho said that relevant information should be provided. An example she provides is of elderly parents throwing away the pamphlet by mistake
    • The investigation may then take up to four to 12 weeks.

  • Should Singpost have already confirmed that the oximeters have been delivered to their letterboxes, members of the public should either check with other household members or email Temasek Foundation to appeal for further investigation, in case there has been theft.

Ho also highlighted that the majority of cases involving faulty oximeters had largely been due to battery issues.

More than 500,000 oximeters collected as of July 8

Turning to some figures, Ho said that more than 500,000 oximeters had been collected by the public as of July 8.

Some pharmacies which had run out of oximeters were restocked prior to the weekend, while supermarkets have "ample supplies" she highlighted.

Ho also stressed that the public could not use their NRIC to collect a oximeter.

"Collection is strictly in exchange for the redemption tab that came with the pamphlet," she said.

Details

Here are the details should people wish to contact the Temasek Foundation about the oximeter:

Phone number: 1800 738 2000

Email: [email protected]

Left photo via Ho Ching Facebook, right photo by Karen Lui