Did you know that you can use Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers to buy services, such as massages  and manicures, besides spending on food and groceries?

The ability to use CDC vouchers at certain massage parlours, often found in the heartland areas of Singapore, has come under scrutiny online.

These massage parlours often offer their services with suggestive advertisements, such as "Prostate Care Massage" and "Volcano Tantra Massage", with the use of images of women on posters advertising massage treatments.

"Suit your body's aching needs"

Since the disbursement of the CDC vouchers in early January 2024, there has been a rise in merchants promoting their services on social media with an emphasis on CDC vouchers being used as a payment method.

The massage parlours in question often promote their services on social media using photos of the women, who are supposedly part of their stable of masseuses, along with their nationality.

The accompanying captions and posters include phrases such as "treatments" that "suit your body's aching needs".

One parlour in Yishun updated its Facebook page soon after the announcement of the CDC voucher collection, saying that customers can now use the vouchers as a form of payment.

A quick scroll through their page, which has almost 6,000 followers, showed numerous posts of female masseuses.

They also have a service called "Soul Oil Massage", which they describe as a "full body massage that also includes a therapeutic focus on the prostate care, muscle of the buttocks, inguinal of inner thigh".

Another place in Ang Mo Kio with over 3,000 Facebook followers posted about the inclusion of CDC vouchers as a payment method, along with their selection of masseuses that provide "Prostate Care Massage".

A quick check on Facebook revealed posts dating back to 2021, where such shops offering massage services claimed CDC vouchers could be used.

However, most do not appear to offer "prostate massage services" or feature attractive masseuses.

Heartland massage shops that offer illicit services going under the radar are not unheard of though.

According to those who claim they are familiar with such services, they revealed in online discussions that CDC vouchers might not be used specifically for "illicit services".

One person explained that the shops only accept CDC vouchers for payment for "normal services", while payment for "illicit services" would usually be made directly to the masseuse using cash.

Will remove merchants if found to offer prohibited goods and illicit services: CDC

According to the CDC's website, merchants in the heartlands can register their interest in the CDC vouchers scheme with the CDC ambassadors or their councils.

In response to Mothership's queries, the CDC said it will work with relevant agencies to look into the matter if there are complaints or reports of participating local heartland merchants allowing the sale of prohibited goods or illicit services.

"We will not hesitate to remove local merchants from the scheme if they are found to offer prohibited goods and illicit services, which breaches our terms and conditions set out when the merchant first enrolled onto the scheme," CDC said.

It added that it will continue to review participating local heartland merchants in the scheme.

"We also urge members of the public that should they come across instances of local merchants accepting CDC Vouchers for the purchase of prohibited goods and illicit services, they may contact PA at 62255322, or call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness," CDC said.

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Top photos via Facebook