'My whole chicken is here' — Singaporeans react to latest tranche of CDC Vouchers worth S$500

SINGAPORE: On Tuesday (May 13), Prime Minister (PM) Lawrence Wong announced that a new round of Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers worth S$500 may now be claimed and used. These vouchers are intended to help Singaporean households cope with increased living costs.

PM Wong was at the event to launch the latest round of CDC Vouchers at the Nee Soon South Community Club with Singapore’s five mayors: Mohd Fahmi Aliman, Desmond Choo, Low Yen Ling, Denise Phua, and Alex Yam.

The vouchers may be claimed here, where users will need to log in through their SingPass details. Every household with at least one Singaporean may redeem S$500 in vouchers. Singaporeans who need help claiming the vouchers digitally, including those who do not have smartphones or need help with their log-in credentials, will receive additional assistance at community centres and SG Digital Community Hubs.

For the vouchers, an amount of S$250 may be spent at participating heartland hawkers and merchants, and the other S$250 at Ang Mo Supermarket, Cold Storage, Giant Singapore, HAO Mart, NTUC FairPrice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong, and U Stars Supermarket. They are valid until Dec 31, 2025.

The Prime Minister said that because the government is committed to extending help as long as necessary, this latest distribution of CDC vouchers is not a "one-off exercise."

The Prime Minister said, ”We will continue to review and update, and strengthen our social support system across different areas—be it housing, healthcare, education, or retirement.”

He had expressed similar sentiments when he announced the national Budget on Feb 18, saying that each Singaporean household would receive S$800 in CDC vouchers this year. The vouchers for the remaining S$300 will be issued in January 2026.

This year, S$300 worth of vouchers were already given in January.

Many Singaporeans expressed their gratitude for receiving the latest round of CDC vouchers, although, rather predictably, the announcement sparked a spate of "chicken" jokes. The colloquialism “give chicken wing, take back whole chicken” is sometimes used to portray how people feel about what they get back for the taxes they pay. One Facebook user wrote that he is "getting the whole chicken…thank you," while a Reddit user crowed, "My whole chicken is here." Another joked that this tranche of vouchers is "KFC-sized." One commenter on Reddit quipped, "Can I give them back this chicken wing (S$500) and claim back a whole chicken (S$5000) instead?" /TISG

Read also: Grace Fu earns huge backlash for subverting the “give chicken wing, take back whole chicken” phrase