S$300 Grocery Vouchers: Is it safe to distribute them by mail?

Singapore — The Government has begun mailing Grocery Vouchers to people living in 1-room and 2-room HDB flats but a Facebook user has raised concerns about whether this is a safe way to do so.

It seems that there have been cases of letter boxes being tampered with and the vouchers, which are considered as good as cash, being stolen.

On Saturday (Oct 3), Facebook user Muhd Hxrry Hxmzxh uploaded a post in Complaint Singapore’s page with the caption, “Do you think that it is safe for the grocery vouchers to be mail(ed) to our mailbox?”

All Singaporeans aged 21 and above, who live in 1-room or 2-room HDB flats and do not own more than one property, will receive the Grocery Vouchers.

The support scheme is a part of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Voucher benefits that have been disbursed to Singaporeans during the month of August since 2012. This year, 1.4 million Singaporeans will be receiving their GSTV benefits amounting to S$570 million distributed through various support schemes such as a one-time cash top-up of up to S$300 credited directly into their bank accounts beginning Aug 1.

The Grocery Vouchers will be delivered this month and in December 2020. Another batch of vouchers worth S$100 is scheduled to be delivered in 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) website. The vouchers can be used at participating supermarkets, such as FairPrice, Giant, Prime and Sheng Siong.

Based on the photo that Muhd Hxrry Hxmzxh provided in his post, the vouchers are already being disbursed. However, an unfortunate situation confirming his question on the mode of delivery was shared by Facebook user Nueng Tjoeklhe-Bambang Soejono.

She posted a screenshot of a comment by someone who had seen four elderly women crying while looking at their broken letterbox. The anonymous individual was on the way to collect the vouchers. This person said: “When I approached them, they said their voucher has been stolen. One of them literally begging for people to find the person who did this.”

Nueng Tjoeklhe-Bambang Soejono added that she felt sad for the elderly women.

Some of those who agreed that it might not be safe to mail the vouchers suggested that those eligible for them should collect them, for example from the CC.

/TISG