You may have heard that you will be entitled to $100 worth of CDC vouchers from the 2021 Budget.
However, you may not have collected your vouchers yet! Should you be worried?
Here’s what you need to know about the CDC voucher scheme:
Contents
What is a CDC voucher?
The CDC voucher is given to eligible households to offset the increased cost of living in Singapore. Since these vouchers are only usable at hawker centres and local merchants at the heartland areas, the vouchers will help to support these local businesses as well.
This scheme was started by the 5 Community Development Councils (CDCs) in Singapore, which are:
Depending on where you are staying, you will belong to one of these 5 CDCs.
Each CDC voucher comes in denominations of $2. These vouchers will be distributed by your respective council.
Who is eligible for the CDC voucher?
To qualify for the CDC voucher scheme, you will need to be a lower-income household that is identified by your respective CDC. However, as part of Budget 2021, all Singaporean households are eligible for $100 worth of CDC vouchers.
Initially, the CDC voucher scheme was started in 2020 to support Singapore’s economy in 2 ways:
- Help lower income households manage with the costs of living
- Support local merchants and hawkers at HDB estates and heartlands
The first round of CDC vouchers were distributed to 400,000 households. These were mainly the lower income households in Singapore.
In the 2021 Budget, it was announced that all Singaporean households will be eligible for $100 worth of these vouchers.
If you belong to one of the 1.3 million Singaporean households, you should receive the $100 CDC voucher that was announced in the 2021 Budget.
With this new scheme, it may be possible that lower income households may continue to receive these vouchers every year.
However, for the more well-to-do households, you will only receive the one-time $100 CDC voucher from the 2021 Budget.
How do I apply for the CDC voucher scheme?
You do not need to apply for the CDC voucher scheme. If you are eligible for the CDC vouchers, you will be identified by your respective CDC council. The council will provide you with further details for collecting the vouchers.
There is no need for you to apply for the vouchers. Instead, you’ll need to wait for your respective CDC to notify you regarding your eligibility for the vouchers.
When can I collect my CDC vouchers?
You will be able to collect your CDC voucher after receiving a letter notification from your respective CDC council. You will be given a designated date to visit a nearby community club or centre and produce any NRIC from the household.
Where can I use my CDC vouchers?
You are able to use your CDC vouchers at any of the 5,000 participating heartland shops or hawker centre stalls. These merchants would have to sign up under the CDC voucher scheme and display the decal at the front of the stall.
Most of the shops where you can use these vouchers are the local stores or hawker centres in your neighbourhood.
If you want to use the vouchers at a certain stall, you will need to make sure that they have the CDC voucher decal!
This may be rather confusing as each individual hawker or stall has to apply to participate in the scheme. If they did not apply under the CDC voucher scheme, you will be unable to use the vouchers to offset your payments.
It is possible that in the same hawker centre, some stalls are participating in the scheme, while other stalls are not.
There are quite a few lists that show all of the participating merchants. To find out which merchants are eligible in your area, you will need to visit the website of your respective CDC to view the full list:
Where can I use my CDC vouchers in South East?
Here are some places where you can use your CDC vouchers in South East:
| Address | Category |
|---|---|
| 16 Bedok South Road | Food and Beverages |
| 58 New Upper Changi Road | Food and Beverages |
| 253 Serangoon Central Drive | Food and Beverages |
| 84 Bedok North Street 4 | Food and Beverages |
| 6 Eunos Crescent | Minimart |
| 1 Geylang Serai | Miscellaneous |
| 25A Chai Chee Road | Miscellaneous |
Where can I use my CDC vouchers in Tampines?
Here are some places where you can use your CDC vouchers in Tampines:
| Address | Category |
|---|---|
| 201 Tampines St 21 | Food and Beverages |
| 476 Tampines St 44 | Food and Beverages |
| 504 Tampines Central 1 | Clinic |
| 824 Tampines St 81 | Food and Beverages |
| 829 Tampines St 81 Tampines | Food Court |
| 823A Tampines St 81 | Wet Market |
| 201 Tampines Street 21 | Minimart |
| 8 Tampines Central 1 Eastlink Mall | KouFu Food Court |
The full list of eligible merchants in Tampines can be found in the North East CDC website.
Where can I use my CDC vouchers in Yishun?
Here are some addresses where you can use your CDC vouchers in Yishun:
| Address | Category |
|---|---|
| Blk 101 Yishun Ave 5 | Food and Beverages |
| Blk 293 Yishun Street 22 | Food and Beverages |
| Blk 761 Yishun Street 72 | Food and Beverages |
| Blk 101 Yishun Ave 5 | Medical Hall |
The North West CDC has separated out the merchants in Yishun, which makes it much more readable. You can go to their website and select the merchants in Nee Soon GRC.
Where can I use my CDC vouchers in Woodlands?
Here are some places where you can use your CDC vouchers in Woodlands:
| Address | Category |
|---|---|
| Blk 548 Woodlands Drive 44 | KouFu Food Court |
| Blk 676 Woodlands Drive 71 | Miscellaneous |
| Blk 768 Woodlands Ave 6 | Food and Beverage |
| 27 Woodlands Link | Food and Beverage |
| 883 Woodlands Street 82 | Wet Market |
Again, the North West CDC has nicely placed most of the Woodlands merchants under the Sembawang GRC list.
Where can I use my CDC vouchers in Ang Mo Kio?
Here are some places where you can use your CDC vouchers in Ang Mo Kio:
| Address | Category |
|---|---|
| Blk 532 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 | Food and Beverage |
| Blk 722 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 | Food and Beverage |
| Blk 628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 | Food and Beverage |
| Blk 631 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 | Miscellaneous |
Ang Mo Kio is under the Central CDC. Unfortunately, the list of merchants is grouped by the CDC division.
As such, the merchants in Ang Mo Kio are not found in running order!
Can I use my CDC vouchers in NTUC, Giant or Sheng Siong?
You are unable to use your CDC vouchers to offset your spending in supermarkets such as NTUC, Giant or Sheng Siong. This is because the CDC voucher scheme is meant to support heartland shops and hawker centres, and not large scale businesses like these supermarket chains.
If you look at the merchant list that is found on CDC’s website, you will notice that you can’t find any NTUC, Giant or Sheng Siong supermarkets on that list.
Instead, you will find some local minimarts or ‘mama’ shops, such as Hao mart.
In fact, some of these stores can act as ATMs too. You are able to go to these stores and withdraw cash by using the SoCash app.
This is because the aim of the CDC vouchers is to support local merchants and hawkers. These are mainly small businesses that are impacted by COVID-19.
By having these vouchers, it is hoped that we will patronise hawkers and these local merchants. This will help to give these businesses extra sales during these trying times.
As such, the CDC vouchers were not meant to be used at supermarket chains such as NTUC, Giant or Sheng Siong.
However, you are able to use your CDC vouchers at Prime Supermarkets. Here are some of the outlets that you can use your vouchers at:
| District | Address |
|---|---|
| Jalan Kayu | Blk 991 Buangkok Link #01-28 |
| Jalan Kayu | Blk 542B Serangoon North Ave 3 #02-01 |
| Kampong Glam | Blk 803 King George Ave #01-154 |
| Potong Pasir | Blk 106 Bidadari Park Drive #01-06 |
Why haven’t I received my CDC voucher yet?
The CDC vouchers that have been distributed thus far are those for lower income households as part of the 2020 Budget. Currently, there has been no updates from the government regarding the $100 CDC voucher that every Singaporean household is entitled to.
So far, there has been 2 tranches of CDC vouchers that have been distributed:
These vouchers were distributed from the 2020 Budget.
In a Facebook post by CDC, I happened to chance upon this comment:
Even though the CDC voucher scheme was announced in Budget 2021, they still need some time to finalise the details of this distribution.
As such, you may still have to wait a while before you will be able to receive your CDC vouchers!
Conclusion
If you have not received a letter notification regarding your CDC vouchers, don’t panic yet!
The government has not made any announcement yet regarding the $100 CDC vouchers that every household is entitled to from the 2021 Budget.
So far, only 2 tranches of the CDC vouchers have been distributed. Both of them were only given to lower income households!
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