Residents in MacPherson can get subsidised meals at hawker centres as part of a new $216,000 food support initiative launched on April 12.
The programme, MacPherson Jiak Ba Buay (Hokkien for "have you eaten"), will benefit up to 2,400 households and boost local hawker businesses.
The scheme was launched by MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling on the morning of April 12 at Geylang East Market and Food Centre.
To qualify for this initiative, residents need to be Singapore citizens who hold a valid blue or orange Chas card, or have a monthly household per capita income of $2,300 or less. They can register at MacPherson Community Club to get these vouchers.
Each eligible household will receive a bundle of 15 $3 vouchers. These vouchers, which can be used to offset the cost of meals, will be valid for use until March 2026.
There will be about 137 participating hawker stalls from Geylang East Market and Food Centre, as well as the hawker centres at 79/79A, 80 and 89 Circuit Road. Participating stalls will display a MacPherson Jiak Ba Buay decal.
This programme was a move to address residents' concerns over rising costs of living, said Ms Tin.
While there are other schemes such as the MacPherson Marketplace which offers cheaper groceries, Ms Tin noted that residents told her that they hope to "consume more confidently" at hawker centres, which was why her team came up with this food support initiative.
She hopes that the vouchers will allow residents to buy food that they want and keep themselves full, in addition to providing support for local hawkers.
Ms Tin added that over the past one to two weeks, 1,140 applicants had registered for the programme prior to its launch.
On whether the initiative will be expanded, Ms Tin said her team will continue raising funds to run this scheme until 2026, adding that this is just one of the many tools extended to low-income residents in MacPherson.
Residents interviewed by The Straits Times welcomed the voucher programme, including Mr William Tan, 71, who is looking forward to using the vouchers whenever he eats at nearby hawker centres.
The part-time coffee shop attendant is satisfied with the quantity of vouchers being distributed, and does not mind forking out some cash if his meal costs more than $3.
Hawkers who spoke to ST hope that the vouchers will attract more customers to their stalls.
Among them is Ms Lim Yen Huan, 63, who runs a kway chap stall at Geylang East Market and Food Centre. She hopes that business will improve with these vouchers, noting that around 10 customers have bought food from her using these vouchers within the first 1½ hours of the launch event - where the vouchers were first distributed.
Even though MacPherson SMC will be absorbed by the newly renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in the upcoming election, Ms Tin said that the programmes that have already been introduced in MacPherson will proceed as normal.
She added that her team will continue raising funds to support these initiatives, in addition to getting feedback from residents on the usefulness of these programmes.
"Then, at the GRC level, obviously as a team, we'll always be constantly communicating with each other," said Ms Tin.
Citing the recently launched Caregiver Support Fund as an example of addressing common needs on a larger scale, she said that it is a two-pronged approach, where programmes are designed at the local level to address unique needs.
But if there are common problems faced across the GRC, she said these local programmes can be introduced across the entire GRC.
