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Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. The SingapoRediscovers vouchers for tourist attractions, tours and hotel bookings will be given out via SingPass. Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. A S$10 subsidy will also be provided for children and youth tickets for attractions and tours, said the STB. Each adult may purchase up to six children or youth tickets at subsidised prices during the duration of the scheme. Announcing the details on Wednesday (Sep 16), Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said the move will help the local tourism industry, which has been battered by the COVID-19. “This is not a social assistance scheme. This is an economic scheme to help our tourist attractions to preserve their capabilities that have been built up over the years, while they consolidate capacity in the interim,” Mr Chan told reporters at the Jurong Bird Park. The vouchers will be provided in denominations of S$10 via SingPass, and may be used to purchase tickets for attractions and tours, and accommodation bookings at licensed hotels, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a separate fact sheet on Wednesday. More details on the redemption mechanism will be announced in November. STB will be calling a tender to appoint the platform providers for the redemption of the vouchers, said chief executive Keith Tan. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in August that the Government would give out S$320 million worth of vouchers to encourage Singaporeans to support local tourism businesses. The scheme will complement the ongoing SingapoRediscovers campaign launched in July, said the STB. More than 200 deals and bundled packages have been launched “to encourage locals to explore different precincts and aspects of life of Singapore”, the STB said. The vouchers will provide more encouragement for Singaporeans to do so, it added. All licensed hotels, tourist attractions and tours that have been approved by the STB to operate or reopen can benefit from this scheme. "We're working out the economic impact now, but certainly we do expect a return, not necessarily to the Government but obviously to the merchants. From the response we've seen so far, even from the initial SingapoRediscovers campaign, the merchants have responded very positively," said Mr Tan. "There is clearly a sense that they are responding, and the reason why they're responding is that they must see there is commercial return of interest and return of benefits to them," Mr Tan added. Mr Chan said he expects merchants to benefit from a "multiplier effect". “We’ll expect a certain multiplier effect because when people come here, they will also spend on other things ... So for example, they can use this to pay off the tickets or defer the cost of the tickets for coming in. But when they come in, they will spend on some of the F&B and other services that the attractions, hotels or the tours provide," said Mr Chan. “We think that there will be a catalytic effect. As to the exact extent of the catalytic effect, it will be hard to predict at this point in time, but we hope that is at least a few times what we have provided for in the Budget,” he added. Responding to questions on why the vouchers may not be used for F&B and retail purchases, Mr Chan said: "It's a balance between which sector we want to target, and also the simplicity in the administration so that people who (have) the vouchers can actually use it in a most convenient way. That's how we have designed the system." Thanking tourist attractions for “putting in an effort” to put safe management measures in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Chan said: “The other thing that they have done very well over the last few months or so was to help us work out the arrangement to have safe cohorting for the live performances.” From Sep 18, attractions that have received approval to resume operations can apply to the STB to increase their operating capacity from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, subject to approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Attractions can also apply to increase the capacity of their number of outdoor shows to five zones, with 50 people in one zone, subject to safe management measures. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singaporediscovers-tourism-vouchers-chan-chun-sing-covid-19-13115702 in before haters gonna hate n negative comments as highlighted its an economic scheme meant to help the tourism sector with many livelihoods at stakes do our part or jus dont use the vouchers lor why need to kpkb so much so many negative comments on fb from ppl who dont get the whole point behind the tourism vouchers there r many ppl struggling out there n wud prefer more social assistance schemes to tide them thru n so may not understand these vouchers are targeted to help those in the tourism biz to secure their jobs n prevent the tourism n sector industry from collapsing with our borders closed to tourism now n in the near future even locals spending may not be of much help but can help jiu help? for those who still have jobs n wanna bring ur kids out. bt maybe shd have given to those under 18 toooo la

Yeah :) A very welcome SG50 present for our Singapore :)) Singapore Botanic Gardens clinches prestigious Unesco World Heritage site status http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-botanic-gardens-clinches-prestigious-unesco-world-heritage-site-status BONN, GERMANY - The nation has its first Unesco World Heritage Site in the bag. The 156-year-old Singapore Botanic Gardens was awarded the coveted status at the 39th World Heritage Committee meeting in Bonn, Germany on Saturday. The listing was announced at the International Conference Centre of Bonn by the chair of the session Ruchira Kamboj, a delegate of India to Unesco. All 21 members of the World Heritage Committee elected to speak on the Gardens nomination. They lauded its various qualities, and gave it a resounding "yes". This is something we all Singaporeans should be proud of :))

this morning brought my family to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, reportedly the largest children's garden in Asia after the official opening of the extension on 10 Nov 2017. a really fun place to bring your kids there as the whole place is specially designed for kids (duh). theres a Food for Thought (Tots) there for brunch as well, with kids meals, and the food and pricing is quite decent. have to go there early as parking is limited. too bad we didnt stay for long, as our kids were crying to go home. more info can be found in the links below: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-parks-and-nature/parks-and-nature-reserves/jacob-ballas-childrens-garden http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/jacob-ballas-childrens-garden-now-largest-asia-after-s12-million-extension some photos from this morning. interactive wall at the entrance, very popular with the kids water play area gravel area with cranking devices to power LEDs central pond sand pit hedge maze for kids wooden playground suspension bridge entrance to Food for Tots

Hi All, Yesterday, I was a victim of hit-and-run accident. My car was parked at road side lot at Tyersall Avenue to attend the wedding at Halia Restaurant. When I came back to my car after wedding, I had found that there was a big dent on the right side of the fender. I can't believe that it was happened. Regret that I didn't install in-car cam which I already had (a gift from my friend). Driver side door was not able to open due to fender alignment. The detail; Location: Tyersall Ave (lot 25A) Date: 22 Dec 2012 Time: Between 12 to 3pm (Clear day) Car Make: VW Golf March Although chances are slim, hopefully there was witness to this accident. My holiday trip was ruined because of this accident.

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews...801-292162.html f--kers la...take photo onli also cannot... why angmor so liddat... A family who wanted to take some photos at Botanic Gardens' Swan Lake Gazebo were shooed away by a group of Caucasians who claimed that they had 'booked' the venue. The reader, cheery, wrote to online citizen journalism website STOMP, saying that they saw a group of foreigners laying their mat in the centre of the pavilion with brownies and curry puffs. Thinking that they were about to have a party, cheery approached them to ask whether they could take photos at one of the four available benches in the pavilion. They were rejected by one of the foreigners, who said that they could not be there because they had booked the place. When they tried to verify their booking, they were shooed away and told to go to the information counter. "Upon our last plea for them to spare us just three minutes to take a photo, he replied rudely 'Which part of I've booked this place do you not understand!'" wrote cheery. The reader then went to the National Parks (NParks) information counter and learned that despite having a booking, they were required to share it with the public should they request it. When confronted and told of this rule by the NParks, cheery said that the foreigners became extremely rude and one of them even shouted that they had a right to the place since they booked it. "When he told his friends and family members about the incident, they even raised their voice and exclaimed, 'This is ridiculous!' "Thoroughly embarrassed by the ruckus and stares we have attracted, we eventually left without taking a photo," wrote cheery. Remind me of this scene

The performance will be at 6pm . . . classical music. Any bro going?? I'll be packing a picnic and heading down around 5pm The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (Sun) Venue : Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage Time : 6pm - 7pm Contact : Visitor Services (6471 7361) Join Maestro Lim Yau as he guides the Symphony over the 60min performance in the Gardens! As this is last outdoor performance in the Gardens, mark your calendars now! The evening's pieces for your enjoyment. SUPP

Hi I heard that on every first Sunday of each month, there will be orchids for sale at the botanic garden . . . can i ask anyone being there before and whether how the variety and price?