George Yang, Author at Goody Feed

I bet my boss’ car that when you think of NTUC, this comes to your mind: After all, who would say, “Let’s go FairPrice”? Yet, on the other hand, you do know that NTUC isn’t just about the supermarket that has grown up with us. You know there are NTUC Income and NTUC Foodfare, and that could just be it. But do you know what NTUC really is? Are they part of NTU (some jokers in the office seriously thought of that), or are they a Government organization? Well, NTUC itself is a national confederation of trade unions (okay, this one too chim, you don’t need to know), and there's a group of NTUC Social Enterprises under NTUC other than just FairPrice, Income and Foodfare. NTUC Social Enterprises comprise of the following: NTUC FairPrice NTUC Income NTUC First Campus NTUC LearningHub NTUC Foodfare NTUC Link (the linkpoint thingy you’re familiar with) NTUC Health (this includes eldercare services that integrate technology and rehabilitation) Mercatus (bringing NTUC Social Enterprises closer to you) MoneyOwl (provides non-commissioned-based advisors to improve the financial security and retirement adequacy of working families) So yes, they’re everywhere. But what exactly do the social enterprises do? To explore the strange new world? To seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before? Just like the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek? Image: Grzegorz Czapski / Shutterstock.com For a start, the main misconception is that since they're social enterprises, their priority isn’t profit. That’s wrong: without revenue, the organization wouldn’t be able to support the men and women running the enterprises. However, its main priority isn’t profit: profits are made so that the organization can be run seamlessly, but its primary goal is to enable and empower all in Singapore to live better and more meaningful lives. It does so by creating a greater social force to do good by harnessing the capabilities of the individual social enterprises to meet pressing social needs in areas like health and eldercare, childcare, daily essentials, cooked food and financial services. Now, I’ll quote an example: remember the proposed acquisition of Kopitiam by NTUC Foodfare? If NTUC Foodfare’s primary goal isn’t profit, so why buy over a profit-driven company? Simple: with more food centres under the umbrella of NTUC Foodfare, hawkers all over Singapore cannot anyhowly increase their price all at once and force consumers to accept their new price. NTUC Foodfare would cap it so we as consumers would always have hawker food at reasonable prices. Another good example would be the N95 saga: remember how the price jacked up when demand spiked? Our dear NTUC FairPrice came in, capped the price in their outlets and everyone has access to N95 masks at a reasonable price. Now you can see how the “capabilities of the social enterprises” are being “harnessed”. While this is a sponsored post, we’ve always thought of NTUC as the unsung heroes of society, keeping the status quo intact behind the scene. Just read our other articles and you’ll know where we stand (actually is where the boss stands lah, but where he stands is where we stand too because he’s handsome like that. And, he's paying our salary). So what’s with the long wall of text about NTUC Social Enterprises? I know you’re just here for the deals, but come on: you’ve got know the backstory before diving into the deals, right? The individual social enterprises are often innovative to dish out deals and promotions, and after breaking into NTUC Social Enterprises’ office and kidnapping one of their staff, we’ve managed to find these ten deals that’ll make you love them even more. Though I think that staff member hates us now. Cai Png from $1.50 (from NTUC Foodfare) Image: foodfare.com.sg Firstly, a disclaimer: Goody Feed human beings love cai png because we’re low-SES like that. And one of us loves Rice Garden’s cai png so much, he die-die has to write an article about even when it was not approved by the editorial team yet. Rice Garden is a cai png chain by Foodfare, and according to my colleague, it’s one of the best-est cai pngs he’s tried, though I’m not certain if he takes price into consideration since it’s relatively cheaper than typical cai png stalls. But that’s not what the deal is all about: it’s an even better deal. If you’re a ComCare cardholder or a Foodfare Privilege cardholder, it’ll cost from $1.50 for 2 veg and 1 meat. If you’re a concession cardholder (i.e. senior citizens, students or NSFs) or NTUC Union members, it’ll cost from $2.00 for 2 veg and 1 meat. I guess I won’t need to tell you that it’s dirt cheap. And as for the taste, here’s a snippet of my colleague’s review: You see, to me, cai png has two versions: the Singapore / Malaysia style and the China style. Recently, there has been more China style cai png, which in my opinion just isn’t for an old man like me as I’ve been having the Singapore / Malaysia style for decades. The SG / MY style is usually less salty with more gravy, while the China style has much more taste but is usually drier. Sometimes, they even offer mantous instead of rice. Rice Garden belongs to the SG / MY style. Some cai pngs have moved on to a fusion of SG / MY / China style, but the Rice Garden outlets I’ve been to all remain rooted to the SG / MY Style. Old-school dishes like sweet and sour pork cubes are still crispy even after I’ve dabao-ed it home, and curry dishes like curry vegetable remains soft and sweet, as though it has been cooked for days. Disclosure: he’s really quite old. For more information about this deal, click here. Health Screening with Rewards (from NTUC Income) A wise man once said, “Prevention is better than cure.” I concur. If I’ve not eaten that laksa, I won’t have to go to the toilet every two hours yesterday night. But I digress. For $15, you can do a health screening and if you’re healthy, you’ll get a special gift, a discount on their insurance premiums and even a $50 CapitaVoucher. I hate to say this, but it seems like this innovative way to keep us healthy is working for me. I’m thinking of going for it…after I’ve exercised enough. You can find more information here. NTUC Good Start Bundle (from various social enterprises) Image: ntucgoodstart.sg Just became a parent? Well, NTUC Social Enterprises are coming together to put together an array of freebies for you. The best part is that it’s absolutely FREE. This is for babies born between 2016 and 2019, and here are some of the freebies: Baby items (like milk powder) worth up to $100 by FairPrice Free entry to The Little Skool-House Early Literacy Centre (ELC) at Downtown East by NTUC First Campus NTUC Income Complimentary one-year health insurance coverage Free lifetime Plus! Membership So come on, couples: do your national service and get the freebie! For more info, click here. FairPrice Housebrands Products Priced At Least 10% Cheaper Here's a simple grocery shopping hack that almost nobody knows. Buy house brands. They're cheaper by at least 10% cheaper but of the same quality. Image: fairprice.com.sg We're talking rice, vegetables, home and office solutions, anything you need to live a life in Singapore, basically. You can find more information here. Up to 20 cents off healthier drink options at Foodfare Are you someone who drinks kopi or teh every single morning? Or every time you visit a coffee shop? Either way, Foodfare is making it more worthwhile to go healthy. Image: NTUC Being told that the lifestyle you lead right now is going make you die ten years earlier isn't going to work. Because that's the future you, and most of us can't link it to the current you right now. So they're going about it in a different way, by giving you direct benefits today. Enjoy up to 20 cents off your beverages when you get the healthier option of your usual drinks. For Kopi/Teh O Kosong, Kopi/Teh C Kosong and Milo Kosong 20c off at food courts and coffee shops 10c off at hawker centres But, of course lah, must be Foodfare hor. Singapore’s first clinically-approved low-GI ready meals by Chef’s Finest Since we're on the topic of healthier options and diabetes, here's another one for you guys. Chef's Finest is offering a new range of ready-to-eat meals available at selected FairPrice outlets. Image: chefsfinest.com.sg The best part? The new range will be Singapore's first low-GI ready meals approved for diabetics. And when we say approved, we mean they were run through tests and clinically approved. Image: memegenerator.net NTUC Foodfare worked together with Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore's first GI accredited facility in the region for over a year to developed these low-GI meals that are suitable for diabetic people. Plus, these low-GI meals will also help general consumers manage their diet better and lower the risk of diabetes. Don't anyhow, anyhow hor. Earn 2 LinkPoints for every $1 Do you have a Plus! card? It could be the $10 one. Image: plus.com.sg Or the one you have to pay a membership fee for. Image: plus.com.sg Anything goes. But you absolutely have to get one. Why? Because just how like credit card users typically chose the card with the best rewards, the Plus! card is the best card for grocery shopping at FairPrice outlets. I mean, think about it. You have to get daily necessities anyway. And most young people today don't have the time (or habit) to go to the markets. That makes FairPrice the next logical and most cost-effective place to go to. After all, a Plus! card will net you LinkPoints whenever you spend at any NTUC social enterprise: FairPrice & Unity: 2 LinkPoints for every $1 spent Foodfare: 2 LinkPoints for every $1 top-up LearningHub: 2 LinkPoints for every $1 spent And these LinkPoints can be used for rebates or to exchange for vouchers and discounts. You can find the full list of rewards here. By the way...if you don't have a card and you're convinced to take one up, they're having a promotion going on right now. Simply download the Plus! app and you'll get a free lifetime membership with them and up to $100 worth of vouchers and deals. Don't say bojio hor! Over 80% of LearningHub courses are eligible for SkillsFuture credits Image: Prasit Rodphan / Shutterstock.com When does learning stop? After you've graduated from university? If you've thought that way, good luck to you. Because that's not how the world works. Learning can never stop, especially now when every single job is no longer an iron ricebowl. But upgrading your skills can be pretty tedious and pricey. Not every one of us can afford to fork out $1,000 a month to get a professional certificate. That's where LearningHub from NTUC comes in. Not only do they offer courses to help you keep up with the changing world today, but 80% of their courses can also be paid for via SkillsFuture credits. Here's a refresher of what SkillsFuture credit is if you've not utilised them yet. From soft skills to hard ones like coding and more, you can find them all here. Not sure what you really want to learn? LearningHub offers $20 bite-size trial courses for you to wet your feet before you finally jump into the course that you want. Kind of like sampling bakkwa before you buy 10 kg worth for CNY. 2% discount for seniors at FairPrice and Unity Pharmacy on Tue Every Tuesday, senior citizens who buy from FairPrice and Unity Pharmacy will enjoy a 2% discount on their purchases. Image: ZDL / Shutterstock.com All they have to do is to flash their senior citizen card and voila! Instant discount. Now, while 2% might not count as much, if you were to calculate how many senior citizens purchase from them, it's going to add up to a hefty amount. So next time you know who to bring for your next grocery shopping liao, right? Bring your ah ma or ah gong to FairPrice outlets on Tuesdays. And you can skip the queue because there's a priority queue for the elderly at the cashier. Hello one stone, meet two birds NTUC Social Enterprises By now, you should have more or less understood the direction of the NTUC social enterprises. So here’s one tip: next time, when you’re going to FairPrice and someone said, “Let’s go NTUC!”, go ahead and tell him or her the direction of NTUC Social Enterprises. Image: goodthingsmustshare.sg Even if that person is not impressed, you’ll sound like a smart fellow. After all, studies by two Goody Feed cats state that reading Goody Feed articles would make you a tad smarter, isn’t it? Interested to know more? We're talking more than just Don't Say Bojio deals like what we've written about here in this article. They have a suite of more than 60 benefits that help Singaporeans like you and me deal with the cost of living in Singapore. We're saying rebates, rewards and more in six different categories: Image: goodthingsmustshare.sg You can visit their website for more information. This article was first published on Goody Feed and written in collaboration with NTUC Social Enterprises.

George Yang

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