2nd Tranche of Grocery Vouchers Will be Hand-Delivered to Households After Cases of People Stealing from Letterboxes

By
Shawn Ambrose
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In a utopian society, citizens respect each other and the law of the land, eliminating the need for police officers, jails, and even safe distancing ambassadors.

Instead, we live in world where people refuse to wear masks and steal grocery vouchers from letterboxes.

Either one of two things has to happen to prevent the latter from occurring again in the future.

  1. Residents need to understand that stealing is wrong, and that these vouchers were given to help needy Singaporeans with their household expenses
  2. The gahmen needs to literally hand these vouchers to the intended recipient to prevent theft

Given that the first is very unlikely to happen, it’s unsurprising that the authorities have chosen to go with the second option.

2nd Tranche of Grocery Vouchers Will be Hand-Delivered to Households After Cases of People Stealing from Letterboxes

For the second tranche of grocery vouchers, eligible recipients need not check their letterboxes, where they will likely see several dents and holes.

Instead, these vouchers will be delivered to the homes of all 150,000 eligible recipients, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Sunday (6 Dec).

MOF said it has made arrangements with Singapore Post for two deliveries to those eligible for the vouchers.

The first delivery will be done over four Saturdays, from 12 Dec 2020 to 2 Jan 2021, by postal code.

If everyone is out queuing for Adidas sneakers outside Foot Locker that day and no one is at home, a second delivery will be made between the following Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

“If the vouchers are not delivered after both attempts, we will leave a delivery notification card for recipients to collect their grocery vouchers at a specified post office within 10 working days,” MOF said.

In other words, no matter what happens, these vouchers are not going anywhere near letterboxes.

And we all know why.

229 Grocery Vouchers Sets Stolen in October

229 of the 150,000 sets of grocery vouchers delivered to eligible recipients in October were reported stolen, as pictures of damaged letterboxes made their way online.

The police have already made 55 arrests, and investigations for other cases are still ongoing.

These figures were given out by Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah in Parliament, who added that the “vast majority” of the grocery vouchers reached their intended recipients “smoothly”.

Moreover, based on investigations by the police, the thefts “appear to be opportunistic and the cases are not linked”, she said.

Helping Needy Families During a Difficult Time

At the 18 Feb Budget, MOF said the grocery vouchers were distributed to “help less well-off Singaporeans with their household expenses during this period of extraordinary economic uncertainty”.

It’s been a tough year for many people, and some of us desperately need financial help.

According to CNA, Singaporeans aged 21 and above this year who live in 1- and 2-room HDB flats, and do not own more than one property, are eligible for these vouchers.

They will receive a total of $300 worth of grocery vouchers in 2020 – $150 in October and another $150 in December.

They will also get a further $100 in October 2021.

Unless thieves start breaking into HDB flats to steal grocery vouchers, all eligible recipients should receive their vouchers without a hitch.

Featured Image: Singapore Police Force

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]