Only 10% of SG Culture Pass Money Spent After One Year

One year ago, Singapore gave its residents a special arts credit called the SG Culture Pass. Every Singaporean aged 18 and older received $100 to spend on local arts, culture, and heritage events. But after a full year, only about 10 per cent of the $300 million set aside for the programme has actually been used. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, known as MCCY, shared this update on September 1.

Out of three million Singaporeans who were eligible, only 411,000 people — about 14 per cent — have spent some or all of their credits. Young people between the ages of 18 and 35 made up the largest group of spenders, at 43 per cent of total credits used. Adults between 36 and 54 came in second at 38 per cent, while seniors aged 55 and above used only 19 per cent of the credits spent so far. This shows that older Singaporeans have been much slower to take part in the scheme.

To help seniors get involved, MCCY is building a new tool called the Group-Assist Portal. This portal will be tested in November and December of this year. It is designed to help active ageing centres and nursing homes plan group trips to arts and culture events. In the future, other organisations could also use the portal to arrange group outings for their members.

So far, $30.4 million has been spent out of the full $300 million budget. Most of that money went toward buying tickets for live performances. However, $2.9 million was spent on Singapore literature books, and $1.6 million went to local films — two categories that were added to the scheme later on. The credits have given a big boost to arts festivals, making up 30 per cent of ticket sales at the Singapore International Festival of Arts and more than 40 per cent at the Singapore Writers Festival.

The scheme has also brought many new faces to arts and culture events. About 68 per cent of people who used their credits had not been to this type of event in the past five years. Surveys showed that nine out of ten attendees said they planned to go to more events even after their credits run out. This suggests the programme may be building longer-lasting habits around enjoying the arts.

MCCY created the SG Culture Pass to encourage more people to support work made by local artists and creators. Arts groups have welcomed the programme but say it needs to work alongside other efforts, like teaching young students to value the arts from an early age. The credits will expire at the end of 2028, and whether the government will add more money to the scheme depends heavily on how many people use it. MCCY said it will keep reviewing the programme with partners to make sure it stays useful and fair for everyone.