It’s been a tough year for Singaporeans as a whole, and for more vulnerable members of society it may have been even more difficult.
Many of our seniors spent their youth working hard to build up Singapore in its fledgling years.
So now that Singapore is in a position to help them thanks to our reserves, we definitely should try to ease their burden.
With that in mind, NTUC FairPrice is extending their discount for members of the Pioneer and Merdeka generations till 31 Dec 2021.
This year, the schemes helped seniors save more than $10 million, attesting to their success.
In a press release on Monday (28 Dec), FairPrice announced that its popular discount scheme for the Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation will be extended by 1 year.
That means the discounts will continue to be available from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2021.
The Pioneer Generation discount has already been extended 6 times since it was introduced in 2014 – saving members more than $24 million. This will be its 7th extension.
The Merdeka Generation discount, on the other hand, was launched in 2019.
The extension of the 2 schemes will cost more than $10 million, FairPrice estimated.
Members of the Pioneer Generation are defined as Singaporeans born earlier than 1950. Thus, their youngest members would be 71 this year.
Currently, they receive a 3% off their groceries at FairPrice every Monday and Wednesday.
Those from the Merdeka Generation are defined as being born in the 1950s. They would be aged from 61-70 this year.
They enjoy a 3% discount on Wednesdays.
All seniors aged 60 and above additionally get a 2% discount on Tuesdays.
There’s a $200 cap on the discounts for every transaction per day.
The discount schemes have proven useful to senior shoppers.
According to FairPrice, this year alone, they’ve saved more than $10 million thanks to these discounts.
The breakdown is as follows:
Perhaps due to increased demand for groceries as people stayed home during the ‘Circuit Breaker’ – or panic buying in supermarkets – the savings in 2020 were an increase of $2.3 million over 2019’s total of $7.7 million.
The total amount saved by seniors since the rollout of these schemes is $43 million, FairPrice said.
FairPrice chief executive Seah Kian Peng said the discount schemes have had a “strong and positive reception” from seniors.
The company is encouraged by that, and hopes the extension of the discounts will keep helping seniors “stretch their dollar”.
This is especially for the year ahead, when the global Covid-19 pandemic is expected to keep affecting incomes.
With the discounts, FairPrice also aims to recognise and honour the contributions of the elderly in nation-building.
It’s simply amazing that FairPrice is showing gratitude to our seniors for their sacrifices over the years, by helping to tide them over during this rough period.
While we hope that the new year brings better news for the economy and Singaporeans’ incomes, it’s reassuring that vulnerable members in society will continue to be looked after.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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