In recent years, Community Development Councils (CDCs) have been giving out CDC Vouchers to provide immediate support for Singaporean households and help defray daily expenses. CDC vouchers can be spent at participating heartland merchants and hawkers or at participating supermarkets.
While the initiative is commendable, it presents unique challenges, particularly for the elderly who struggle with digital literacy. I use a simple workaround to help my parents use their CDC vouchers.
Table of ContentsThe Digital Literacy Challenge Is Real For Seniors
While CDC vouchers are a great initiative, the implementation leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to benefitting the elderly who either don’t understand English or aren’t tech-savvy enough to feel confident using them.
When I volunteered my time to help seniors learn how to use their mobile phones, the journey was anything but easy. The problem isn’t with learning but with the lack of practice and constant use. Even my mum would prefer to get the CDC vouchers printed so that she could use them at merchants that accept them. All in all, this was a massive hassle, and paper isn’t exactly the best material to be brought around all the time due to wear and tear.
If your parents are tech-savvy and have no issue with using CDC vouchers, that’s fantastic. If they are not, then this is a simple solution to bypass all the unnecessary headaches.
What I Am Doing For My Parents & In-laws
If you find yourself in the same situation as me, here’s what I have been doing for my parents and in-laws.
First, we need to help them redeem the CDC vouchers using SingPass. While a simple step like this takes less than a minute on my phone, it can take much longer for them. Every time I visit my
