SG Culture Pass credits

Arts groups report selling out shows, over $1.8m used in first two weeks

- Clement Yong Correspondent

More than $1.8 million worth of SG Culture Pass credits were used in the first fortnight of the scheme’s launch, with theatre companies selling out shows and workshop organisers scrambling to add sessions to reap the government-given dollar.

The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) told The Straits Times that more than 320,000 Singaporeans aged 18 and above also registered on its SG Culture Pass website (sgculturepass.gov.sg) during the same period.

This translates to 0.6 per cent of the total $300 million set aside for the programme having been redeemed in the first two weeks.

Those who have registered constitute about 10 per cent of the three million Singaporeans who are eligible for the first-of-its-kind scheme.

Announced during the Budget in February, the incentive, launched on Sept 1, gives each person $100 to spend on theatre performances, art workshops and heritage activities, with the aim of cultivating a paying local audience over time. The proportionately small number of credits redeemed in the first two weeks have already benefited arts and heritage groups immensely.