Makan Vouchers

The tranche runs on the existing CDC voucher system, which over 24,000 hawkers and heartland merchants already accept on RedeemSG. Unlike today's universal, budget-by-budget tranches, it is standing, targeted and hawker-specific; mall food courts sit outside the CDC voucher system. The indicative envelope is $120 a year for about 550,000 households, about $66M a year, deliberately outside the programme's books. It is a hawker tag on voucher envelopes the State already funds: more than $2.1bn of CDC and SG60 vouchers was spent at hawkers and heartland merchants over four years (MCCY, 3 Feb 2026), and $66M a year is about 12% of that half (derived); whether it is carved from future tranches or added on top is the Budget's choice. Follow the Plate finds that if one stall in five raises its prices 5%, the voucher covers an eligible household's extra cost two to five times over.

Who pays

ASK OF GOVERNMENT · BUILDS ON

What it costs

≈ $66M SGD · per year

Rough size: $120 a year × about 550,000 households ≈ $66M a year (assumption: about 550,000 eligible households, a count the eligibility list will settle). That is smaller than a single round for every household, but it is aimed at those who need it, and it is permanent.

What it builds on

CDC voucher system: universal household tranches ($300 Jan 2026; $500 Jun 2026, brought forward); half spendable at hawkers & heartland merchants; 24,000+ merchants onboarded (§1.3).

The ask of Government

Decision

Makan Vouchers – a permanent round of vouchers, for hawker food only, for lower-income households, seniors and students

Instrument

A standing item in the existing CDC voucher system (more than 24,000 merchants signed up); MCCY and the PA add a merchant tag for hawker and coffeeshop stalls and a list of eligible households (§2.5)

Fiscal cost

About $66M a year, a rough figure that can be adjusted. It equals about 12% of the half of CDC and SG60 voucher spending that goes to hawkers and heartland merchants (derived).

What it buys

Cost-of-living relief for the households that need it, with a small, broad lift for every hawker: about $360 a stall a year in the model, from the new spending it brings (Follow the Plate, D.7). It is not heritage stewardship, and the plan does not count it as such. Smaller than one round for every household, but targeted and permanent; no new system, no new card.

From §7.7.

Who gains

Diners

If money is tight, your vouchers work at every participating stall – same card, same tap (§2.5).

Government

A cost-of-living measure on a system it already runs (§1.4).