NTUC Social Enterprises Help Workers Reduce Cost of Living
28 April 2008
Media Release
NTUC Social Enterprises Help Workers Reduce Cost of Living
The Labour Movement presented today its social contributions for the year 2007 to 2008. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Social Enterprises made a difference this year through their focus on helping working people and their families reduce their cost of living. Key challenges that working people contend with today are high inflationary pressure, a widening income gap, and an ageing population. The NTUC Social Enterprises stepped up their social mission through concerted initiatives to help working people combat inflation and stretch their hard-earned dollar.
U Stretch Initiatives
1. Under the umbrella of the “U Stretch” initiatives, NTUC Social Enterprises extended a helping hand to low-income union members and their families to partially defray the higher cost of living through $4 million worth of NTUC U Stretch vouchers, to be redeemable over a period of 8 months from 1 May to 31 Dec 2008.
2. Speaking at the release of this year’s “Labour Movement Social Enterprises 2008” publication, NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say said, “Since the Labour Movement’s announcement of the U Stretch vouchers, response from our unions has been encouraging. In the first week since application opened, we have received over 23,000 applications. With the Social Enterprises coming together to launch this U Stretch initiative, it exemplifies our commitment to ‘Do-Well, Do-Good, Do-Together and Do-More’ for the benefit of our low-wage workers.”
Labour Movement Social Enterprises 2008
NTUC Social Enterprises have grown from strength-to-strength to serve a wide spectrum of society. Testimony to the Labour Movement’s strong commitment in helping working people enhance their quality of life, the Labour Movement Social Enterprises 2008 publication, produced by NTUC Media, encapsulates stories of working people from all walks of life who have benefited through an outreach of various initiatives. This year, in conjunction with the launch of the refreshed Labour Movement brand, this annual publication was also given a fresh makeover in terms of design and content arrangement. Stories of people who benefited from the NTUC Social Enterprises initiatives are themed in three sections, Living with U, Working for U and Fun for U.
1. Moderate cost of living
1.1 In order to help ease the pockets of senior citizens, NTUC FairPrice and NTUC Healthcare’s Unity Pharmacy have been offering special discounts on Tuesdays. Senior citizens enjoy the 2% discount at supermarkets, amounting to a total savings of $1 million. Through a 5% discount off non-promotional items at Unity, 14,300 senior citizens are enjoying savings of $250,000.
1.2 NTUC Healthcare is increasing the basket of 100 commonly purchased items to 120 items by 2008. These items are generally 10% lower than competitors. Healthcare is also offering 10 to 20% discount on a different range of products every week, throughout all its Unity pharmacy stores from May until July 2008. These products include vitamins, health supplements and surgical items.
1.3 NTUC FairPrice also launched a 5% discount on 500 essential housebrand items in December last year to help moderate the cost of living. To-date, the discount scheme has helped consumers to save about $3 million dollars. It continues to lend its support through a final extension on the 5% discount on housebrand products for another three months until July 2008. FairPrice also disbursed a total of $1 million worth of food vouchers to the poor and needy through grassroots advisors and selected welfare organisations.
1.4 NTUC Foodfare helped to hold coffee prices despite the increase in raw materials and operating costs which generated up to 20 per cent savings for a regular coffee drinker. Foodfare continues to serve breakfast sets at $1.40 and coffee at prices between $0.70 to $0.90. To date, the price subsidy for basic beverages has amounted to an estimated $750,000.
1.5 Additionally, to mark May Day celebrations this year, NTUC Foodfare and NTUC Healthcare's Unity Pharmacy offer union members an additional 5% discount on their purchases, on top of the usual discounts, throughout the month of May.
2. Value-for-money services
2.1 The NTUC Social Enterprises also take pride in being best-in-class in their respective industries, providing good service and product offerings at reasonable prices. NTUC Childcare’s median fee of $475 per month was 17% below the national median fee of $575 in December 2007.
2.2 NTUC Income’s LUV plan offers a low premium and high coverage term insurance for union members and their families. Additionally, NTUC Income provides low-cost insurance for members of the Unit for Casual and Contract Workers (UCCW). These workers pay $1 per month for subscription fees to UCCW to pay collectively for their premium, ensuring that they still have access to basic insurance. NTUC Income also reaches out to the masses with health plans such as Incomeshield, covering over 800,000 people with 10% to 15% lower premium rates, making essential insurance products affordable, accessible and sustainable.
2.3 With the increasing need for a holistic elderly care service, NTUC ElderCare has set-up four day care centres island-wide. About 95 per cent of the elderly are receiving $220 subsidy per month with help from the ElderCare Trust. The subsidy goes into use for day care and transport service. This subsidy is available for families with a monthly household income of $1,000 and below. A total grant of $530,000 was given out.
2.4 NTUC Thrift continues to provide higher interest rates for retrenched union members under the Retrenched Worker Fixed Deposit Scheme. The Senior Citizens Fixed Deposit enjoys an additional 0.2% per annum premium over the board rate.
2.5 NTUC Link issued about 2 billion LinkPoints in the year of 2007, translating to $13.7 million worth of savings.
3. Help low-income working people live a better life
3.1 Various schemes have been implemented throughout the year for working people and their families to benefit from a better quality of life. NTUC Club supported with a $1 million Family Recreation Fund, where some 10,000 low-income union members could enjoy quality recreational facilities at Downtown East.
3.2 NTUC Healthcare worked together with the Health Promotion Board and PAP Community Foundation to provide affordable community health screening to the general public every Sunday at different community centres. Residents pay a nominal amount of $2 for the health screenings which cost $12. More than 4,000 residents have benefited since the start of the programme in September 2007.
3.3 Extending further help to children of low-income families, NTUC Childcare’s Bright Horizons Fund subsidised more than 470 pre-schoolers in 2007. $800,000 has been disbursed since the programme was launched in 2006.
3.4 Reaching out to working people with lower secondary education levels through training, NTUC LearningHub has produced almost 130,000 trainees. LearningHub helps these working people to be equipped with relevant skills, through affordable training fees.
A year of social contributions: 'Do-Well, Do-Good'
Standing by the ‘Do-Well, Do-Good’ framework that guides their social mission, NTUC Social Enterprises have fulfilled various social objectives. Drawing from their strength and success, the NTUC Social Enterprises have extended the framework to include ‘Do-Together, Do-More’, as exemplified by the NTUC U Stretch vouchers.
Adeline Sum, NTUC Group Development Director, said, "The NTUC Social Enterprises are driven by the common purpose to do good for union members and working families. In order to do good, each social enterprise has to do well in growing market share and customer loyalty, earn healthy surpluses and be an employer of choice. Going forward, the social enterprises will leverage our strengths to do together to tackle common issues such as cost of living; support the growth of the smaller social enterprises, and strengthen our relationships with our collective customer base. In doing so, we will be able to do more to help working families to live a better life."
Key thrust moving forward: ‘Do-Together, Do-More’
NTUC Social Enterprises stayed true to their mission in the past year where helping workers reduce the cost of living in the face of rising inflation became a key focus.
Going forward, NTUC Social Enterprises aim to reach out to more target segments for example working mothers, develop the smaller Social Enterprises and strengthen the current infrastructure support through the NTUC Link loyalty programme, so as to be able to serve a wider spectrum of society.
With more than 250,000 shoppers each day at NTUC FairPrice, 4.23 million touchpoints across NTUC Club’s leisure and entertainment units, 1.8 million NTUC Income policy holders and NTUC Childcare as the single largest full-day pre-school operator, NTUC Social Enterprises have made a significant social contribution.
Adeline Sum
Director
Group Development
National Trades Union Congress
Annex 1:
Story Title: Step Up To The Same Starting Line
NTUC Childcare goes the extra mile to help children of needy families prepare for primary school
Tan Kay Thiam used to be an odd job labourer and had much difficulty in finding a permanent job. He and his wife Siew Leng were often unable to make ends meet as they had to rely solely on Siew Leng’s salary of $600.
When his daughters, Zhi Xuan, now 8, and Zhi Xin, now 7, were enrolled in preschool, the monthly school fees became an additional financial burden for Kay Thiam and Siew Leng. To ease Kay Thiam and Siew Leng’s extra financial load, NTUC Childcare helped the couple apply for financial assistance under the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare.
The launch of the Bright Horizons Fund in 2006 allowed Zhi Xin to receive extra financial assistance for her monthly school fees right until she completed preschool education. Her fees were heavily subsidised by both CFAC and the Bright Horizons Fund. By the end of Zhi Xin’s preschool years, Kay Thiam and Siew Leng were only paying $4.50 monthly, instead of the regular $331.50 charged.
With NTUC Childcare’s help, Zhi Xin graduated with happy memories of her preschool years. Her parents didn’t have to worry about the costs of her graduation concert costume, photographs and tickets, as they were all borne by NTUC Childcare in a special arrangement.
The couple is very grateful for the assistance rendered to their family without which Zhi Xuan and Zhi Xin would not have been able to finish their preschool education.
Story Title: A Quiet Turnaround
NTUC ElderCare brings out the spirit in senior citizens
Prolonged periods of staying home alone with nothing to do except view television programmes led Quek Liang to become reclusive. Living with her eldest son and daughter-in-law, she had no one to interact with or anything to do when they left for work.
In 2006, her children decided to send her to the NTUC ElderCare Daycare Centre at Taman Jurong as there was no one at home to look after her when they went to work, and they felt that being in the company of others would be
beneficial for her.
It took some effort to persuade Quek Liang, 80, to go to the centre but the effort has paid off.
“My mother is much happier and livelier now. She is more cheerful and energetic.
She participates in exercises which help to strengthen her body, especially her legs. She used to be very pessimistic and always talked about the past. Now, she has a wider range of conversational topics through her interaction with her peers at the daycare centre,” said So Sim Seah, 37, her youngest son.
Quek Liang moved in with Sim Seah, a ComfortDelGro taxi driver, in September
2007, and he ferries her from their home in Sengkang to NTUC ElderCare’s Pasir Ris Silver Circle daycare centre.
Sim Seah has certainly benefited from the $220 subsidy which NTUC ElderCare gives per month. “The subsidies have helped made it more affordable. It’s a huge bonus, like a monthly present from NTUC ElderCare.”
Story Title: When Some Work Odd Jobs To Make Ends Meets
NTUC Fairprice’s Million Dollar Food Voucher Scheme eases financial strain of lower-income workers
Odd job workers do not have fixed incomes. Mostly, they pass their days from hand to mouth. And so it is with Josephine d/o Anthony, who sells healthcare products for a living.
In a good month, she brings home $500. When she fails to persuade as many customers to buy her ware, she takes home less than $400.
The young widow, 35, has a 14-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter. Demands grow as they grow. So Josephine approached her Member of Parliament for help. Over several weeks, she received $90 worth of NTUC FairPrice Vouchers which Singapore’s largest supermarket chain had passed on to community groups to distribute to low-wage and needy Singaporeans.
Josephine said $90 is what she spends in a whole month for her family. Frozen meat, fresh vegetables and fruits, cereals and canned food are what she buys from the NTUC FairPrice Supermarket at Yishun MRT station.
“I didn’t use all $90 worth of vouchers at once. And over the weeks, when I did not have enough money, I was able to use the vouchers – like a ‘top-up’ – and we did not go hungry.
“The Fairprice Housebrand products are the lowest priced against national brands on the shelves. I always buy those. Since December last year, a 5 per cent discount has been offered on FairPrice Housebrand products. This really gives me savings. Lately, food cost has been rising but at NTUC FairPrice, I’m able to get all essential items at low prices.
“I hope NTUC FairPrice will continue to issue vouchers so that I can get a little bit of help to have a better life.”
Story Title: ‘Kopi Kau Siew Tai’
NTUC Foodfare helps Singaporeans enjoy quality cooked food at affordable prices
For almost five years, more than 30 times a month and at least once a day, retiree Tan Miang Chiew, 86, has visited NTUC Foodfare at Anchorvale for his daily coffee and meals.
Miang Chiew is a hearty and healthy elderly who cycles to NTUC Foodfare every morning and sometimes in the afternoon or evening too for a second cuppa. His simple reason: “It is cheap, convenient and I need my coffee”.
Indeed, at NTUC Foodfare, as Miang Chiew is quick to point out, there has been no increase in price despite the Goods and Services Tax hike and general increase in food prices. In a mild tone, he talks about a cup of coffee costing 70 cents and the “really cheap” breakfast set comprising a cup of coffee, two slices of toast and two eggs, especially if one is an NTUC Member.
While it might not seem like much, to a retiree like Miang Chiew, a cent saved is a cent stretched. With a mischievous grin, Miang Chiew whispers that the coffee at other coffee shops around his housing estate costs about 10 to 20 cents more than at NTUC Foodfare.
As an elderly who has to eat out almost every other day, Miang Chiew is also appreciative of the affordable food prices at NTUC Foodfare in comparison to other places. He proclaims happily that a bowl of noodles only costs him $2.50 and it is a “very big bowl”.
For Miang Chiew, the location of NTUC Foodfare is convenient and the prices are affordable. This is why he is willing to cycle at least once a day to patronise NTUC Foodfare. Of course, there are also warm greetings he gets from the stallholders with whom his preferences are well known. So if you ever visit NTUC Foodfare at Anchorvale, you just might see Miang Chiew there, with his trusty bicycle parked somewhere, enjoying his cup of coffee.
Story Title: Touching Remedies
NTUC Healthcare’s Tuesday discount for senior citizens help them buy more for less
In slow strolls, once a week, that too, only on Tuesdays, a lively Jonathan Seet makes it a point to diligently drop by NTUC Healthcare’s Unity pharmacy at East Point. This is where he makes his weekly purchases of health supplements, which Ensure Plus milk packets top the list.
Jonathan, 77, has had a fair taste of medicines, hospital treatments and needles that one his age can hardly escape from. One such condition that affected him about eight years ago was hypertension. The aftermath of this condition left him with a discomfort in consuming solid food. That started Jonathan on Ensure Plus, the brand of milk recommended by his doctor. Jonathan has since been buying his diet supplements from Unity pharmacies.
“One Ensure Plus milk packet costs $2.25 at Changi Hospital. At Unity, it is priced at $2.15. I purchase a dozen packets a week. On Tuesdays, I enjoy the 5 per cent discount for senior citizens. Over a month, I can actually save about $5 on just this one item. This is why shopping on Tuesdays make real savings for me.”
Jonathan is a retiree who lives with his wife, Joan, 73. The elderly couple makes visits to the Unity outlet near their home. Medicated plasters and ointment for arthritis, calcium tablets and vitamin pills are their usual buys.
“These good discounts are already a plus. The kind and friendly sales staff and very helpful pharmacists add to our pleasant shopping experience. They are so patient with our queries and take special efforts to walk up to us and let us know of promotions and offers for the week or month. These are gestures that touch our hearts.”
