Dr Wan Rizal: To ask the Minister for Defence with regard to the NS55 Recognition Package (NS55 RP) (a) what is the number of national servicemen who are not eligible to receive the NS55 RP; (b) what is the number of complaints received about difficulties in claiming the credits; and (c) what measures have been taken to address the respective issues.

Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen:

This reply also addresses a similar question filed by Dr Tan Wu Meng for a future sitting on the NS55 Recognition Package (NS55 RP).

The NS55 RP recognises National Servicemen for their contributions to Singapore's defence and security. The package comes with $100 worth of credits disbursed via the LifeSG mobile application and a complimentary one-year SAFRA or HomeTeamNS membership.

More than one million National Servicemen, past and present, were awarded the NS55 credits. Only about one percent of all National Servicemen were not eligible for the NS55 RP, primarily due to serious offences and disciplinary issues.

All eligible recipients have received their credits by end-July and as of end August, more than 50% of recipients have used some or all of their credits. About 47% of all credits issued have already been spent, which is much higher than the figure over the same period for the NS50 package in 2017, when hardcopy vouchers were distributed. The NS55 credit redemption service on LifeSG had an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars.

From 1 July to 31 August 2022, the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF) and the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) call centres and email hotlines responded to about 8,000 calls and emails from National Servicemen who required assistance to redeem the credits or requested for hardcopy vouchers. This constitutes about 0.8% of all NS55 credit recipients. Digital ambassadors, who are deployed at accessible locations such as selected community centres and public libraries, as well as SAFRA and HomeTeamNS clubhouses, have also served about 16,000 walk-ins from members of the public, whose queries span a broad spectrum – from how to download the LifeSG app and navigate the credit redemption service, to what the NS55 recognition package entails and what the LifeSG app does.

National Servicemen who still prefer to convert their digital credits to hardcopy vouchers despite the various modes of assistance available will generally receive such vouchers within one month of their request. To date, there have been about 4,000 of such servicemen, or less than 0.4% of those eligible for the NS55 credits. These are primarily servicemen who do not have access to smartphones or are not comfortable with making digital payments, notwithstanding our offer of assistance.

The statistics above suggest that most recipients have generally found the digital credit disbursement and redemption process efficient and convenient. MINDEF and MHA will continue to review the feedback received and make improvements for our interactions with past and present National Servicemen.