In Singapore, Government PAYS You to Exercise

scotty on 15/03/2016 - 12:31

A friend of ours from Singapore is staying at my place for the month, and yesterday he showed me his activity tracker — a big round faced watch that tells you time and the number of steps you took (something like this). I thought he bought it from one of those Chinese online shops for $20, as it does look a bit more functional than the Xiaomi Mi Band. However he started to interest me when he said that he got it for 5 bucks — from the government! He could even earn points by making his daily step quota, which can then redeem shopping vouchers.

So I went online to do a search, and it is indeed a program offered by Ministry of Health Singapore. I thought Singapore, as a fine country, would actually fine their citizens for not doing enough exercise. Instead they offered rewards for the participants — which is a win-win as it might save cost on public transport and health system.

Do we have anything like this here? Or maybe it's not needed as in Australia, we probably don't need a government initiated program to keep us fit.

Sports & Outdoors

Comments

  • Donaldhump on 15/03/2016 - 12:36
    +29

    singapore also whips people for crimes. good idea though..we need it

    • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2016 - 12:49
      +71

      Maybe a little caning is what some people in Australia need.

      • sien on 15/03/2016 - 14:01
        +5

        Probably Ozbargain type people in Singapore who like a deal and who are kinky also deliberately do things to get 'caned'.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/03/2016 - 17:23
          +10

          "yes mr Judge, I've been a baaaaaad boy"

        • mini2 on 16/03/2016 - 22:06
          -2

          jv?

        • rodinthink on 17/03/2016 - 14:26

          @batouchu:
          Whoppa

      • titan0r on 16/03/2016 - 15:33
        +9

        The teenagers from the recent Melbourne Moomba festival gang brawl come to mind.

      • MasterNoob on 16/03/2016 - 19:56

        can someone think of the children????

      • Powershopz on 16/03/2016 - 23:55
        +2

        Give him the boot Prime Minister!

      • rodinthink on 17/03/2016 - 14:25
        -1

        You cwackews rack of disciprine !

    • Question on 27/03/2016 - 08:22

      singapore also whips people for crimes.

      Yea crimes like rape. You may as well say that Australia is barbaric because they kill people for crimes, while cleverly leaving out the fact that the death penalty is only applied to murderers, etc.

      • Donaldhump on 01/04/2016 - 14:32

        You can get whipped for vandalism.

        I really don't understand what you are saying though. Australia has no DP.

        IM NOT AGAINST it either way, I got the cane in school, and it did me a world of good.

  • Bonsaichop on 15/03/2016 - 12:50
    +18

    Government pays you to exercise.

    You pay the government through taxes.

    Therefore, you're paying yourself to exercise..

    • plmko on 15/03/2016 - 13:24
      +10

      Tax rates in Singapore is pretty low though, it's like 20% for people over $300k

      • Cluster on 15/03/2016 - 16:00
        +6

        Income tax is low, but other items have very high tax rates to compensate. The tax on cars comes to mind. A $20k Hyundai will cost you $100k+ in Singapore.

        • hashtagbargain on 15/03/2016 - 16:09
          +5

          And yet people there somehow survive.

          In Singapore, a car is definitely a luxury - and the govt wants it to remain that way. Cant say that the public are too inconvenienced by this at the end of the day.

        • nayfon on 16/03/2016 - 11:55
          +18

          You don't need a car in Singapore as public transport is excellent and the taxis are very cheap compared to Australia.

        • carwashhair on 16/03/2016 - 12:38
          +3

          @nayfon: You probably need some sort of car in Singapore for there to be taxis though…

        • nayfon on 16/03/2016 - 12:40
          -1

          @carwashhair: Not sure what you mean by this.

        • Meconium on 16/03/2016 - 13:30
          +7

          @nayfon: Taxis are cars

        • smartazz104 on 17/03/2016 - 07:46
          +3

          @Meconium: Only an issue for taxi drivers.

        • Cyphar on 17/03/2016 - 09:05
          +1

          @hashtagbargain:

          Being a small island nation with a heavy investment in public transport helps. You can get virtually anywhere in Singapore on a train

        • rodinthink on 17/03/2016 - 14:28
          +2

          @Meconium:
          Memory is RAM

        • Meconium on 17/03/2016 - 15:51

          @rodinthink: Team. Team. Team. Team. Team. Team. I even love saying the word team. You probably think that's a picture of my family. Uh uh. It's the A Team. Body, Doyle, Tiger, The Jewellery Man. The whole lot of them.

      • Flet on 16/03/2016 - 08:59
        +4

        Due to the tax system related to land Singapore has the most affordable housing of the 5 global superstar cities.They have a home ownership rate of 91% and the bottom 50% own one quarter of the gross housing wealth which is close to Picketty's ideal society re capital distribution. from this article:

        http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/home-prices-and-inequali…

        • captobvious on 16/03/2016 - 18:42
          +4

          ownership is high but its mainly affordable government dog box apartments(HDB). If you own a house it is usually because you are rich or you inherited it from your grand/great grand parents.

        • Flet on 16/03/2016 - 21:37
          +2

          @captobvious:
          In those densely populated cities would detached housing for all be possible? Singapore has 5.5M people on 719 sq kms. It is two thirds the size of Hong kong with 7.1M in 2013 and two thirds the size of New York City with 8.4M people.
          By comparison it is better. According to the article written in 4/2015, Singapore's house price to income ratio of 5 is the lowest among the global superstar cities, with Hong Kong's ratio at 17. (Australia's is 9 to 11).
          Dog boxes or not, at least the high rise apartment buildings outwardly look clean and modern. I read that the poor in Hong Kong may be two families to one room with a wire mesh divider in the middle.

        • captobvious on 16/03/2016 - 22:45
          +2

          @Flet: No mate, the poor in hong kong live on the streets with a shrub to separate them.

        • sal78 on 17/03/2016 - 06:35
          +6

          @Flet: yes the standard of living in singapore is high. their dollar is on parity with ours. they also have the high super which means that many singaporeans retire millionaires. huge respect to lee yuan yew, great foresight…a system that works well. all singaporeans are thankful to their 'father'.

          they can live in a box in sg and buy a nice holiday house in perth.

          can't believe i changed aud$1 and got sg $0.95! but food is still so cheap. had famous chicken rice $2.50, lemon ice tea $1.20 and ice kacang $2.. $5.70!! the same in oz would be over $20. was just there 2 weeks ago. love singapore.

        • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2016 - 17:32

          All HDBs are on lease-hold for 99 years though. None of them has expired yet because the oldest ones (as yet) have been torn down and renovated, with all their occupants compensated for market value or an equivalent unit with the lease-hold refreshed.

        • Question on 27/03/2016 - 08:24

          The affordable part forgets to mention the price per square inch. Or the fact that rental housing is practically non-existent in Singapore.

    • inherentchoice on 15/03/2016 - 15:26
      +8

      you're paying yourself to exercise.

      But idle/non-exercising people are also paying you to exercise.

      And if it's improving the overall health of the population then it's actually reducing the burden and cost of the health system. Win-win.

  • mick123 on 15/03/2016 - 12:54
    +10

    Singapore = relatively low social welfare spending.

    Australia = welfare state ie. give me, give me, give me

    Similar schemes would be rorted by everyone here

    • altomic on 15/03/2016 - 15:18
      +11

      Someone would attach their step tracker to a dog and put the dog on a treadmill.

      Well, that's what I'd do.

      • scotty on 15/03/2016 - 15:24
        +23

        2 per leg so you can earn 8x the rewards!

      • inherentchoice on 15/03/2016 - 15:35

        Haha a marathon runner could get paid to wear 100 people's trackers.

        Maybe people will develop point-mining machines similar to bitcoin mining.

        • Scrooge McDuck on 17/03/2016 - 01:07
          +3

          Put it on my right arm before bed and I'd wake up a millionaire. ^^

        • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2016 - 13:02

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          You need a wife then.

        • Scrooge McDuck on 17/03/2016 - 20:32
          +1

          @KaptnKaos:

          Why spend half or more of all your money on that when you can DIY?

        • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2016 - 20:58

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          Like "why but a cow when you can get the milk for free", right?

        • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2016 - 22:38
          +1

          @Scrooge McDuck:

          … a millionaire.

          You once were, Scrooge,
          and much more…

          It has been awhile, though…

          :)

    • tenshi13 on 16/03/2016 - 13:52
      +1

      ozbargain-ed ; D

  • adante on 15/03/2016 - 13:00
    +2

    I haven't seen any government programs (and to be honest I'd be a bit leery of a gov't sponsored initiative that involves financial rewards - I'm not convinced that they could do it right - or that it could be even done right).

    That said, GMBHA offer a fitrewards program. It's quite simplistic but the scheme is:

    Points - https://www.gmhba.com.au/documents/FIT%20Activities.pdf
    Redemptions - https://www.gmhba.com.au/documents/FIT%20Rewards%20-%20Rewar…

    Unfortunately it is hardly worth it as the vast majority of points are based on obtaining a receipt for activity, so you really have to spend some money.

    I believe Qantas/NIB were partnering this year to reward activity with FF points which should be quite interesting. http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-and-n…

    Other than that I'm not aware of other schemes, but would love to hear about it if others know of any.

    • treeman on 16/03/2016 - 13:40

      Thank you, I'm with GMHBA and did not even know about this.
      A little bit of incentive never hurt anyone.

      • treeman on 18/03/2016 - 10:42

        Damn I enquired about this and you have to be on a special type of plan. :(

  • Neilzy on 15/03/2016 - 13:43
    +2

    Theres an ongoing program with Flybuys & Medibank that you get rewarded 10 points per 10k steps when you link an activity tracker.

    https://www.flybuys.com.au/collect#/partners/fitbit

    • scotty on 15/03/2016 - 15:09

      10,000 steps = 10 points = $1. Not bad. Thanks!

      • inherentchoice on 15/03/2016 - 15:30
        +7

        2000 flybuys points = $10. So 10 points = $0.05.

        • scotty on 15/03/2016 - 15:49

          Argh my bad.

      • adante on 15/03/2016 - 15:31
        +1

        shame (but understandable) that it's capped to 10 points/day

        • ilikeradiohead on 16/03/2016 - 14:27
          +3

          So 5c per day, fitness tracker is ~$100. Well, You only have to walk 10,000 steps per day for 2,000 days. So in 5.5 years I'll be fiscally better off. If your step is 1m, you would have walked 1.5x around the earth.

      • wildstone on 16/03/2016 - 12:47

        Just how much of a distance roughly is 10,000 steps?

        • ilikeradiohead on 16/03/2016 - 14:27
          +1

          Depends on your stride. If it's 1m then it's 10km, if your stride is 0.75m then it's 7.5km.

        • wildstone on 16/03/2016 - 14:30

          @ilikeradiohead:

          Hmm… so 5km-10km for $0.05? For a frequent runner/jogger, normally it would be around 5km-10km per day?

        • Powershopz on 16/03/2016 - 23:57

          Around 100 mins walking

          Around ~7-9 KM.

  • Clear on 15/03/2016 - 13:51
    +3

    It would be very easy to cheat the system. All you have to do is shake your wrist with the mi band for it to count steps.

    If the Singapore program was still open to registration, it would be a good post for CheapCheapLah.

    • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 14:01

      Who could be bothered doing that?

      Id just put mine on the dog and profit

    • scotty on 15/03/2016 - 15:11
      +1

      It would be very easy to cheat the system

      That guy showed me that it's not that easy to cheat. Simply shaking your wrist won't do. Singapore being the Kiasu-country I would think that government would have counter-measures to cheating.

      it would be a good post for CheapCheapLah

      Yes it's already closed. Even for those people who don't exercise, $5 for an activity tracker with display is still a great bargain.

  • tomleonhart on 15/03/2016 - 13:57

    Post it as a deal ?

    • avgbowlofpho on 15/03/2016 - 18:54

      on cheapcheaplah, but I think it's permanent

  • the-mal on 15/03/2016 - 14:21
    +1

    Do we have anything like this here?

    Health insurers are investigating and some trialling schemes like this in Aus - where increased activity can lead to lowering your premiums.

    It's win win from their perspective. The more active you are the less you cost them in claims.

  • Randxyz123 on 15/03/2016 - 14:29
    +1

    Sounds like a fantastic scheme to me!

  • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 14:40
    +7

    I think taxing maccas and kfc would be more effective both in terms of revenue and encouraging healthier lifestyle choices

    • Make it so on 15/03/2016 - 16:35
      +1

      Toll gates in front of the drive through's :)

      • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 16:37

        Simpler to tax them like cigs and booze

        • Make it so on 15/03/2016 - 16:38

          The problem is quantifying what makes food "junk food"….

        • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 17:54
          +1

          @Make it so: ok…ill start the criteria for a fast food tax - not junk food -

          "Fast food" can be defined as anything that:

          1. has a drive through service or home delivery (ie fast food by definition)

          2. that constitutes a meal (so muffins biscuits etc are exempt from places like muzz buzz)

          3. Does not have a defined cuisine of ethnicity where more than 10 different dishes are offered (so home delivered chinese /indian is exempt, and dominoes cant argue that they are italian fine cuisine)

          Those 3 points should see subway and your local fish and chip / thai joint , local late night burger/kebab joint and the corner deli selling mrs macs pies exempt but will include kfc, maccas, dominos etc

        • Make it so on 15/03/2016 - 18:00
          +1

          @pointless comment: So if Macca's closes their drive-through, label themselves as "American Cuisine", and calls their food "snacks" instead of meals, they're alright :)
          I totally sympathise with your initiative, and wish it were that simple :(

        • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 18:01

          @Make it so: well yes - but they would never do that - they have a policy of uniformity across the globe.

          Doing all of that will hurt sales more than any tax scheme.

          Can you imagine the outcry if a triple cheese burger with extra large chips, 600ml coke and a sundae is labelled a snack?

          See my point?

        • Make it so on 15/03/2016 - 18:16

          @pointless comment: Yeah, but I'm still not seeing this happen anytime soon :)
          Maybe they should do what they did for cigarettes. Put horrible pictures on the packaging of people who consumed the product in excess :)
          That will put people off….

        • pointless martyr on 15/03/2016 - 18:20

          @Make it so: no, i dont think its fair to put people off their food - especially those who grab maccas or a pizza 1 or 2 times per week.

          Fast food is more like alcohol - yes you get those who abuse it but a few drinks now and then is not going to kill you. Same as fast food

          And alcohol is taxed very heavily - so why not maccas and kfc?

          Its more about making a price point on fast food to deter excessive/daily use - again similar to alcohol

          Those fat-ass families you see in malls who eat 10+ fast food meals per week will be forced to cut down if they want to pay the bills. Big momma will realise thats its not that hard to chuck on a roast or cook some meat to go with some premade salads a few times a week

          Those family deals at fast food joints are priced specifically to prevent this - it works out the same or cheaper to buy a bucket of chicken / 4 burger meals deals / 3 family pizza

    • boomramada on 17/03/2016 - 15:31

      Plenty of people who are overweight that don't go to maccas/kfc.

  • inherentchoice on 15/03/2016 - 16:15

    In Singapore, Government PAYS you to exercise.

    In Australia, Government PAYS bogans to dole-bludge.

  • Make it so on 15/03/2016 - 16:33

    Sounds like a good scheme. But I think that people in Australia who don't exercise won't be swayed by financial incentives. The only ones who would take it up are those who exercise anyway.
    We receive tax incentives for taking up private health insurance, but that's more of a mitigative approach.

  • WT on 16/03/2016 - 10:45
    -1

    We couldnt have it here. Too many "professionals" would take advantage of it and earn a living off it like centerlink

  • aretsa9 on 16/03/2016 - 11:22

    I found this in January but am still waiting for the invite so cannot comment further.
    A NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY
    With Bitwalking you simply generate money by walking. The free app converts steps to Bitwalking dollars (BW$) that you can manage and use as you wish. The money you generate accumulates each day, and remains in your account until transferred or spent.
    http://www.bitwalking.com

    • Cluster on 16/03/2016 - 12:04

      How much BW$ is generated per 1000 steps? How much is 1 BW$ worth in dollars? I see there is no BW$ exchange like there is for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Doge, etc

  • JepunK on 16/03/2016 - 12:30
    +1

    In Singapore, the Govt pays you to exercise but Fines you for everything else…

  • sleet on 16/03/2016 - 12:38
    +1

    A bit of a tangent but … the smoking tax is there because smoking causes cancer. I do not agree with the idea of a fast food tax at all. Fast food does not cause obesity and morbidity - it's the people's choices of how much they eat, how often and what they eat.

    As a relatively healthy individual, I like to splurge on KFC or maccas every now and then but I definitely shouldn't be paying for a 'fat-tax'.

    I would support a rebate scheme for increase exercise.

    A lot of the medicines in Australia is subsidised by the government by tax money. This burden can definitely be lessened through healthier eating choices and increased physical activity. So a rebate scheme will perhaps help the health care system instead of all these budget cuts, and the $7 doctor fee etc.

  • JetBombat on 16/03/2016 - 19:51
    +3

    Typical aussie example of this would be Free Pure Blonde 6-Pack by Running 6KM

  • Tyrx on 16/03/2016 - 23:20
    +1

    I agree with others who have said that such a scheme would be abused in Australia. A better idea is to have a progressive Medicare levy with the base percentage considerably rising if you're overweight/obese. The only problem with this is that BMI isn't always an accurate indicator of body-to-fat mass because of those occasional terminators that walk among us.

  • sal78 on 17/03/2016 - 06:38
    +1

    check your fly buy points. my fried deemed 2 x fitbits with her points.

  • 11112007 on 17/03/2016 - 11:30
    +2

    In Victoria, this is probably the closest thing. But you don't get a fitness tracker :p

    https://www.activeapril.vic.gov.au/

    10 free passes to a participating YMCA or local government facility
    15% off at Sportsmart in store and online
    one free hour tennis court hire at Melbourne Park or Albert Reserve
    one free Get into Cardio Tennis session
    a 2 for 1 ticket offer to SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium
    a chance to win some great prizes including entry into the draw to win tickets to the 2017 Australian Tennis Open Finals*, a $1,500 bike voucher or a GoPro Camera
    - See more at: https://www.activeapril.vic.gov.au/#sthash.mvfjeQBj.dpuf

  • peterpeterpumpkin on 17/03/2016 - 13:49
    +3

    Just regarding Singapore. Does anyone else feel it's like a glimpse into the future - where everything looks modern and functions well but the social fabric has had its soul stripped and replaced with superficiality (I'm biased since I disdain cultures obsessed with shopping and brand awareness).

    Really cool buildings with light displays though. And very safe.

  • cosycatus on 18/03/2016 - 11:29

    There's also an activeSG program where each citizen get $100 bucks a year of credit to go to gyms ( $2.5 per entry) and swimming pool ( $1 per entry). An offpeak gym pass to the state run gyms is $80 / year. Each small town council also organize weekly events for senior citizens to encourage them walk, play games and reward them at the end of it with food, groceries and after enough participation, money ( $50 or so). Long term wise, i think this actually save $$ by reducing hospitalization. The ROI is high. Have you actually seen the number of obese senior Australians around? Shaving a few KG of fat off them will do wonderful things for their BP/ BGLs and sleep.

    I think Australia and SG can learn from each other. Aus can learn SG strict laws ( some might think canning is barbaric -it's reserved for rapist only actually <50 years of age. I dont know about you, but i think they deserve it) and austerity measures with regards to healthcare and welfare. Politicians dont dare to do anything because this will mean the end of their career ( at 200K pa, it's 1 million of salary for a term, plus lots of free sex) and will only kick the bucket down the road but it will eventually implode. Look at NHS in UK.

    SG on the other hand, can learn a bit of compassion towards the less fortunate members of society. The people on welfare in SG gets $250 a month ( and definitely not for nonsensical things like back pain , fibromyalgia as in australia.) When an MP asked the Minster if the amount can be increased a few years ago by another $50 given the rising cost of living, the minster replied " Do you ( the welfare recipient) wants 3 meals in a restaurant , a food court or a hawker center ( an open air place that sells food cheaply)? This came from a minster who was earning about a million p.a in salary.

    • fredblogs on 18/03/2016 - 12:32
      +1

      Agree with your point on compassion, but caning is not just reserved for rapists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandalism_Act_%28Singapore%29. And I think that's a good thing.

      Ministers earning a lot of money is a good thing - it discourages corruption and bribes. It also gets the best of the best in government, as opposed to here where we get dud politicians and the smartest join the corporate world.

      • cosycatus on 18/03/2016 - 14:04

        Caning is seldom meted out to vandals. It is almost always mete out to rapists.

        I dont mind paying them millions if they are truly capable and can solve problems. The problem is that a lot of them were groomed from a young age ( after year 12) to take on responsibilities in various government agencies and catapulted into important political positions after a government/army career. They know very little of the suffering and difficulties of the common folks, hence the comment about $250 and eating in restaurants.
        One MP posted on facebook that he always gets his packed lunch at $2.5 when someone asked him to do something about increasing cost of living ( It's the MP way of responding that living cost is not high, see, my lunch is only $2.5). It was revealed later the food stall owner had given him a "special" rate and many other people posted a similar meal from the same food stall costing $4.5 or more.

        They are also very protected against any mistakes they make.
        In Australia, MPs have to quit after being given a bottle of $300 wine. In SG, during the 90s, the then Prime Minster LEE Kuna Yew and family were given a 15% discount on some very exclusive private condominium ( amounting to few hundred K each). When it was pointed out that this discount was not given board nor shareholder approval ( and instead just based on the CEO personal approval), it caused an uproar, a fake hearing involving chief justice who of course ruled it within the law.
        Lee and family then decided to donate the discount to charity and various other measures to smoothe the public, BUT he still remains in power.

      • Question on 27/03/2016 - 08:28

        Ministers earning a lot of money is a good thing - it discourages corruption and bribes.

        On paper, yes. Now try telling your boss you need to be paid several times your current wage to deter corruption and see his reaction.

        Everytime the singaporean people suggest that ministers should take a pay cut, they start complaining that they need to be paid a lot to deter corruption.

        When your leaders are saying that they need to be paid a huge salary to deter corruption…you really need to start considering what kind of leaders you have.

  • Narx on 18/03/2016 - 21:34

    If this program includes eating…:)

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