Why Singapore Is Paying Citizens To Read More

Singapore has launched a five-year national campaign aimed at reviving reading habits among its citizens, offering small cash rewards to people who regularly log their reading time on a government platform.

According to a report by the CNN, the initiative, launched this month by the National Library Board (NLB), is designed to encourage long-form reading at a time when attention spans are increasingly being challenged by social media, short-form videos and what has become known as “doomscrolling.”

Under the programme, participants can earn virtual coins by recording their reading sessions, with the points eventually converted into small monetary rewards.

A reading session of at least 15 minutes earns participants 20 virtual coins. Readers need to accumulate 1,000 coins to receive SG$1 (about US$0.80), meaning participants would need to complete 50 qualifying reading sessions to earn the equivalent of one Singapore dollar.

Only one reading session can be logged each day.

The programme is currently being piloted until the end of the year, with the NLB saying new features and improvements would be introduced based on feedback from participants.

The board said the initiative was aimed at developing a nation of readers who could maintain attention, think critically and engage with complex issues despite the growing influence of short-form digital content.

NLB chief, Melissa Tam, said while short-form content could help people remain informed, long-form reading offered broader cognitive benefits.

“While short-form content helps us stay informed, long-form reading strengthens attention, critical thinking and imagination,” Tam said.

“Ultimately, we want to see a nation of readers who are curious, thoughtful, discerning and equipped to navigate an increasingly complex world.”

The campaign comes amid growing concerns globally over declining reading habits and the impact of excessive consumption of shallow online content on attention spans.

Educators and researchers have increasingly raised concerns about “brain rot” and doomscrolling, terms used to describe the perceived cognitive and behavioural effects associated with prolonged consumption of low-value digital content.

Singapore, however, remains one of the world’s strongest performers in reading.

Recent international assessments have shown significant differences in reading performance among young people, with Singapore and other Asian countries continuing to record strong results, while reading scores among 15-year-olds in the United States have declined.

Researchers have also identified digital distraction, including the use of electronic devices in classrooms, as one of the challenges affecting students’ ability to maintain concentration.

According to Loh Chin Ee, a researcher at Singapore’s National Institute of Education, the initiative’s focus on 15-minute sessions could help people rebuild reading habits gradually.

“For somebody who reads a lot, 15 minutes might feel very short, but I think it is a nice, sweet spot,” Loh said.

She noted that although people continued to read words on digital screens, deep reading — which requires sustained attention and commitment — could be occurring less frequently.

Reading Beyond School

Despite Singapore’s strong performance in international reading assessments, concerns remain about whether young people continue to read for pleasure as they progress through school.

Some educators and readers believe the pressure of major examinations causes students to associate reading primarily with academic requirements, gradually reducing their interest in reading for leisure.

A Singapore-based risk analyst, Isaac Neo, 32, said his own experience prompted him to establish the Modern Men’s Book Club in 2025 after realising that he had not read a book for several years despite regularly consuming technical reports and news stories for work.

“I think during your teenage years, it can be quite stressful. There are a lot of big examinations and you start to read only for what you’re being tested on. And then, slowly you lose the habit of reading for leisure,” Neo said.

He said several members of his book club had similarly acknowledged that they had stopped reading books for years and were now using the club as motivation to return to the habit.

The campaign also incorporates a charitable component, with the NLB hoping participants can collectively record 7.5 million reading minutes this year to raise up to SG$150,000 for charity.

Can Money Create A Reading Culture?

The decision to attach financial rewards to reading has generated debate in Singapore, with critics questioning whether money can create a genuine and lasting love for books.

Supporters, however, argue that any initiative capable of encouraging people to put down their phones and pick up books is worthwhile in an era of intense digital distraction.

Book and lifestyle content creator, Charmaine Lim, 28, said she would rather see people become absorbed in books than constantly consume short-form digital content.

Meanwhile, Ashley Chia, who runs a book club, said the programme could be useful as an initial incentive but argued that its success should ultimately be measured by whether it creates more curious and committed readers.

“I like the whole idea of making reading habitual and giving people a small nudge to begin,” Chia said.

“If Singapore wants to build a reading culture, perhaps success isn’t only that people read for 15 minutes a day, it’s also that we become more curious readers. We read outside what is immediately available to us, or immediately useful to us.”

However, psychologists have warned that financial incentives may not necessarily translate into long-term behavioural change.

Charissa Ng, a principal clinical psychologist at Putra Star Care in Singapore, said monetary rewards could work particularly well for people who already had some interest in reading but might be less effective among those with no existing motivation.

“Monetary rewards work well for people who are already somewhat interested in reading, but for those with no existing interest at all, cash incentives may be a hard sell for cultivating a lasting, intrinsic motivation to read,” Ng said.

For Singapore, the experiment is ultimately about whether a modest financial reward and a gamified system can compete with the powerful pull of algorithms, short videos and constant digital notifications.

The programme’s long-term success may therefore depend not simply on how many reading minutes citizens record, but on whether those minutes eventually translate into a lasting culture of reading for knowledge, pleasure and curiosity.