• The Mandarin term “关怀与援助配套” is a paraphrase of the English term “Care and Support Package”.
• Under the twin pressures of an economic slowdown and the pandemic, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat announced the Unity Budget in Budget 2020, on 18 February 2020. This included the Care and Support Package, which totalled S$1.6 billion.
• The Care and Support Package provided various forms of assistance for Singaporeans to offset living expenses, including cash subsidies, rebates for utilities, service and conservancy charges, and vouchers for daily necessities.
• All Singaporeans over the age of 21 benefited from this package, with low-income families receiving more assistance. The package also allocated funds to self-help groups and Community Development Councils to provide greater support to vulnerable families.
• As the impact of the pandemic on Singapore’s economy became more severe, Heng Swee Keat announced a supplementary budget called the Resilience Budget, which included the Enhanced Care and Support Package, five weeks later, on 26 March 2020. The amount allocated this time increased by S$3 billion, reaching a total of S$4.6 billion.
• In addition to substantially increasing the various assistance measures announced earlier, the Enhanced Care and Support Package provided a grace period for university and polytechnic graduates in repaying their student loans and interest, and for homeowners who were in arrears on their Housing & Development Board loans.

During the introduction of the Unity Budget last year, the Government announced that vouchers for daily necessities would be distributed to Singaporeans aged 21 and above under the Care and Support Package. These vouchers are specifically for those living in 1-room and 2-room Housing & Development Board flats, and who own no more than one residential property. This was done to help low-income Singaporeans cope with daily expenses during the pandemic. (Lianhe Zaobao, 28/9/2021)