Deadline extended for compulsory use of TraceTogether at cinemas to allow time for token collection: Janil Puthucheary

• TraceTogether-only SafeEntry will only be implemented when everyone who cannot download the app has had the chance to collect the token
• As of Nov 1, 570,000 TraceTogether tokens had been issued.
• Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary said that surge in demand for tokens was unexpected

SINGAPORE — The Nov 16 deadline for the compulsory use of the TraceTogether token or app at cinemas will be extended to allow time for the collection of TraceTogether tokens, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary said in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 4). Dr Puthucheary did not provide a new deadline.

He said that the authorities will implement TraceTogether-only SafeEntry at venues such as food and beverage outlets, malls and workplaces when everyone who cannot download the TraceTogether app has had a chance to collect their TraceTogether token.

“Other modes of SafeEntry check-ins will still be valid in cinemas and other venues, as we allow time for TraceTogether token collection and for more residents to download the TraceTogether app and for businesses to adjust,” Dr Puthucheary said.

The Government had earlier confirmed that moviegoers would have to use either the TraceTogether app or token to enter cinemas from Nov 16. Since August, selected venues have trialled the mandatory use of TraceTogether for check-ins.

This arrangement will also apply to other venues — such as conferences, live performances and selected places of worship — which have already started transitioning to the new check-in system that requires the use of either the TraceTogether app or token.

Dr Puthucheary was responding to a question by Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mountbatten single-seat ward, who asked how the Government plans to ensure that citizens will be able to access cinemas if they do not own a smartphone or have not been able to collect the token.

Mr Lim added that some residents in his constituency will be able to collect their TraceTogether tokens only in December and would have missed the previous Nov 16 deadline and therefore possibly be unable to enter cinemas as a result.

The progressive roll-out at different venues of the new national check-in system, dubbed TraceTogether-only SafeEntry, is part of the Government’s push to replace the current system of scanning SafeEntry QR codes on mobile phones or barcodes on identity cards.

Under the previous distribution timeline, the tokens would have been available for collection at all 108 community centres (CCs) islandwide by the end of this month.

That timeline has been pushed to December, according to the schedule on the TokenGoWhere website, with residents from Kembangan-Chai Chee, Marine Parade and Mountbatten able to collect their tokens from Dec 14.

With the change in plans, residents can no longer collect their tokens from CCs outside their constituency. Distribution was also staggered with new CCs progressively starting their token collection exercise one constituency at a time.

As of Sunday, 570,000 TraceTogether tokens had been issued, Dr Puthucheary said.

Mr Lim also asked whether the token has been distributed to all seniors.

In reply, Dr Puthucheary said the token distribution had started in areas with a higher proportion of older residents, such as Tanjong Pagar and Jalan Besar.

The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office partnered the Silver Generation Office to distribute the tokens to seniors at their homes, he said.

He added that the office worked with the Agency of Integrated Care and the Ministry of Social and Family Development to distribute the tokens to residents of nursing homes and community care facilities.

MP for Jurong Group Representation Constituency Tan Wu Meng then asked about what lessons the authorities had learned from its early token distribution efforts.

Dr Puthucheary said that the authorities “had not projected such high demand”.

“We had anticipated that there will be a need to persuade more people to come and get on board the TraceTogether programme,” he said. “And actually, we are very heartened by the response.”

Before the surge, the concern was not whether there would be enough demand, and so “we wanted to be prudent in terms of production”, he said.

“We did not expect the surge that had occurred... Now that we understand that, we have ramped up production.”