Singapore Is Paying People to Put Down Their Phones and Read Books
2 hours ago
- Singapore's National Library Board launched ReadSG in September 2026, a five-year campaign where logged reading time earns virtual coins redeemable for cash.
- Users earn 20 virtual coins (worth S$0.02) for at least 15 minutes of daily reading, with a maximum of one session per day.
- Fifty consecutive days of reading yields S$1, with the program designed as a behavioral nudge, not an income stream.
- A parallel 'Read for Good' track aims for 7.5 million cumulative reading minutes to unlock a charitable donation of up to S$150,000.
- ReadSG builds on nearly a decade of literacy initiatives, using gamification and micropayments to compete with phone-centric habits.
- The program is in a pilot phase, refined based on user feedback, drawing interest from governments and educators worldwide.
- Critics view the reward as too small to attract non-readers, while supporters cite behavioral economics on habit formation with low friction.
- If successful, ReadSG could become a case study for using gamification and micropayments to shift public behavior at scale.