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New BudgetMealGoWhere portal to help residents find cheaper meals in HDB coffee shops A new website to help residents find cheaper meals in the neighbourhood was launched by HDB and GovTech on May 19 Named BudgetMealGoWhere, about 40 participating coffee shops are listed for a start Coffee shops and the available budget meal options will start with those located within 2km of the postal code entered HDB said that budget meals will progressively be offered at all 374 HDB rental coffee shops by 2026 Patrons and stall owners interviewed generally welcomed the new initiative and made some suggestions on what they would like to see SINGAPORE — A new portal has been launched to help consumers easily locate Housing and Development Board (HDB) coffee shops offering budget meals. HDB and the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) said in a joint statement on Friday (May 19) that the new “BudgetMealGoWhere” website will allow the public to search for HDB coffee shops offering budget meals near their location and view the budget meals and drinks available at these places. This can be done by entering a postal code in the website’s search box. A list of the coffee shops and the available budget meal options will appear, starting with those located within 2km of the postal code. The portal will also be accessible through the LifeSG mobile application and website. Budget meal options refer to lunch or dinner meals that are priced affordably compared to the average price of meals sold at nearby eating establishments. These budget meals must be full meals, and not side dishes, snacks, children's meal or half-portion meals. Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development, announced in Parliament in March that all coffee shops leased from HDB have to offer budget meal options upon their tenancy renewal starting May. As a start, all older coffee shops leased from HDB that are due for renewal will need to provide four budget meals and two budget drinks across two or more different stalls as a condition of their tenancy renewal. Two of the budget meals must be rice-based and one must be halal. These coffee shops must also offer at least two budget drinks, which are black coffee (kopi-o) and black tea (teh-o). "The budget meal and drink prices will be benchmarked against economically priced food-and-beverage offerings in nearby neighbourhood coffee shops," Ms Sim said at the time. Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development, announced in Parliament in March that all coffee shops leased from HDB have to offer budget meal options upon their tenancy renewal starting May. As a start, all older coffee shops leased from HDB that are due for renewal will need to provide four budget meals and two budget drinks across two or more different stalls as a condition of their tenancy renewal. Two of the budget meals must be rice-based and one must be halal. These coffee shops must also offer at least two budget drinks, which are black coffee (kopi-o) and black tea (teh-o). "The budget meal and drink prices will be benchmarked against economically priced food-and-beverage offerings in nearby neighbourhood coffee shops," Ms Sim said at the time. There are a total of 776 coffee shops in Singapore, of which 374 are under HDB and 402 are privately owned. On the new BudgetMealGoWhere website, about 40 coffee shops are listed, with more being progressively added. “HDB will work with GovTech to continually improve the website’s functionality and listing to make it more useful for Singaporeans, and members of the public can also provide feedback on the budget meals,” the two agencies said. To help customers in identifying budget meals more easily, participating stalls will display the budget meal decal stickers on their food display signage, indicating the budget meals on offer. HDB has completed 37 new coffee shops in the last five years as part of efforts to ensure that residents have access to affordable cooked food, the two agencies added. "Another 34 coffee shops are slated for completion in the next five years, to meet the needs of residents." WHAT PATRONS, FOOD SELLERS SAY Commenting on the new initiative, customers and food stall owners who spoke to TODAY generally welcomed it and suggested how it can be improved. TODAY visited three coffee shops, all of which were among the 40 participating coffee shops listed on the website. Most patrons could see themselves using the site, but some mentioned how it might present problems for older users. Madam Sissi Lin, a scientist who did not want to reveal her age, said: “I think it’s quite comprehensive. I’m just concerned because I believe there will be some older people who might want to use it. Maybe the font size of the text can be bigger (for those who find it hard to reading small print).” One suggested that photographs can accompany the meals being listed. Mr Jason Lim, a 22-year-old engineer, said: “It would be nice if there are pictures of the food or reviews. Maybe it’s cheap but the portion is small. If there are pictures or reviews, people will know.” Madam Noradila Affandi, 37, who works in the digital security field, suggested having pictures of the coffee shops for people to recognise them easily. Civil servant Benjamin Tan, 31, said: “They show some coffee shops that are way too far. There are a few coffee shops in Clementi but they are probably not listed yet." Stall owners generally believed that the new website will help to bring in more customers. Mr Kelvin Lee, 26, who runs an economical rice stall at a coffee shop in Bukit Batok, said that he had seen about 30 more customers than usual who have bought the budget meal, which is a rice with meat and two kinds of vegetables at S$3. The BudgetMealGoWhere website is at https://www.gowhere.gov.sg/budgetmeal/. https://www.gowhere.gov.sg/budgetmeal/ https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-budgetmealgowhere-portal-help-residents-find-cheaper-meals-hdb-coffee-shops-2175151 only 40 coffee shops are on BudgetMealGoWhere at present. hopefully more will come on for this initiative to gain traction and awareness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IviOOZEjgyQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjrkUHCAM98

Stomp GVGT. Happening ah.

Want to charge expensive can but dont anyhow swap around your prices. Different staff on different days with same dish or food can have different prices. This is rubbish. Can report with proof? This is a no troll thread btw. Dont come in and say, cannot afford dont eat la or why you so cheapskate.

Just at the entrance into the service rd of my HDB flat...there is a coffeeshop....Alot of peope because of convenient would illegal park just beside the coffeeshop...some would just turn in...go against the traffic and just park beside the coffeeshop....they can't even now be bother to make an u turn so that they are in the rigth traffic direction... those concrete divider had been installed years ago to control this problem...but then they would still park as long as there is no divider... then there are those who will stop right in front of the coffee shop and drop off their wife to buy coffee...the proper drop off place is just 20m away...because of the divider....if you are behind...u just got to wait....then when the wife finish buying coffee...she would wave tot he husband and the husband drive over again... I hope they will die early because of lack of exercise....

hello people, any idea which 24hrs coffeeshop in the northern area (woodlands, sembawang, yishun, AMK) with Mio TV showing the Champion League matches ? appreciate your valuable input with block numbers & other finer details. thank you very much.

Great offer or misleading? Patrons divided over promotion 50 cents for meal & coffee... but deal valid only with extra orders By Charissa Yong [email protected] April 13, 2008 IS IT a good deal or a misleading gimmick? ? The offer proves irresistible to a customer who takes a closer look at a poster in front of Cafe Lobby in Toa Payoh. -- Picture: GAVIN FOO Some customers who went to get the former ended up thinking it was more of the latter. The deal in question is a cafe's two-day 50 cent promotion. The Cafe Lobby at the Toa Payoh interchange is advertising that customers can buy noodles or nasi lemak, and get a free cup of coffee - all for just 50 cents. The offer ends today. What the posters fail to mention, however, is that the 50 cents is for rice or noodles only, and for the deal to be valid, one needs to order additional ingredients. They can cost anything from 20 cents for vegetables to $1.60 for a chicken wing. And this had some customers complaining. Madam Jenny Chee, who is in her 40s, thought the offer was a good deal until she found out about this requirement. 'I didn't buy anything in the end,' she said. 'They are not being fair in their advertisement because the sale will definitely exceed 50 cents.' Housewife Madam Doris Lim, 60, also felt the posters were 'misleading' as the exact conditions of the offer were not clearly stated. But not all were upset. Retiree Madam Chan Jan Peng, 61, felt the meal was 'worth it' despite it costing more than the advertised offer. 'The food tastes good. Considering that the prices of many things are rising nowadays, this is value for money,' she said. Madam Chan also feels the advertising tactic is understandable. 'Getting more people to try their food at a lower price is a good business tactic to get new customers,' she said. 'We can't fault them because the purpose of advertisements is to draw customers. 'They need to do business too.' The two-month-old cafe had offered the same promotion once before, said Mr Jason Lim, 42, its managing director. He said the low price was meant to attract more customers. A supplier to the cafe, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, also said the cafe was 'willing to make a bit of a loss to attract more customers'. Mr Lim said the deal was to 'let our customers enjoy our coffee and taste more of our food'. He stood by the requirement that customers had to order other ingredients before they were entitled to the promotion package. 'Otherwise, people will take advantage of the deal,' he said. Asked if it was misleading not to mention this in the advertising, he said: 'We didn't think that information was essential. The staff could always tell the customers.' It seems like the promotional gimmick has paid off. Mr Lim said The Cafe Lobby had attracted the number of customers that it had targeted, though he wouldn't reveal how many. ----