Singapore Is Paying People to Put Down Their Phones and Read Books

Singapore's National Library Board launched ReadSG, a five-year pilot program that rewards residents with virtual coins (convertible to cash) for logging daily reading time, offering roughly S$0.02 per 15-minute session as a behavioral nudge to reduce phone dependency. The program also includes a collective goal where 7.5 million cumulative reading minutes would unlock a S$150,000 charitable donation, attracting international attention as a test case for using gamification to shift population-wide screen habits.