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This country is paying its people to read. Can it stop brain rot?

  • Singapore launched a five-year national campaign this month to nurture reading habits, offering small payments to citizens who log reading minutes on a government website using a gamification strategy.
  • Global rankings last week showed reading scores among 15-year-olds in the United States have plunged, while educators are struggling to battle "brain rot," a perceived decline in cognitive abilities blamed on excessive online content.
  • The scheme requires 50 days of reading sessions to earn $1, with participants needing 1,000 virtual coins to receive payment; a concurrent charity drive hopes to garner 7.5 million reading minutes to raise up to $118,300.
  • National Library Board chief Melissa Tam said long-form reading "strengthens attention, critical thinking and imagination," while content creator Charmaine Lim, 28, supports the initiative to nudge people toward reading.
  • The NLB plans to introduce new features and enhancements based on participant feedback through the end of the year, as officials view the pilot program as a way to nurture a nation of curious readers.
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This country is paying its people to read. Can it stop brain rot?

Whether it’s while waiting for the train or chilling solo at a cafe, a tiny nation in Southeast Asia is nudging its people toward an increasingly elusive habit: reading.

·Atlanta, United States
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Singapore has launched a five-year national campaign that is trying to turn reading into a daily habit, including using financial rewards. Authorities are building on a system inspired by gaming mechanisms to make people spend more time reading.

Singapore has launched a five-year campaign to encourage reading habits: residents who register on a government website and log their daily reading sessions will be paid small amounts, CNN reported on Tuesday. Authorities are hoping the gamification strategy will work—using a point system to maintain the habit in exchange for a modest reward. The article, "Singapore: Government to Pay Citizens for Reading," comes from the website Misyjne.pl.

Singapore is trying to convince people to leave the phone aside and open a book. The authorities have launched a national campaign through which citizens receive small financial rewards if they read at least 15 minutes a day. The program will run for five years and aims to turn reading into a habit, through a system similar to those of ... The post Country that pays its citizens to read. An attempt to combat "brainpowering appeared first on spot…

When he saw book readership rates falling to alarming levels, he decided to act to save the situation.

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KIFI broke the news in Idaho Falls, United States on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
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