Cover Here are the nine participating bookstores across Singapore where you can put your SG Culture Pass credits to good use (Photo: Getty Images)
Here are the nine participating bookstores across Singapore where you can put your SG Culture Pass credits to good use (Photo: Getty Images)
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From a cosy café-bookshop in Duxton to a Chinese literary institution at Bras Basah Complex, nine Singapore bookstores are now accepting SG Culture Pass credits. Here’s where to go and what to expect when you get there
If you've been sitting on your SG Culture Pass credits and haven’t quite found the right way to spend them, here’s a suggestion.
The SG Culture Pass was introduced in September 2025 to celebrate SG60, giving all Singapore citizens aged 18 and above $100 in credits to put towards local arts and heritage experiences—theatre, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and more. The idea is a simple one: make it easier for Singaporeans to engage with the culture happening around them, and to support the people making it. Since its launch, over $13.8 million in credits has already been used.
From March 1, 2026, those credits stretch a little further. Books are now eligible—specifically, Singapore literature, or SingLit: fiction, poetry, plays, children's books, and short essays by Singaporean or Singapore-based authors across all four languages. Around 1,500 titles are currently eligible, each marked with a red SG Culture Pass sticker in-store, and the scheme runs until December 31, 2028.
Using your credits in person is straightforward: log into your SG Culture Pass account, tap ‘Pay in store’, enter the amount to generate a QR code, and let the cashier scan it. If your total comes to more than your available balance, you can pay the difference by cash or card. Take note that credits cannot be used online.
Read more: 25 exciting family-friendly activities to try in Singapore
It's also a quiet nudge towards a habit worth revisiting. Screens have made it easier than ever to consume content—but harder, somehow, to stay with something long enough for it to really land. Singapore literature does something that no algorithm can replicate: it puts you in a world that looks and sounds like the one you actually live in. The hawker centre a character lingers in, the dialect a grandmother speaks, or even the texture of a neighbourhood you recognise.
Here are the nine participating bookstores across Singapore where you can put those credits to good use.
Wardah Books
Above Wardah Books is a bookshop operating in Kampong Gelam since it was founded in 2002 (Photo: Wardah Books)
Wardah Books is a bookshop operating in Kampong Gelam since it was founded in 2002 (Photo: Wardah Books)
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Operating in Kampong Gelam since 2002, Wardah Books specialises in English-language books on Islam and carries a wide range of SG Culture Pass-eligible SingLit titles. The location alone makes a visit worthwhile—Bussorah Street has a neighbourhood warmth that takes you away from much of the city.
58 Bussorah Street
Book Bar
An independent bookstore and café focused on Singapore and Asian literature, Book Bar has quickly become one of the most prominent local bookshops on the scene, hosting events including book launches and monthly book clubs. The café side—coffee, tea, light bites—makes it easy to lose a whole afternoon here without any guilt whatsoever.
57 Duxton Road
Woods in the Books
Above Woods in the Books is an independent bookshop in Singapore with a specialty in picture books and other illustrated books (Photo: Woods in the Books)
Woods in the Books is an independent bookshop in Singapore with a specialty in picture books and other illustrated books (Photo: Woods in the Books)
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A homegrown independent bookshop specialising in picture books and illustrated titles for all ages, with three locations across the island. Their Forum outlet, Books Ahoy!, skews towards younger readers.
206 East Coast Road (Katong) | 46 Kim Yam Road, #03-06, New Bahru | 583 Orchard Road, #02-03/04, Forum The Shopping Mall
City Book Room
An independent publisher and bookstore dedicated to curating local titles in both Chinese and English, City Book Room relocated from North Bridge Road to Joo Chiat in 2022. Its current home in the East suits it well—the neighbourhood has an independent, unhurried quality that pairs nicely with browsing. Closed Tuesdays.
387 Joo Chiat Road, #03-02, The Modules
Union Book Co
A fixture of the Chinese literary scene since 1952, Union Book has been at Bras Basah Complex since 1981, specialising in Chinese-language books with a strong range of SG Culture Pass-eligible titles. CDC and SG60 Vouchers are also accepted here.
231 Bain Street, #03-01, Bras Basah Complex
Basheer Graphic Books
Above Basheer Graphics is a specialised bookstore for design books and magazines related to architecture, interior design, fashion, art and craft and more (Photo: Basheer Graphics)
Basheer Graphics is a specialised bookstore for design books and magazines related to architecture, interior design, fashion, art and craft and more (Photo: Basheer Graphics)
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A specialist bookstore for art, design, architecture, fashion, and photography, Basheer Graphic Books has been a go-to resource for Singapore’s creative community since 1991. Its SG Culture Pass-eligible titles skew towards graphic novels and illustrated works—a different entry point into SingLit.
231 Bain Street, #04-19, Bras Basah Complex
Lingzi Warehouse Books Sale (Lingzi Media)
A warehouse bookstore offering a range of Chinese-language books with a focus on Singaporean authors, catering to a broad, family-friendly audience. It’s a little out of the way, but warehouse bookshops have a charm of their own—the sense that you might find something unexpected. Open weekdays; Saturdays by appointment only.
48 Toh Guan Road East, #06-106
Books Kinokuniya
A mainstay of the Singapore literary scene since its first store opened here in 1983, Kinokuniya's range spans multiple languages including English, Chinese, and Japanese. Many stores have set aside dedicated shelving for SG Culture Pass-eligible titles, making it easier to browse with purpose.
Takashimaya Shopping Centre, #04-20 (Main Store) | Bugis Junction, #03-10 | Raffles City Shopping Centre, #03-22/23
Epigram Showroom
The publishing home of some of Singapore’s best-known literary voices, Epigram Books closed its last retail bookshop in 2025 but its Toa Payoh showroom remains open for visits and SG Culture Pass purchases. If you already know what you’re looking for, this is the most direct way to buy it. Open weekdays only.
1008 Toa Payoh North, #03-08
