Facing shrinking attention spans and ‘doomscrolling’, governments are using cash, vouchers and book drives to get citizens reading again
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenKolette LimPublished: 3:17pm, 28 Sep 2026Singaporean Najwa Alhabshi remembers spending her teenage years poring over literary classics such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and George Orwell’s 1984. The books introduced her to ideologies, philosophies and the American dream while expanding her vocabulary.But as work commitments grew, the pages of her books started yellowing. Finding time to read became harder, and her smartphone screen eventually took over. “I think I just fell out of reading,” the 35-year-old tutor said. “Life got in the way – it was work, a lack of time, and eventually, the phone screen.”
Singapore is one of those taking action. Earlier this month, the city state launched an initiative that pays citizens to read.
