Issue #38: What’s Happening This Week? DBS yuu Card Adds SimplyGo, White Flats at Oct 2025 BTO, Expanded CHAS Dental Subsidies

This week’s updates are a mix of sweet deals and stinging trade-offs. One popular rewards card is changing the game—good news if you commute, trickier if you don’t. Over at Mount Pleasant, a new BTO launch is doubling down on heritage while testing out a fresh flat type. Dental care is also getting cheaper (and clearer) with more subsidies and fee benchmarks. Meanwhile, car buyers are wincing at record premiums, and expats in Singapore are learning just how pricey their city really is. Here are 5 quick stories to catch up on.

TLDR; The DBS yuu Card will reward commuters with higher SimplyGo rebates but tighten spend rules and cut rewards elsewhere, making it better for frequent riders than casual users. Mount Pleasant Crest launches in Oct 2025 as the second project to feature white flats, with about 1,600 units and a unique blend of heritage conservation and sustainable design. The MOH is expanding CHAS dental subsidies from Oct 2025 and introducing fee benchmarks, giving Orange cardholders more support and patients clearer price references. COE premiums surged again, with Category A cars hitting a record $107,889, driven by strong demand for EVs, higher incomes, and tight supply. A Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy study found Singapore is the fourth most expensive city for expats but only 28th for locals, reflecting how subsidies shield residents while expatriates face steep housing, transport and education costs.

Psst, missed last week’s issue? View all past editions of What’s Happening This Week? to catch up.

 

DBS yuu Card adds SimplyGo but raises minimum spend

Starting 1 Oct 2025, the DBS yuu Card is getting both upgrades and cutbacks. The headline win is for commuters—bus and train rides via SimplyGo now earn up to 18% cash rebates on top of existing yuu merchant perks.

But there are trade-offs you’ll want to note:

• Minimum spend raised: To qualify for the 13% bonus rebate, you’ll now need to spend $800 (up from $600) each month, and your transactions must span 4 different yuu merchants (SimplyGo counts as one).
• Everyday spending cut: Cash rebates on non-yuu merchants drop from 0.5% to 0.25%.
• Downgrade for Amex users: The DBS yuu American Express® Card’s rewards at Mandai Wildlife Group shrink from up to 18% to just 0.5%.

What this means for you:

• Regular commuters stand to gain if they hit the new merchant and spend requirements. 
• Casual users or non-yuu spenders will find the card less rewarding than before if they find the new minimum spend difficult to hit.

 

White flats at Mount Pleasant Crest: second project to feature the new concept

When Mount Pleasant Crest launches in Oct 2025, it won’t just be another BTO drop. It will be the second project to offer white flats, following Crawford Heights in Kallang/Whampoa last October.

What are white flats? 

HDB introduced this classification to move away from the simple “mature vs. non-mature” labels. Instead, white flats are meant to:

• Provide greater flexibility in pricing, taking into account the project’s location, demand and design features
• Reflect more accurately the value and appeal of individual estates
• Give buyers a clearer sense of how different neighbourhoods compare

What to expect at Mount Pleasant Crest

• Around 1,600 flats in this first phase: 2-room Flexi, 3-room, 4-room units, plus 270 rental flats
• Part of a larger 6,000-flat estate planned across 4 projects
• Heritage elements of the old Police Academy retained—think conserved buildings, community spaces and nods to colonial architecture
• Sustainability woven in, with car-lite design, EV charging points and smart home provisions

Why this matters: Crawford Heights gave us the first glimpse of how white flats are priced and received. Mount Pleasant Crest will be closely watched as the model expands, offering buyers both a historic setting and a test case for how this new flat type plays out in practice.

 

 

MOH to expand CHAS dental subsidies and set fee benchmarks

From 1 Oct 2025, visiting the dentist should get a little easier on the wallet—especially for lower- and middle-income households. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is extending and boosting Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) subsidies for dental procedures.

Key changes

• CHAS Orange cardholders (household income $1,501–$2,300/month) will now enjoy subsidies previously reserved for CHAS Blue and Pioneer/Merdeka seniors.
  • Up to $13.50 for consultation and polishing
  • Up to $45.50 for posterior tooth extraction
• Restorative treatments like root canals, crowns and dentures will see higher subsidies, with Pioneer Generation seniors able to claim as much as $625 for a permanent crown.
• From mid-2026, seniors can use up to $400/year from Flexi-MediSave for crowns and root canals at CHAS clinics and public healthcare institutions.

Fee benchmarks introduced

MOH will also roll out benchmarks for 18 common procedures—e.g. consultations ($21–$31) and scaling ($35–$60)—to promote transparency. Clinics must display these from October, giving patients clearer guidance on what’s fair.

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ALSO READ: Understanding Your MediSave Account & How to Make the Most of It

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COE prices for small cars hit new record at nearly $108,000

Car buyers in Singapore are facing fresh sticker shock: Category A COEs—for smaller cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp—closed at a record $107,889 in the latest tender on 3 Sep, breaking the previous peak of $106,000 set in Oct 2023.

Latest COE results

• Category A (small cars): $107,889 (up from $104,524)
• Category B (large cars): $127,501 (up from $124,400)
• Open category: $127,901 (up from $125,001)
• Commercial vehicles: $71,556 (down slightly from $72,190)
• Motorcycles: $9,101 (up from $8,809)

Why prices are so high

The surge in prices is largely down to strong demand and limited supply. This round saw 4,553 bids competing for just 3,144 available COEs, pushing premiums higher across most categories. Transport analysts say demand has been fuelled by the growing popularity of mass-market electric vehicles from China, which fall into Category A, as well as rising household incomes that give more families the means to bid for cars despite the cost.

With COE supply expected to peak only later in the decade, premiums are likely to stay elevated for the foreseeable future.

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ALSO READ: How to Bid for Your Own Certificate of Entitlement (COE)

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LKYSPP study: Singapore fourth priciest city for expats, 28th for locals

Singapore has once again topped cost-of-living charts—though how expensive it feels depends on who you ask. A new study by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) ranked Singapore as the fourth most expensive city globally for expatriates, but only 28th for locals among 45 cities surveyed.

Key findings

• Global rankings (2025):
  • Expats: 4th, behind New York, Zurich and Los Angeles
  • Locals: 28th
• In Asia: Singapore is the most expensive for both expats and locals, followed by Hong Kong.
• Drivers for expat costs:
  • Housing: 6th most expensive worldwide for expats, but 23rd for locals
  • Transport: car ownership costs remain the highest globally due to COE
  • Education: international school fees are also a major burden

The contrast highlights how subsidies and public housing access cushion local households, while expatriates—reliant on the private rental and condo market—face significantly higher outlays.

For locals, Singapore’s rank has stabilised at 28th since 2024, but for expats, the city has climbed steadily from sixth in 2021 to its current fourth place.

 

That’s it for this week! Stay tuned for next week’s What’s Happening This Week to keep up with the latest in finance, business, and beyond. 

This article was first drafted with the help of AI and later reviewed and refined by the author.

 

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About the author

Vanessa Nah likes her finance articles the way she likes her sitcoms—light-hearted, entertaining, and leaving people knowing a little more about life. She believes money—like life—should be made simple. Outside of work, you’ll find Vanessa attending dance classes, fingerpicking a guitar, and fulfilling her life mission to make her one-eyed cat the most spoiled kitty in the world.