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. Singapore this month launched a novel five-year national campaign to nurture reading habits, with incentives including small payments to citizens who log their reading minutes on a government website.

Officials are betting, the gamification strategy – using a points system to track the habit for a modest reward – and a sense of public participation can help to restore a habit being fast replaced by brain rot-inducing doomscrolling.

“While short-form content helps us stay informed, long-form reading strengthens attention, critical thinking and imagination,” the National Library Board’s chief Melissa Tam said in a statement.

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