More than 600 thousand people who are under age 18, over age 65, or disability certificate holders, have won the "Arts FUN Go" vouchers issued by the Ministry of Culture (MOC) to encourage cultural and arts consumption, the ministry announced after a live-streamed draw held on Sept. 8.
This is the second issuance of the culture ministry's "Arts FUN Go" vouchers. The first round was issued July 22.
The printed voucher, valued at NT$600 each booklet, is designed to include non-mobile phone users who were unable to partake in the electronic arts-and-culture voucher program launched in July, so that everyone who enjoys the arts will be able to do their part in revitalizing the cultural industry that has been hit hard amid COVID-19.
Under the auspices of legal experts, the Sept. 8 event saw Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te announced 659,068 people, who are not the previous winners and with birthdates of 4, 6, 9, 11, 16, 18, 20, and 30, have won the printed vouchers.
The winners, who were notified on Sept. 8 through SMS or e-mail, will have to present their national health insurance (NHI) cards to apply for the vouchers at the four major convenience store chains.
People who won the voucher booklets, which are valid up to and including Feb. 28, 2021, will be able to use them at museums, performance halls, cinemas, bookstores, record stores, artifacts workshops, and cultural and creative parks. The winners can also purchase tickets online by entering their identification numbers and identification codes printed on the voucher.
Registration for the program opened at 9 am on Aug. 31 and by the time the registration ended at 9 pm on Sept. 6, a total of 2,532,550 eligible individuals had registered. Among those who registered, 975,332 people were over 65, 1,437,366 individuals aged under 18, and 119,852 people are disability certificate holders.
For businesses and individual looking for detailed information pertaining to the voucher program, the Ministry has set up a dedicated hotline (02-7745-7979) and email ([email protected]).
The ministry has invested NT$320 million to issue the printed vouchers, which is the MOC's another effort to provide concrete assistance to the arts and cultural sectors as they works to recover from the damage wrought by the pandemic.
In Feb. 2020, the Ministry developed a package of relief subsidies and loans, administrative and regulative plans, and revitalization measures for the cultural and arts sectors.