Retail & Dining

The NETS QR code is a unified QR code payment platform that is able to accept payments from customers using NETSPay, DBS PayLah!, OCBC’s Pay Anyone and UOB’s Mighty apps. HSBC, Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank are expected to offer this service shortly.

NETS QR offers more payment options to our NUS community as apart from DBS Paylah!, it is able to accept payments from banks such as OCBC or UOB which was not accepted previously.

All DBS Paylah! QR codes in campus will be switched to NETS QR progressively.

Currently payment apps that are compatible with NETS QR are NETSPay, DBS Paylah!, OCBC Pay Anyone & UOB Mighty.

All canteens and food courts are currently accepting payments via NETS QR. It will be available campus wide soon.

Yes, stalls and outlets with NETS QR enabled can also accept normal and contactless NETS transactions.

Static QR Code: After the user scans the NETS QR code, he/she will be prompted to enter the amount payable.

Dynamic QR Code: User only needs to scan the NETS QR code to make payment. (No need to enter amount payable).

The paper straws are not given for every purchase. It will only be given on demand. We have done a follow up with all the participating vendors on the first day of implementation and found that there are still a small proportion of vendors who have not stocked up their paper straws due to late arrival of the stocks. As such, we allowed them a one week concession to continue to give out plastic straws on demand, but would like them to have the paper straws within a week, which we were assured that the stocks would arrive. Although we have communicated and worked with the vendors closely on this initiative, there will be inevitable lapses in the foreseeable future. We welcome the community to feedback to us so that we can improve.

The vendors and their staff have assisted to explain the intention behind the iReject campaign. We will continue to engage them in their communication to the NUS community.

A task force comprising NUSSU, OCA and other student environmental groups has been formed. They have met recently and agreed on the commitment to environmental sustainability within the campus. NUSSU, as the main student body, will act as the liaison point for the general student population and the task force. This will help to address any concerns and issues brought up by the community.

The task force is focusing on the following two areas:

1. To address the main concerns of the community that were feedbacked through various channels
2. To continue to educate the community through various forms and channels to encourage more in the community to support the campaign and do their part for the environment.

On point 1, some of the suggestions were using reusable cups to complement the lack of straws, using your own tumblers for drinks and the option to purchase straw alternatives of acceptable food-grade, to ensure the safety of our students.

We will keep students updated on future plans, and we also hope to get more suggestions from students to make this journey a community effort. We thank you for your support and if you have any suggestions, do feel free to share them with us.

We recognize that not all stalls may be able to immediately stop distributing straws, due to the nature of the drinks that they offer. While all drink stalls in the canteens and food courts are ready onboard, the fruit juice stalls will be coming onboard gradually given the nature of their drinks and operation.

Plastic straws are only the tip of the iceberg and we are taking this as a first but small step towards reducing single-use plastics. Through reducing the usage of plastic straws, we hope to increase awareness on environment sustainability and promote a vibrant sharing and exchanging of perspectives among the NUS community, eventually leading to collective efforts spreading beyond the community to reduce other disposables.

We are working on it and will gradually introduce the use of reusable cups and bags to reduce the use of single-use plastic cups, bags and other disposables. SAVE has started an ongoing project “Reusable Bag Library” to encourage the use of reusable bags.

We did a trial at Bukit Timah campus at the start of the semester on not giving out straws, before deciding on going for a campus-wide implementation. For the canteens and food courts in Kent Ridge campus, although we have removed plastic straws, paper straws are still available on request.

We recognise that there is no amount of notification that is sufficient to prepare the community for a change in the way people consume their drinks. As such, we welcome suggestions from the community to share with us their preferred mode of communication so that we can reach out to you for future campaign activities. For the launch of plastic straw removal, other than email notification and  social media posts, we have also displayed wobblers (signage) at all participating outlets on campus. In addition, we recognise such a change may take time to get used to and hence, we introduced on-request paper straws. We also carried out trials at Bukit Timah campus and Café Delight at the Ventus building on Kent Ridge campus at the start of the semester before going for a campus-wide implementation.

While we have removed the plastic straws, paper straws are still available upon request. Alternatively, you may wish to bring your own reusable straw and tumbler.

While we have removed the plastic straws, paper straws are still available upon request. Alternatively, you may wish to bring your own reusable straw and tumbler.

They will be using their stocks at their other outlets outside NUS.

The removal of plastic straws and introduction of on-request paper straws do not result in substantial cost savings for the vendors. It is done purely for the primary objective of doing our part for environmental sustainability. Therefore, there is no substantial savings to be passed on to the community. If you bring your own tumbler, NUS SAVE has the Project Tumbler initiative that offers $0.50 discount after five takeaways because there are substantial savings on cups that can be passed on to the community. If you do not feel comfortable drinking without a straw, we advise that you ask for a paper straw.