News

I applaud the Health Promotion Board (HPB) for offering many free group exercise activities via the Healthy 365 app. My friends and I have benefited by being fitter and healthier from the weekly sessions. The app releases at midnight new schedules of activities for booking four weeks ahead. Many of these activities are popular, and my friends and I often stay up till midnight to book them. Many slots are fully booked by 12.05am.  Sleep is important and HPB encourages everyone to sleep early, so can new schedules be released at 9pm or 10pm instead of at midnight? I understand the HealthHub app moved the booking of polyclinic appointments from midnight to 10pm some time ago. That was a good move and I hope Healthy 365 can do the same. Also, although some popular activities are fully booked throughout the four-week window, I have observed that there are still vacant slots on the actual day. This is probably because the app allows penalty-free cancellation up to one minute before the start of the activity. Such last-minute cancellations do not give others enough time to book and take over those cancelled slots and make their way to the exercise venue.  Perhaps HPB can allow penalty-free cancellations only up to one or two hours before the activity starts. This will encourage participants to cancel earlier and allow others to take over their places earlier. As a whole, we will all benefit from wider participation across all activities.