Is there a need for taxpayer-funded grant to attract marquee events? Edwin Tong responds

With a slew of A-list artistes such as Jacky Cheung, Coldplay and Taylor Swift performing sold-out concerts here in recent months, Minister for Community, Culture and Youth Edwin Tong made clarifications on matters regarding marquee events in Singapore.

During a Parliament sitting on Monday (March 4), Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam asked Minister Tong: "Given that Singapore is such an attractive destination for marquee events, why is there even a need to give taxpayer-funded grants to attract them?"

Giam also asked if the government had negotiated to make Taylor Swift's Eras Tour "the only Blank Space in Southeast Asia", referring to recent statements made by leaders of neighbouring countries on Singapore being the American pop star's only stop in Southeast Asia. 

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In response, Minister Tong explained that the government decides to make a grant or negotiate in a particular way on a case-by-case basis.

"You have to make your calculations and work out what's in Singapore's and Singaporeans' best interests," he said.

"If you don't have a certain economy of scale, to play in Singapore over X number of nights for a period of time, you wouldn't be able to reap the economy of scale."

Minister Tong explained that in the case of the Eras Tour, having just one or two shows in Singapore would have been difficult as there is extensive set-up involved for the concert.

"We had to look at that as quite a material consideration for discussing with the Taylor Swift team on how long and for what duration to host [the concert] in Singapore."

The ministry also had to consider the local demand for the concert, he added.

In his speech during the Parliament sitting, Minister Tong also quelled speculations that the grant from Singapore Tourism Board was what sealed the deal for Swift's highly coveted concert tour.

"Grants alone will not decide where a performer goes," he said.

"Promoters of top artists will do their own calculations and assess where they want to perform and for how long."

He went on to say that Singapore's strategic location, quality infrastructure, good amenities, safety, efficiency and diverse cultural offerings also play a part in attracting top class events into Singapore.

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Minister Tong reiterated that he could not reveal the specific size or conditions of the much-discussed grant due to business confidentiality reasons.

"However, I can assure members of the House that the economic benefits to Singapore are assessed to be significant and outweigh the size of the grant," he said.

He added that revenue from these large-scale events can be channeled into social events such as National School games which benefits Singaporeans by enriching the community and fostering bonding.

When asked by NMP Usha Chandradas if there was a confidentiality clause in the agreement made with Taylor Swift's team that had been breached, Minister Tong confirmed that this was the case.

"We will assess the terms and we will take the appropriate measures [against those who breached the clause] under advisement," he said.

ALSO READ: Government's grant for Taylor Swift's deal 'nowhere as high' as speculated, says Edwin Tong

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com