Benefits of bringing Taylor Swift tour to Singapore "outweigh the size of the grant": Edwin Tong

sir the government took over The Sports Hub in 2022 with the vision one to establish Singapore and The Sports Hub as the leading sports and entertainment destination in the region two to inculcate a strong sense of efficiency between singaporeans and The Sports Hub and three to maximize synergies across the suite of facilities in the broader kalang alive Precinct in order to better activate the precinct kalang life sport management The Entity that was put in charge of operating the sports after the government takeover set out to be more than simply a venue for hire kazm which is a short form acronym for kalang alive sport management has a team which actively identifies and curates suitable content and programs and brings them into Singapore our aim is to bring a whole spectrum of events to kalang for singaporeans from Top tier Marquee events to community related ones and from music concerts to sporting as well as social events since we took over The Sports Hub has seen a 30% increase in sports entertainment and community and lifestyle events in the number of days event days since the government takeover compared to the best number of event days prior to the covid pandemic there were some questions at takeover around whether The Sports Hub would be able to continue to attract top tier events into Singapore in the last year apart from the ongoing Tailor Swift concerts we have brought in several worldclass such as Mayday Coplay Ed Sheron and Jackie Chung we have also brought in Marquee sporting events including the feba Intercontinental cup that came to Asia for the first time in 2023 the super 750 series Singapore badminton open the HSBC Singapore sevens the wtt Singapore smash of which the Third Edition will begin sometime later this week and Innovative Concepts such as Fitness racing series High rocks in the case of Taylor Swift we moved fast and early to bring her show into Singapore and we did so as we recognized the large swifties fan base in Singapore as well as in the region and we Keen to deliver the concert experience to them right here at The Sports Hub the idea for A-list Mar events to be staged at The Sports Hub was conceived of even before the government Takeover in December 2022 as we recognize the tremendous upsite of concerts such concerts to Singapore in February 2023 my colleagues and I from mccy sport SG and km went to the US to study the sport and entertainment industry when the opportunity to discuss holding a Taylor sft concert in Singapore came up we broached it immediately and subsequently discussed it in detail and thereafter reached an agreement for Singapore to be one of Taylor Swifts tour stops we also saw the opportunity to make this a uniquely Singapore experience and it hence made sense to take a whole of government approach and subsequently other agencies such as stb were brought in stb undertook its own assessment of the potential benefits of bringing the concert to Singapore and subsequently offered a grant to the concert promoter stb possess assesses whether to give grants on a Case by case basis judiciously weighing up the benefits which might ACR to Singapore if the event were brought in there's been some online speculation to the size of the Grant I can say that it is not accurate and not anywhere as high as speculated but due to business confidentiality reasons we cannot reveal the specific size of the grant or the conditions of the grant 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 the direct economic benefits include for instance additional tourist arrivals and additional spending on tickets on flights hotel stays as well as entertainment retail and dining in Singapore other cities which have hosted tailor sft concerts similarly reported an increase in economic activity arising from the concerts and we would expect the same in Singapore several Market analysts have estimated a dollar range of the economic upside which we are likely to see from the staging of the concerts and whilst the event has not yet concluded these May well be right in addition beyond the tourism and economic benefits being able to host A-list artists such as Taylor Swift will also help position Singapore as a cultural Hub in Southeast Asia capable of hosting a range of different Arts music and culture events as well as major sporting and lifestyle events this overall helps to Brand Singapore as a fun vibrant destination straight STS noted for instance that the benefits include and I quote economic growth cultural enrichment to Global recognition unquote whilst Nik Asia reported at a concerts quote underscore the City State's growing status as a pop culture destination unquote business times also noted that these events made us quote look like a modern open-minded and vibrant place but let me add that grants alone would not decide where a performer goes promoters of top artists will do their own calculation and assess where they want to perform and and for how long one major consideration is location which is key there are many reasons why world-class artists choose to host large scale concerts in Singapore these include Singapore's strategic location quality infrastructure good amenities safety efficiency and diverse cultural offerings kasm also proactively works with the artists and promoters to make their experience of performing in Singapore a good one all of this helps when attracting Top Class events into Singapore Singapore faces intense Regional competition for these concerts and other such events and we will need to continue investing in our infrastructure and our software to continue attracting Market entertainment and lifestyle and sporting events into Singapore so I want to add before I conclude that km's mission goes beyond adding economic value to Singapore it also extends to building Singapore's Affinity with the sports up as I said at the outset we're exploring ways for more singaporeans from all backgrounds to enjoy Marquee X to Mr SE TR specific question for some concerts including high demand ones like cooplay and Taylor Swift kasm retains some tickets and works with sport cares which is Sport sg's charity and philanthropic arm sgc's volunteer centers Southeast CDC and other organizations to give tickets to beneficiaries from lower income families or at risk families as well as to the volunteers from these organizations so that they too can be a part of the sports sub experience on other occasions we've also activated areas in the precinct to allow other members of the community to bask in the atmosphere this includes both entertainment events such as the tayor S concerts as well as sporting events for example at the Singapore smash 2023 we had Community activations at ocbc square and also right across the island with tables set up at 18 venues through Singapore whilst the main event was happening at a Sports Hub this provided singor with the opportunity to try their hand at table tennis and doing it on the same tables Top Class tables that were used by the best players in the world Beyond Mar entertainment and sports events kasm also has a dedicated team that looks at delivering more Community programs while we cover a range of top tier events that are ticketed there are also a range of non-ticketed and non Revenue generating events such as the large scale festivals during Chinese New Year last year Hara and Deepa Valley this ensures that we have a strong social return by providing programs for everyone to bond to interact and build Affinity with the sports hub for example Sports Hub had hosted a record 43 national school games finals in FY 2023 that's more than twice the number previously prior to covid which stood at 16 so mccy sport SG and kasm will continue to work hard continue to hustle and do our best to bring Top Class events here but also continue to make Sports up even more accessible to all singaporeans thank you sir M Chas uh thank you sir uh first of all let me uh thank the government for its very hard work in bringing all these top tier events to Singapore I think the community really appreciates the work that has been done but I have uh two supplementary questions for the minister uh first of all as part of the terms and conditions of the deal that was struck to bring Taylor Swift to Singapore exclusively and with the support of government grants was there the potential to include the involvement and profiling of local musicians so for example when Coldplay performed earlier this year local musicians featured as in acts when Ed shiran performed in Singapore he famously did a duet with JJ Lyn uh he also profiled a watch strap that was made by a local company so my question is were similar cross marketing opportunities contemplated when negotiating with Miss Swift's team and if not is it something that the government can keep in mind for future concert deals my second question relates to the disclosure of the terms of the deal that was struck between Miss Swift's team and the Singapore government as we've seen in the news the exclusivity Clauses have struck a nerve with some of our neighboring countries and cause some amount of tension so my questions are these were confidentiality Clauses built into the contracts and if they were um about the exclusivity Arrangements were these terms breached and if so will the government be taking any enforcement action against the relevant parties thank you Minister I thank Miss uh Usha tradas for her comments on her first question on cross marketing obviously where possible we would Endeavor to do so and that's why we've seen uh in the case of Coplay having a local opening act uh in other cases as well what we try and do on some occasion is even if we can't do it at the main event itself at the periphery on uh non-event days or in a leadup or buildup to the A-list event that takes place in Singapore we try to involve as many local artists as possible so we've seen you've s some examples and we will continue to do so in in the case of artists uh very often the terms and conditions stipulate not just who is performing uh their overall setup but also the uh opening act for each of the performers so in those cases we will not be able to change the sequence or change the identity of the performance but rest assured that when we can we will endeavor to expose our local artists to such platforms on the second Point yes there is a confidentiality agreement and we will assess the terms and we will take the appropriate measures under advisement thank you Mr Chin thank you Mr Speaker I first uh must thank uh Minister for personally leading the Singapore delegation to the LA to negotiate the deal to bring in um the IRAs tour I think uh that is a huge personal involvement on on his part and I thank him for that um I'd like to quote the chairman of KM Mr Keith Magnus who said that you know there's now a new DNA and passion that's been brought into the operating culture of the organization and to quote him we are constantly in Deal mode unquote now I fully support this basic orientation to go out and make deals and hustle so in line with that orientation um and to my original question on whether there is a target for the total economic value ad um from the concert economy that we are trying to grow in Singapore could the minister perhaps uh shed a bit more light on whether we should consider setting a more tangible Target uh in terms of due volume due flow uh even if not economic value ad the numbers uh that we expect to see uh from the concert economy that we're trying to grow in Singapore thank you Minister th so again I thank Mr SE for his remarks U he's raised an important point but I think we should also set it in context when we first considered the idea of taking back The Sports Hub there were questions around did we have a team who would be able to engage with some of the world's top artists and promoters were we able to do this with large scale crowds uh not forgetting that as we we were embarking on these plans we were still in the midst of dealing with covid and so when we looked at the plans overall uh obviously those are factors that had to be taken into account eventually I think it's important for us to work out a broader Horizon midterm through to long-term and understand where we want to go in terms of targets and we will do that but I want to stress to Mr s that as I said at the outset of my answer km is not trying to deal with the sports sub only for economic return to us it is equally important that we have social return to the sports sub and to give you an example of how we've been able to achieve this we work with top tier Market events obviously high and good Revenue generating events cplay at Sheeran Jackie Chong and uh Taylor Swift being some examples but in doing so and in making that Revenue we're able to plow it back into non-revenue generating but highly impactful social events I I gave the example of the national school games taking place at The Sports Hub almost three times the number of events compared to the best non best prior covid days prior to covid days that all of that brings a certain feeling and Resonance of school athletes to be playing at the top venue in Singapore at The Sports Hub I have given this example to the media as well last year we worked with the schools to Stage the rugby finals right after the Singapore s so we had a pitch that was world class we had the venue that was world class finished on Sunday with the finals on Monday or Tuesday the schools stepped in and because we were able to host it without the restrictions the financial restrictions in particular that we had before we had 8 th000 school children at the arena at the stadium supporting cheering on their school I was there and I think the feeling of camaraderie the feeling of togetherness being able to cheer your top athletes at such a forum I think is something that we value tremendously so these and other examples are what we want to go for using The Sports Hub as a draw as a vehicle as an as an asset that government can use right across the Spectrum and also combining it with non Sports sub facilities for example the rest of kalanga Life the precin which I mentioned there are Parts which can be activated in support of and in tandem with the sports sub so all these are main the main motivations for casm when they do their calculations for events for any particular given year um there are I'm trying to move the pqs along we still at the first set of pqs so I'll allow for a few more excuse but please keep it sucing and likewise replies to be sucing Mr J thank you sir and I thank the minister for his reply assume he's answering the question that I file for tomorrow as well sir 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 and secondly did the government negotiate to make Taylor Swift's um uh irus tour the only blank space in Southeast Asia and did it realize that this may be perceived by some of our neighbors as being mean Minister Tong so I'll try not to bring my answer the 10-minute version um Mr gam F had question for tomorrow with MTI on stb's position on grants they will be taken separately so I'm not answering on behalf of stb on your two questions the first is um well let me deal with the second I which which I think is also related to the first the real question is this you have to make your calculations and work out what's in Singapore and Singapore's best interest 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 won't be able to reap the economies of scale then very there's going to be a very difference different balance to the considerations the concert might take place in Singapore but for fewer nights far fewer nights or it might not even take place at all in Singapore so we've got to look at the overall calculation and decide for a particular event what is the resonance with Singapore singaporeans what international Regional draw might it have and we make this calculation overall and it is not in every case that we decide that we need to make a grant or we need to negotiate in a particular way and every event whether it's lifestyle sporting Arts culture music has a different consideration and we are motivated by different outcomes that we want to achieve and so whether we shape it in one way give a grant in another way or organize our framework to host the event in a particular way all that is shaped by the outcomes that we want to achieve and so in this case we were mindful that if we looked at it holistically if we wanted an opportunity for Singapore to be one of the stops and then you look at at the past tour history it's very difficult to be one or two nights alone because of the setup so we had to look at that as a quite a material consideration for discussing with the Taylor Swift team on how long and for what duration to H in Singapore and then we also have to judge what's the demand that we have in the local market so these I I hope explains to Mr gam some of the suite of considerations that we have in deciding how to approach this which events to put a grant out to and on what terms and how to structure it and also taking into account the overall demand and objectives in Singapore

Channel: CNA

Views: 101,238

Keywords: Singapore Parliament, Edwin Tong, Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour

Id: 3EeilML14iQ

Length: 19min 38sec (1178 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 04 2024