KUALA LUMPUR – The move by Singapore to issue millions in grants to secure exclusivity with Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour is not a hostile act towards its neighbours in Southeast Asia.
“(Our) agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quoted as saying by Reuters in a press conference in Melbourne today.
“It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly.”
Singapore’s neighbours in the region have hit out at the exclusivity deal, which sees Swift staging six sold-out shows in the island republic, the only stop in Asia other than Tokyo, Japan.
Veteran Philippine lawmaker Joey Salceda demanded that the Foreign Affairs Department (DFA) seek an explanation from the Singapore embassy regarding grants used to secure exclusive rights for Swift.
Salceda said he has asked for DFA to send a note verbale as Singapore’s move “isn’t what good neighbours do”.
(A note verbale is an unsigned diplomatic note of the nature of a memorandum, written in the third person.)
This comes after the Singapore Tourism Board and the republic’s Culture, Community and Youth Ministry (MCCY) admitted to providing millions in grants to production company AEG Presents, which is managing Swift’s global record-breaking tour.
Earlier, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin revealed that Swift would not be performing in the kingdom as Singapore secured exclusive rights to ensure she only brought her concert to the island nation and not anywhere else in Southeast Asia.
Swift is in Singapore performing on March 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9.
Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil was asked if Putrajaya would emulate Singapore, to which he said the government does not allocate any funds to concert organisers to obtain exclusive rights to performances here. – March 5, 2024