2 Eateries Ordered to Cease Operations After Breaching 10:30pm Alcohol Ban

Last Updated on 2020-07-03 , 10:18 pm

When Phase Two happened, you can almost heard Lawrence Wong whispering this to you whenever you go: “Don’t play play ah, if not we take action against you ah.”

Some didn’t hear it, and got investigated by MOH. Case in point: 29 badminton players who decided that the authorities couldn’t do basic division, so they did it themselves and now, all of them are quarantined in one way or another, and one is now a confirmed COVID-19 case.

And more didn’t hear it in these two eateries.

2 Eateries Ordered to Cease Operations After Breaching 10:30pm Alcohol Ban

For a start, if you think Robertquay-ers only exist in Holland Village, you’re just not well-informed about the situation on the ground.

According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), since Phase Two kicked in, they have issued 19 composition fines of $300 each to individuals, and 4 composition fines between $1,000 to $2,000 to businesses that didn’t comply with COVID-19 safe-distancing measures.

For example, Furama Riverfront Hotel was fined $1,000 for failing to record visitors’ contact details upon entry, and Chennai Trading, a mini-mart, was fined $2,000 for lack of crowd management.

Today, it’s reported that two eateries have been ordered to cease operations immediately.

The reason? Customers were allowed to consume alcohol on the premises after 10.30pm.

Lest you’re now aware, one of the new rules in Phase Two is that F&B outlets must cease alcohol sales and consumption by 10:30pm.

Of course you’re wondering: I thought that rule was put in place since many years back after the 2013 Little India riot? That’s why you can’t even buy a can of Tiger beer from NTUC FairPrice at 10:31pm, right?

Well, you’re right. But there are places with licences to sell alcoholic drinks after 10:30pm, so this new rule applies primarily to them.

The two eateries are Chico Loco and Moonstone, both of which along Amoy Street.

Other than being told to suspend operations, they’re fined $1,000 each as well.

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Chico Loco is a restaurant that’s well known for its roasted chicken and churros, while Moonstone is an IG-worthy restaurant cum bar that sells fusion food.

There’s no update of when they can reopen.

STB said that they will “continue to deploy additional enforcement officers and safe distancing ambassadors where required” and will “continue to engage our industry partners and precinct associations, to help them implement these measures effectively.”

Moonstone: We Make No Excuses for It

Moonstone has responded to the suspension even before STB’s announcement, and took full responsibility for it.

They explained what went down: they had served their last alcoholic drink at about 10:10pm, but it appears that some customers had held on to their drinks even after 10:30pm.

They said they “make no excuses for it, but we are certainly disappointed at the outcome of the penalty. The best we can hope for is a shorter suspension.”

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Here’s what they’ve written in full:

[SUSPENSION NOTICE] We have been ordered to close Moonstone indefinitely as of Saturday, 1045pm, 27 June 2020, and issued a fine of $1,000. We hope to share this message to all fellow FnB owners to not take the 1030pm alcohol ban lightly. There is no “grace period” allowed for customers to finish up with their last drinks on hand even if the order was served before 1030pm. The rule states strictly, no consumption on premise after 1030pm. This is a hard stop and no reasons are accepted by the enforcement officers. This was our mistake today.

We make no excuses for it, but we are certainly disappointed at the outcome of the penalty. The best we can hope for is a shorter suspension.

This was what went down in case you were wondering: We made our rounds for last orders at 10pm sharp. Had 2 orders and served our last drink at approximately 1010pm. We also began issuing all 22 open bills concurrently and this process took us alone 15-20mins, in between clearing the tables and advising customers to finish up and leave ASAP. “All unconsumed alcoholic beverages must be disposed of by 1030pm sharp”, this was the advice by the enforcement officer and hence we believe this is the standard across all FnB retail outlets. So once again, please take this seriously and close up earlier to be on the safe side.

And to all our dear customers, we hope to ask for your understanding and please try your best to make things easy for our fellow FnB businesses who are still in operation. While we’ve tried our best to operate within the safety measures, this outcome is unfortunate and a much regrettable one.

An extra 15 mins might not be a long time to you as customer, but it’s this same amount of time that will put the jobs and livelihoods of FnB workers on the line. Please help to share this important message as we certainly do not want to result in a full closure of FnB businesses as we have all experienced during the Circuit Breaker. Let us all do our part in this fight against the pandemic.

Thank you for all the support and seeing us through the past 3 very difficult months.

– Dailou & Unkle

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