Water Rains Onto SkillsFuture Festival as Kampung Admiralty Tarp Roof Gives Way

Participants and staff at a SkillsFuture Festival in Kampung Admiralty had literal rain on their parade on 4 August.

The building had a blue tarp roof, presumably as a temporary replacement during renovation.

On the day itself, it had been raining, as had been predicted in advance for August. The rainwater collected in pools on the tarp to the point of creating visible downward bulges.

Water Pours Into Kampung Admiralty as Tarp Roof Gives Way

Completely unpredictably, the tarp gave way from the weight at about 1:45 pm.

A massive deluge of rainwater poured down right into the middle of the SkillsFuture Festival. Screams rang out as people spotted the cascade of water falling.

Just a second later, the water splashed all over the festival’s furniture and gave everyone below an involuntary shower.

The force of the water was extreme enough to knock people over.

In the aftermath, that part of Kampung Admiralty looked like it’d been hit by a mini-tsunami, everything soaked through and the floor pooling with water.

Two presumed vendor staff moved back to their table, perhaps to salvage what survived from the initial downpour.

Unfortunately for them, a second, smaller torrent of water surged down through the tarp and fell right onto them.

They stormed off from the tables, drenched to the bone and with their mood literally dampened. The rain reportedly continued to drip into the building for a while.

Vendors’ Electronics Damaged From Rainwater

According to Shin Min Daily News, an ASK Training employee said that the staff had noticed the tarp collecting water in the morning, but as the festival got busy it slipped their mind.

The deluge of water not only reminded them of its presence but also damaged their electronic equipment, including laptops and iPads.

A stall run by the Academy of Design Arts & Media also suffered damage to their small drones and computers, but their more expensive equipment managed to avoid the pouring water.

The festival was initially intended to end at around 6 pm. Due to the rain having found its way inside the building, MP Alex Yam announced the early closure of the SkillsFuture Festival and the cancellation of all further activities.

He also mentioned that HDB was investigating the incident.

An interviewed resident said that every time it rained, water would collect on the blue tarpaulin roof. However, the tarp giving way had never happened until 4 August.

8world News reported that following the incident, workers replaced the blue tarp roof, with the area beneath now cordoned off.