Only About 25 Nightspots to Reopen in Pilot Programme; Limit of 100 Per Place

It’s been eight months since you’ve heard your favourite dum-tss-dum-tss while grinding with your fellow party clique on the dance floor.

Well, if you’ve been missing your party days like the cats in our offices miss us, I’ve got great news for you.

The plan for opening up nightspots, including clubs and KTVs, will be put into play soon.

Yes. Really.

But, as the Singapore Nightlife Business Association (SNBA) has cautioned, don’t be too happy because it’s going to come with a lot of catches.

“A Pilot Programme”

For one, even if the pilot programme commences, a vast majority of you might still find your favourite nightspot closed.

According to the SNBA, the reopening of Singapore’s nightlife is simply a “test” to see if restarting the nightlife in Singapore is a viable option.

This means that only a small group of businesses (25 nightspots) will be allowed to open:

• 10 pubs and bars
• 10 karaoke establishments
• 5 nightclubs

Applications to be one of the lucky ones are now open and SNBA says they’ll be working together with its members (about 320 of them) to facilitate the application process.

As for karaoke establishments, the Singapore Entertainment Affiliation (SEA) will be facilitating the application process with them.

Safe Management Measures

Even if your favourite nightclub is open, you’ll find the experience a bit different from what you remember.

That’s because of the various safe management measures that’ll come into play during the pilot programme.

For one, karaoke establishments and nightclubs will only allow entry to Singapore residents, people with work passes and those who took a Covid-19 test within the past 24 hours.

Groups of up to five pax must be enclosed in a room for singing, and after every group, the room must be cleaned thoroughly and disinfected.

Nightclubs will only have a maximum capacity of 100 people. They must have two zones, each limited to a cap of 50 people.

Dancing and dining areas must be kept separated.

Other safe management measures include wearing masks when singing or dancing on the dance floor and having CCTV everywhere.

In fact, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), all customers entering nightclubs and karaoke lounges must test negative for Covid-19 “24 hours prior to the end of the activity at the nightlife establishment”.

As for the cost of the testing, it’s “likely” that it’ll be pushed to customers, according to SNBA president Joseph Ong.

Of course, as we all know, Covid-19 makes everything fluid so these safe management measures aren’t really set in stone…yet.

Estimated Start Dates

According to MTI and MHA, the pilot programme for pubs and bars will start in Dec 2020 and last for two months.

As for karaoke lounges and nightclubs, it’ll likely start in Jan 2021 and will last for three months.

Meanwhile, SNBA cautioned its members, asking them to temper their excitement because their enforced closure won’t be coming to an end even though the pilot started.

And looking at the safe management measures, it’s going to be an uphill battle for them to even reopen, not to mention enticing customers into coming back.

After all, would you pay $200 for a Covid-19 test just to go to Zouk? That’s like trying to enter a Singapore casino, except worse.

Featured Image: xujun / Shutterstock.com