It was a major omen yesterday afternoon when Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli delivered a speech in Parliament filled with anti-drug rhetoric, emphasising on the Government's zero-tolerance stance against drugs among youths, including a thinly veiled allusion to Future Music Festival Asia's (FMFA) trouble with narcotics last year.
Following a seemingly last ditch attempt to appeal to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it looks like Southeast Asia's biggest dance music festival might not take place next week after all — MHA have turned down the appeal by Livescape Singapore to hold FMFA 2015 here.
This would mean the third disheartening rejection faced by the organisers, who had their applications for permits rejected twice on Jan 29 and Feb 27, despite announcing the full artist lineup (with headliners including AVICII and The Prodigy) last month and promising grand plans for the festival at the Changi Exhibition Centre.
Reportedly, about 15,000 tickets have been sold as well, with a significant portion of the ticket sales from overseas.
On FMFA's side, the organisers have expressed their extreme disappointment by the turn of events, emphasising that all drug-related incidents took place outside Singapore and does not carry any implication that the festival is associated with drug usage or drug abuse. They go on to reiterate that the safety and security of their festival goers have always been and will continue to be their top priority in an emotional post on their Facebook page.
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Post by Future Music Festival Asia.
The folks behind the festival however have contingency plans in place, including hosting their acts in various venues across Singapore, and refunds will be made despite Livescape incurring massive losses from the cancellation of the festival.
The organisers are currently weighing their options and will be detailing their upcoming plans over the next few days.
Photo: Afiq Omar via FMFA Facebook page
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It was a major omen yesterday afternoon when Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli delivered a speech in Parliament filled with anti-drug rhetoric, emphasising on the Government's zero-tolerance stance against drugs among youths, including a thinly veiled allusion to Future Music Festival Asia's (FMFA) trouble with narcotics last year.
Following a seemingly last ditch attempt to appeal to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it looks like Southeast Asia's biggest dance music festival might not take place next week after all — MHA have turned down the appeal by Livescape Singapore to hold FMFA 2015 here.
This would mean the third disheartening rejection faced by the organisers, who had their applications for permits rejected twice on Jan 29 and Feb 27, despite announcing the full artist lineup (with headliners including AVICII and The Prodigy) last month and promising grand plans for the festival at the Changi Exhibition Centre.
Reportedly, about 15,000 tickets have been sold as well, with a significant portion of the ticket sales from overseas.
On FMFA's side, the organisers have expressed their extreme disappointment by the turn of events, emphasising that all drug-related incidents took place outside Singapore and does not carry any implication that the festival is associated with drug usage or drug abuse. They go on to reiterate that the safety and security of their festival goers have always been and will continue to be their top priority in an emotional post on their Facebook page.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Post by Future Music Festival Asia.
The folks behind the festival however have contingency plans in place, including hosting their acts in various venues across Singapore, and refunds will be made despite Livescape incurring massive losses from the cancellation of the festival.
The organisers are currently weighing their options and will be detailing their upcoming plans over the next few days.
Photo: Afiq Omar via FMFA Facebook page
Got a tip? Send it to us at singapore@coconuts.co.
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