When Singapore’s night spots were closed on 27 Mar after our Covid-19 cases started to rise, many frequent patrons were deprived of a place to enjoy drinks.
Since then, we’ve survived the ‘Circuit Breaker’ and watched as night spots stayed closed or reinvented themselves.
Now, 3 of them will finally be reopened for drinking for 2 months, but if you want to enjoy a tipple there you’ll have to start before 10.30pm.
In Nov, it was announced that a pilot programme will allow selected nightlife establishments to reopen.
In a press release on Tuesday (8 Dec), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) finally revealed the shortlist of establishments allowed to reopen, and it’s a short one indeed.
It consists of 3 bars — 2 of them are in Orchard Road’s Japanese nightlife district, and the 3rd is in Boat Quay.
They are:
1. Bar Kiharu, 150 Orchard Plaza, #03-17
The bar popular with Japanese patrons will open on Wednesday (9 Dec) or Thursday (10 Dec), reported The Straits Times (ST).
2. Bell Bar, 5 Koek Road, Cuppage Plaza, #03-12
Another bar popular with Japanese patrons, it opened on Tuesday (8 Dec) night, reported ST.
3. Skinny’s Lounge, 82 Boat Quay, #01-02
In a Facebook post, Skinny’s Lounge announced that it will reopen on Wednesday (9 Dec) at 4pm.
There’s limited capacity in the American-themed bar, though, so do arrive as early as you can to avoid disappointment.
Though the 3 bars will reopen, there’s quite a comprehensive list of SMMs that must absolutely be followed.
Most of these SMMs will be familiar to Singaporeans by now, so they shouldn’t be tough to abide by.
So do take note of these rules to ensure that you don’t make trouble for the establishment and ruin your night out:
The 3 establishments will be monitored by enforcement agencies throughout the pilot for any breaches of the above SMMs.
If a breach is found, action will be taken and the outlet may be removed from the pilot.
The operator may also face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a jail term of up to 6 months.
In addition, to the above SMMs, patrons were also strongly advised not to visit more than 1 of these outlets in 1 night.
That’s also to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as there have been cases aboard of bigger clusters forming due to patrons bar hopping.
The 3 bars were selected after the Government received 6 nominations from nightlife business associations.
The nominations, in turn, were made after outlets that were interested to reopen submitted proposals to the business associations.
These proposals detailed how the establishments intended to reopen safely, including how they would implement the safe management measures (SMMs) required under the pilot.
Upon getting the nominations, the Government reviewed them to determine whether the establishments were capable and ready to comply with the SMMs.
As the pilots are a test to see whether the SMMs are strict enough to prevent the spread of Covid-19, more reopenings of nightlife businesses will happen if everything goes well.
MTI will share more details for the pilots for karaoke outlets and nightclubs before they start in Jan.
While patrons may be glad that they can finally enjoy drinks at a night spot again, some may be disappointed that only 3 were picked.
With SMMs to contend with, a night out won’t be totally restored to its former glory just yet.
Singapore’s not out of the woods yet with Covid-19 though, and cases can pop up when you least expect it.
Thus, let’s be responsible and have fun within the rules, so more night spots can reopen and we can truly get back to normal soon.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps, Google Maps and Facebook.
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