During the KTV lounge outbreak, police stepped up operations to crack down on places that were offering entertainment services while supposedly pivoting into F&B places.
One restaurant owner, Goh Tong Hann, explained that he’d opened Marcy’s in Jan after taking over the location of a nightlife venue in Duxton Road.
But police came to the restaurant one Friday night and asked them to shut down by 10pm — in less than an hour.
Turns out, they’d made a mistake, and they thought the location was still a nightclub venue. Police clarified the error the next day.
A police spokesperson subsequently apologised for the incident.
On 20 Jul, Mr Goh’s letter was published as a letter in The Straits Times (ST).
It so went that one Friday, when nightlife establishments were ordered to close from 16 to 30 Jul, plainclothes officers came to Marcy’s.
They were under the mistaken notion that Marcy’s was a nightclub venue due to its location.
When Mr Goh told them they were mistaken, however, the officers simply handed him a flier and left.
Mr Goh and his staff then had an anxiety-ridden 24 hours wondering whether to close the restaurant even though it seemed there’d been a mistake.
Unfortunately, because it was a weekend, they weren’t able to contact the relevant agencies.
Eventually, the restaurant decided to remain open on what was the busiest Saturday night in months.
Thankfully, police contacted Mr Goh at 9pm that Saturday that Marcys would be permitted to remain open.
He noted that the situation could have been handled better, however.
On Thursday (22 Jul), in a reply to Mr Goh’s letter, police apologised for what was an error and for causing the unpleasant experience.
They said that on 16 Jul, police officers had wrongly advised Mr Goh to close the restaurant.
This was due to them mistaking the restaurant for a pivoted nightlife establishment.
They confirmed that they told Mr Goh about the clarification the next day.
Officers have also met Mr Goh in person, who accepted their explanation.
The spokesperson said that they’ll tighten their processes, and thank Mr Goh for his feedback.
In response to the letter, Marcys thanked the SPF for being open to their feedback.
In the Instagram story, Marcys also said that they appreciate all that the police is doing to keep this country safe.
Police and other authorities have plenty to do during this tough period of enforcement.
With many seeking to evade measures and continue operating, mistakes can occur.
But it’s important when mistakes occur to acknowledge and learn from them. In that sense, what the police did is commendable in apologising.
Hopefully, the processes have been tightened. At the same time, we too thank the police for continuing their duties during this period.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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