Lawmaker wants explanation for Singapore-only Taylor Swift concert in ASEAN

A MEMBER of the House of Representatives has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to seek an explanation from the Singaporean government after the rich city-state allegedly orchestrated an exclusive deal for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Southeast Asia. 

Reports quoted Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin as saying that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) granted an exclusive deal to concert producer AEG Presents on the condition that it would not stage concerts in other Southeast Asian nations. 

“If true, [this] isn’t what good neighbors do,” Albay Representative Joey Salceda said in a statement on Wednesday. 

Swift will hold her concert at Singapore’s National Stadium on March 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9. 

“I give it to them that the policy worked. Regional demand for Singaporean hotels and airlines was up 30% over the period. I estimate that the exclusivity term caused an increase in industry revenues by US$60 million. So, the grant produced 30 times more economic activity. But it was at the expense of neighboring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concert goers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore,” Salceda said. 

He said the Philippines should not “let things like this pass.” 

“We should still officially register our opposition.  It also runs contrary to the principle of consensus-based relations and solidarity on which the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Nations) was founded,” Salceda said.     

“I think the DFA should send a note verbale to our counterparts in Singapore. Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt,” he added.

The lawmaker also said the Singaporean deal should also serve as a challenge for the Philippines to “up our game.”

“That is what agencies like the Tourism Promotions Board were made for,” he said.