Long story short:

A public cat fight has officially broken out five months before the revamped Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa) is slated to launch on Aug. 12 after a one-year hiatus last year.

Sifa festival director and Cultural Medallion recipient Ong Keng Sen (top picture on the right), 49, is butting heads with the festival's chief executive officer and former National Museum director Lee Chor Lin (top picture on the left), 50.

Ong sent an angry email to Lee and copied it to the media, staff at the Ministry of Culture, the Community and Youth, Acting Minister Lawrence Wong and the National Arts Council.

All because Ong didn't get to review two festival brochures before they went to print.

Ong reportedly said: "I don’t think you should be treating the festival director in this way. I am not just your content provider."

The festival became an independent company last year to turn the tide of event, after it was previously run by the arts council and visitor numbers had been dwindling over the years.

When the appointments of the two took place last year, the prediction of their working relationship was ominous enough:

The Straits Times report from May 13, 2013, read:

"Now, it remains to be seen whether outgoing National Museum director Lee Chor Lin and TheatreWorks artistic director Ong Keng Sen are a match made in heaven at the helm of the Singapore Arts Festival -- his artistic vision complementing her ability to put bums on seats -- or if the result will be clashes between two equally formidable personalities."

Many in the arts community declined to comment on this latest incident. Smart move.

However, Lee was indirectly quoted in this latest piece about their spat as saying that "this was not the first time Mr Ong had become angry and sent e-mails".

Meow.

Maybe this episode would really help put bums in seats this year.

Top photo from here and newspaper clipping from here

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