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Several members of the public have filed police reports over a beach party that failed to materialise at Sentosa on New Year's Eve.

According to a reader who reached out to Mothership, the event's cancellation was only announced two days prior to Dec. 31, 2022 by the organiser, D1 Racing.

The affected party had bought tickets together with three of her friends, spending S$300 to S$400 in total.

Party was advertised on sites such as Klook

The event had been advertised on sites such as Klook as a new year's eve party with a drone show, featuring well-known headline DJs such as Jade Rasif, Simon Patterson, and Rave Republic.

The price of tickets ranged from S$88 to S$168 each.

Reasons given for cancellation by organiser

According to an email seen by Mothership, D1 Racing said one of the party's main acts, Jade Rasif, had pulled out earlier for "personal reasons".

In addition, her replacement, Amber Na, also withdrew due to visa issues in China.

The organiser added, "In these circumstances, it would not be feasible to proceed with the event."

As for how members of the public would receive redress for the purchases of their ticket, D1 Racing said it would offer all "existing guests" free VIP tickets for their events in 2023, while they explored the possibility of a direct refund.

A link with a promotional code was also shared within the email.

The reader added that several members of the public have since made police reports over the event while they seek a refund.

She also claimed that several of the affected guests intend to raise the matter with the Small Claims Tribunal.

DJ Jade Rasif: Initially told event was an afterparty for drone race

In response to Mothership's queries, Jade replied that she had been approached by the organiser about playing at the afterparty, which D1 Racing had supposedly described as its "largest drone race".

An email shared with Mothership showed that she had been approached by the organiser on Oct. 19.

It said, "We are hosting our largest Drone Race yet this Dec. 18 at Singapore, Siloso Beach and it would mean the world to me if I could really engage you as our DJ for the afterparty."

Jade added that this event was then postponed to Dec. 31, 2022.

Jade also said she did not know the event was billed as a New Year's Eve countdown party until she saw advertisements for it on Facebook.

She further highlighted that she had asked the organiser for a deposit payment and that until the deposit had been made, her attendance was not confirmed and the advertisements featuring her should be removed.

Inaccuracies were also allegedly found in the contract that D1 Racing had with Sentosa.

It was at this point that Jade said she decided to pull out from the show and called for the organiser to remove all mention and images of her.

Sentosa: Booking for venue confirmed but organisers "abruptly cancelled"

When contacted by Mothership, a spokesperson for Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) replied that D1 Racing had approached them in October 2022 to book a space at Siloso Beach for their own event -- a night drone race with a New Year's Eve party on Dec. 31, 2022.

The spokesperson added, "Their booking for the venue was confirmed by SDC but on Dec. 28, 2022, D1 Racing abruptly informed SDC of the event’s cancellation citing 'unforeseen circumstances'."

SDC said upon being informed of the event's cancellation, it immediately requested that the D1 Racing inform all ticket holders of the cancellation as they were solely responsible for all marketing, ticket sales and execution of the event.

Mothership has also reached out to D1 Racing for more information on the matter.

In response to Mothership's queries, the police confirmed reports had been lodged and that they were looking into the matter.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, D1 Racing said the party had to be cancelled due to "drastic changes".

The organiser highlighted that it had been "left stranded" and had no alternative but to cancel the event.

D1 racing also said it would provide VIP tickets for the next event regardless of the ticket tier that guests have bought for this party.

The organiser was further quoted as saying:

“We will be issuing wallets to all guests and topping them up with the amount that each guest paid.

This will enable them to purchase other products or tickets to other events as well."

Director at D1 Racing suing woman for over S$3 million for friendzoning him

CNA further reported that one of the directors of D1 Racing, K Kawshigan, is currently suing a woman, Nora Tan, for over S$3 million for the 'emotional trauma' of discovering she only saw him as a friend.

Tan has since launched a countersuit against Kawshigan, citing the expenses she incurred in protecting herself from his alleged harassment.

The connection between these two news reports was made by former lawyer Siew Kum Hong in a Facebook post on Feb. 1.

Top screenshot via Sentosa